PU men stifle Cornell offense

Tigers hold Big Red to 38 points to sustain Ivy League lead

By: Justin Feil
   Ray Robins scored 10 of Princeton University’s first 15 points as the Tigers jumped out to a 22-2 lead and put away Cornell University, 60-38, Saturday night at Jadwin Gym. The win kept the Tigers in the Ivy League lead at 4-0, 9-7 overall, while Cornell dropped to 0-6 in league, 3-16 overall.
   Cornell inched its closest of the game at 22-9 with 7:07 remaining in the first half, but eight unanswered points by Robins gave the Tigers a 30-9 lead. The Tigers led, 32-9, at halftime, the second time in less than a week that Princeton has held a team in single digits at halftime. The Tigers led Western Maryland, 41-7, last Monday.
   It wasn’t until the 11:41 mark of the second half that Cornell even caught up with Robins, the junior forward who by then had 25 points on his way to a career-high 28. He shot 10-for-13 from the floor, including 5-for-7 from three-point range in 31 minutes of action.
   The rest of the Tigers combined to shoot just 13-for-37 from the field, including 4 of 19 from beyond the arc. It didn’t matter, however, as Cornell never found an answer to Princeton’s pressure defense.
   "I’m most pleased with our defensive effort," said PU head coach John Thompson. "Not just as it relates to the press. I think our half-court defense was very good both nights. We’re not only working well individually, but collectively as a unit. The guys are working pretty hard, and helping each other, and supporting each other and the communication is pretty good."
  The Big Red shot 2-for-18 in the first half, to shoot a percentage that is much more favorable for credit card holders than basketball teams. Cornell improved on its 11 percent first-half performance with a 45 percent showing in the second half, and actually owned a 29-28 scoring advantage, but well before then the game was over and the announced crowd of 5,179 halfway home.
   There was still a sizeable ovation when it was announced that Pennsylvania had fallen to Columbia, 54-53, the same Lions team that Princeton held off, 48-41, the night before. In the two wins, in which Princeton allowed only 79 combined points, it was the defense that was most satisfying.
   The last time the Tigers held two teams to that low of an input on a weekend was the 1998-99 season when Yale and Brown combined for just 78 points at Jadwin.
   Princeton returns to the road to face Brown 7 p.m. Friday followed by Yale 7 p.m. Saturday. Yale is the only other Ivy team with less than two losses. The Bulldogs lost to Brown earlier in the season. Harvard, Penn and Brown all have two losses.