Fresh off of a thrilling double-header that secured the No. 4 seed in Ivy Madness, men’s basketball continued its dominant run, defeating Dartmouth 111-90 to cap off Ivy play on March 7.
The two sides kept the match close for most of the first half, trading buckets until Cornell jumped to a 34-33 lead with six minutes left in the first half. From there, the Red dominated. Cornell commanded a 59-43 halftime advantage and continued comfortably with that lead into the second half.
Its lead was fueled by an efficient half of shooting, going 65% from the field (21-32) and 55% from three (11-20). Dartmouth’s shooting wasn’t bad by any means — notching 45% from the field, 35% from deep and 100% from the line — yet it simply couldn’t contain Cornell’s offense in the first half.
While Dartmouth kept it closer (Cornell only outscored the Big Green by five in the second half), its attempts were futile in an already inconsequential game. Cornell’s three-point dominance (50%) made all the difference in the end.
The entirety of Cornell’s starters found themselves in double-digits, with senior guard Jake Fiegen leading the way (22 points, 7-9 shooting in 22 minutes).
Cornell found their firepower from off the bench, with 13 players scoring points and minutes being split rather evenly across the team. In part, it was to rest for Ivy Madness next week, with Cornell’s seeding already settled (No. 4 seed).
Dartmouth, too, spread the minutes and scoring across their bench, despite falling short in the end. The Big Green put up 40 points from its own bench (outdoing Cornell’s 36), and was led primarily by freshman guard Cameron McNamee with 5-5 from three and 6-6 from the line for 21 points. Cornell found itself giving Dartmouth countless free throws, and Dartmouth made them count as they shot 30-33 (90.9%) on free throws.
Most notably, Cornell broke the record for most points scored in a road game in Ivy League program history (111). It was 61 years ago — also against Dartmouth — when Cornell dropped 110 against the Big Green, which was also a then-school, Ivy, and Barton Hall (Dartmouth’s arena) record.
Cornell will now look to host Ivy Madness next weekend at Newman Arena on Saturday (semi-finals) and Sunday (finals). The Red will face off against Yale (No. 1 seed) at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Last year, the Red fell to Yale in heartbreaking fashion in the championship game. The Red, however, had its revenge in a come-from-behind buzzer-beater against Yale just last week.
The other matchup in Ivy Madness is Harvard vs. the University of Pennsylvania, which tips off at 2 p.m. Coverage for both games is available on ESPNU.
