April 26, 2005

2004-05 Men's Basketball Year In Review in PDF Format
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BIG RED BASKETBALL AT A GLANCE
Season Information
2004-05 Overall Record: 13-14
Home/Away/Neutral: 7-4/6-9/0-1
2004-05 Ivy Record/Finish: 8-6 (2nd)
Home/Away: 5-2/3-4

HEAD COACH Steve Donahue
Cornell head coach Steve Donahue completed his fifth season at Cornell (45-90, .333) ... Donahue became the fourth Robert E. Gallagher `44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on Sept. 6, 2000.

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ITHACA, N.Y. -- The underlying goal of every sports team is a championship ... a tournament championship, a league title, a national crown. While the 2004-05 Cornell men's basketball team didn't win a title, the strides it did make has set the stage for future championships coming back to Ithaca.

Led by seniors Eric Taylor and Cody Toppert, the Big Red earned its highest Ivy finish in 17 years with its second-place effort and claimed its first winning Ancient Eight campaign (8-6) since 1992-93. It was only the seventh time in school history that Cornell has finished second in Ivy play.

For his efforts, head coach Steve Donahue was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com after helping the squad, picked to finish sixth in the conference preseason poll, finish within shouting distance of league champion Penn.

Included among the many highlights were a season sweep of Princeton for the first time in 20 years, including the first win at Jadwin Gymnasium in 19 years. The Big Red swept a Yale-Brown weekend for the first time since 1999-2000, hit a school and Carrier Dome record 15 3-pointers against No. 7 Syracuse and defeated St. Bonaventure of the Atlantic 10 on the road in what Jay Bilas of ESPN had called one of the five toughest places to play in the country.

Toppert closed out his career with school records in 3-point field goals made (237) and career games played (108) while ranking eighth in scoring (1,232). Taylor posted the school's top career field goal percentage (.572) and ranked in the top 20 in rebounding (643) and top 20 in scoring (1,011). Taylor earned honorable mention All-Ivy honors, while junior Lenny Collins was named to the All-Ivy first team after leading the squad in scoring (13.3 ppg.).

DONAHUE NAMED COLLEGEINSIDER.COM IVY COACH OF THE YEAR: Cornell men's basketball head coach Steve Donahue has been named the CollegeInsider.com's Ivy League Coach of the Year. Penn's Tim Begley was selected as the Ancient Eight's Most Valuable Player. Donahue took a team picked to finish sixth in the Ancient Eight's preseason poll to second place in the Ivy League standings. The Big Red improved its record for the third consecutive season and clinched its first .500 record in league play since 1996-97. Cornell swept the season series from consensus preseason Ivy League favorite Princeton for the first time in 20 years and swept a Brown-Yale weekend for the first time since 2000.

COLLINS, TAYLOR NAMED ALL-IVY: Junior Lenny Collins earned first-team All-Ivy honors, while senior Eric Taylor closed out his career with an honorable mention nod when the 2004-05 Ivy League men's basketball honors were announced. The voting was done by the league's eight head coaches. Collins had a tremendous junior season, leading the team in scoring (13.3 ppg.) and assists (2.4 apg.), while ranking second in rebounding (4.9 rpg.) and steals (1.1 spg.). An ESPN The Magazine first team Academic All-District selection, Collins reached double figures in scoring in 20 games while shooting 45 percent from the field. The versatile forward finished second in the Ivy League in free-throw percentage (.840) and seventh in the league in scoring, field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage (.409). Taylor completed a tremendous career, ranking first in the Ivy league in field goal percentage (.608) and second on the team in scoring (11.0 ppg.) and blocked shots (0.9 bpg.). He also led the squad in rebounding (5.4 rpg.). The three-year captain earned his first Ivy League honor as one of the top post players in the Ancient Eight each of the last four seasons. He graduates as one of 20 Cornell players to score 1,000 career points (1,011) and ranks first all-time at Cornell in field goal percentage (.572), fourth in blocked shots (85) and 10th in rebounding (643).

COLLINS NAMED TO ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: Junior Lenny Collins was named to the 2004-05 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team for his dynamic performances on the court and in the classroom. Collins advanced to the national ballot that selected the Academic All-America team. He has posted a 3.60 grade point average while majoring in industrial and labor relations.

SENIOR SWAN SONG: Cornell's seniors were a big part of the Big Red's basketball resurgence. Below is a brief bio on each:

#32 Eric Taylor * 6-8, 235 * Latham, N.Y. (Shaker HS/Worcester Academy)
The first-ever three-year men's basketball captain, Taylor graduates as the school's all-time leader in field goal percentage (.572), while his 85 blocks stand fourth. Taylor closed out his career ranked 10th in career rebounds (643) and became the 20th player in school history to reach 1,000 points with 16 in his final collegiate game.

#33 Cody Toppert * 6-4, 202 * Albuquerque, N.M. (Albuquerque Academy)
The eighth-leading scorer in Cornell history (1,232), Toppert was a four-year starter at guard. One of the all-time great shooters at Cornell, his 237 3-pointers rank first all-time at Cornell. Toppert was a two-time Ivy League weekly honoree and ranks among the school's all-time leaders in rebounding, assists and steals. The durable and consistent Toppert set a school record for most career games played with 108.

#40 Chris Vandenberg * 6-10, 245 * Harley, Ont. (Burford Area HS)
Vandenberg battled injury throughout his career, seeing action in just 15 games. He registered a school freshman record seven blocks in his first collegiate contest and averaged 6.3 points and 6.3 rebounds as a freshman before being injured. Vandenberg played for the Canadian junior national team which competed in Beijing, China, during the summer of 2001. He has served as Cornell radio's color analyst during the 2004-05 season.

TRUE HOMERS: The Big Red closed out the season with a 7-4 home record (5-2 Ivy), ending the year with its first winning home record overall and in Ivy play since the 1997-98 campaign (7-4, 4-3 Ivy).

LONG TIME COMING: Cornell earned its first season sweep of the Tigers since the 1984-85 season with the 52-49 victory over the Tigers on Feb. 26. The last time the Big Red completed a season sweep of Princeton, four players on this year's Cornell team hadn't been born yet (Jason Canady, Khaliq Gant, Ugo Ihekweazu and Shawn Oliverson).

LINE IT UP: Cornell continued its outstanding free-throw shooting this year by making 20-of-22 shots (.909) from the charity stripe in the win over Princeton on Feb. 26. Earlier this season, Cornell hit all 13 free throws in an 88-85 loss to Northeastern, the fifth time in school history that the Big Red has hit all of its free throws in a game with at least 10 attempts. The squad hit .750 from the line (321-of-428) this season. Leading the charge was junior Ryan Rourke (70-of-82, .854), as well as senior Cody Toppert, who made 41-of-47 (.872) free throw attempts, and junior Lenny Collins (63-of-75, .840). The Big Red was not far off its school record .759 performance as a team during the 1962-63 campaign.

FIELD WORK: The Big Red posted nine games this season of .500 shooting or better, the most in a single season since the 1990-91 team had eight games hitting more than half its shots. Cornell shot .448 from the floor this season, including .553 at Harvard, .550 at Princeton and .545 in the 88-85 loss to Northeastern at the Pepsi Marist Classic. That mark was the highest season field goal percentage since shooting .486 from the floor during the 1987-88 season.

DOUBLE SHIFT: Senior Eric Taylor closed out his career with 10 double-doubles, including five as a senior, to put him sixth on Cornell's career list. Since double-doubles have been tracked in 1977-78, Bernard Jackson leads all Cornell players with 18. Junior Ryan Rourke has two career double-doubles, while classmate Lenny Collins has one.

TALKING WINS: With the 52-49 victory over Princeton on Feb. 26, the Big Red improved to 12-13 overall and 7-5 in Ivy play and continued a three-year upward swing in both categories. Cornell closed the season with a 13-14 overall record and an 8-6 mark in Ancient Eight play.

LAST IVY TITLE: Cornell is the last team other than Penn or Princeton to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Big Red went 11-3 in Ivy League play and 17-10 overall during the 1987-88 season, running off 11 straight conference wins at one point during the year. Cornell faced Arizona in the first round of the national tourney, dropping a 90-50 decision.

FOUR FOR FOUR: The 64-50 loss at Penn on Feb. 12 snapped the Big Red's four-game win streak. The streak matched the longest by any team under head coach Steve Donahue that included road wins at Columbia, Harvard, Dartmouth and Brown last season.

RALLY ROUND THE TIGERS: For the second time in 15 days, Cornell rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to knock off Princeton. The Big Red trailed 37-28 before earning a 66-58 win on Feb. 11 at Jadwin Gymnasium. On Feb. 26, the Big Red trailed 27-18 at the break before winning 52-49. Those are the largest halftime deficits Cornell has overcome against the Tigers to win a game since the beginning of Ivy play.

STREAKS FALL WITH WINS OVER PRINCETON: Cornell snapped a 19-game losing streak at Jadwin Gymnasium and a six-game slide against Princeton overall with its 66-58 win over the Tigers on Feb. 11. The win over the preseason Ivy favorites on Feb. 26 gave the Big Red its first sweep of the season series since the 1984-85 campaign.

SWEEP STAKES: Cornell earned a sweep of the Brown-Yale weekend for the first time since knocking off both teams on the road during the 1999-2000 season. The Big Red nipped the Bears 79-76 before stopping the Bulldogs 64-58 the following day in the final season for then-head coach Scott Thompson. The wins this year were just as dramatic, as the Big Red hit two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to knock off Brown 76-75 on Feb. 4, then went to double overtime before outlasting Yale 87-82 the day after.

LAST LAST-SECOND WIN: Senior Cody Toppert's two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining in the 76-75 win over Brown on Feb. 4 was the first last-second win for the Big Red since Brent Fisher `98 converted a conventional 3-point play with five seconds to play to knock off Penn 73-70 on Feb. 27, 1998.

ROURKE OPENING EYES: Junior Ryan Rourke has played at an All-Ivy level in the second half of the season, averaging 11.1 points to go along with 6.2 rebounds in his last nine games. Rourke hit 34-of-40 free throws (.850) during that span. Rourke had a pair of double-doubles in wins over Yale (22 pts., 12 rebs.) and Harvard (27 pts., 10 rebs.). He endeared himself to Big Red fans all season, converting the game-winning 3-point play with less than 30 seconds to play in the win at St. Bonaventure and scoring 15 points in the win over Lafayette. For the season, Rourke averaged 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds while ranking third on the team in blocked shots (12) and leading the squad in free throw percentage (.854, 70-of-82). He missed the Ivy opener against Columbia on Jan. 15 while recovering from a sprained ankle, but responded by scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds in his first Ivy contest a week later.

CANADY STREAKING: Freshman Jason Canady hit the best streak of his young career at the end of the season, averaging 11.7 points and 2.7 assists in his final six games. Canady had a career game against Dartmouth on Feb. 18, scoring 20 points and adding four assists and two blocked shots. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native hit on 7-of-13 field goals and 3-of-6 3-pointers. Canady scored 16 of his points in the game's final nine minutes. He answered that contest with 15 points, three assists and three rebounds in the win over Harvard the following night. Canady had scored just three points in the previous 10 games, including being held scoreless in the Big Red's previous eight contests. In the last six games, Canady upped his scoring average from 1.9 to 4.3 ppg. and his field goal percentage from .279 to .366.

RARE ROOKIE 20: Freshman Jason Canady's 20-point explosion against Dartmouth was the most by a Cornell freshman since Cody Toppert tallied 26 points against Ithaca College during the 2001-02 season.

COLLINS BUSTS OUT: Junior Lenny Collins stepped up his scoring in place of the graduated Ka'Ron Barnes `04, averaging 13.3 points in 2004-05. The San Juan Capistrano, Calif., native scored at least 14 points in 14 games and shot 45 percent from the floor (129-of-288) during his scoring spree.

STOP THIEF: Junior Lenny Collins has never been arrested, but Big Red opponents should put out an APB on the San Juan Capistrano, Calif., native. Collins is quickly moving up the Big Red's all-time steals chart, becoming just the eighth player in school history to notch 100 career steals with four against St. Francis (N.Y.) on Dec. 28. He will enter his senior season ranked seventh all-time with 117 pilfers. The 6-6 forward led the Ivy League with his 52 steals in 2003-04. Collins set a Cornell and Sojka Pavilion record with eight steals in last season's loss at Bucknell. The mark surpassed DeShawn Standard's `98 seven against Lehigh during the 1997-98 campaign.

30x2: Junior Lenny Collins became the first Cornell player to score 30 or more points in a game twice during his career since Bernard Jackson `01 had 30 points against Dartmouth during the 1988-89 campaign and poured in 32 points against U.S. International the following season. Ken Bantum `85 and Mike Davis `80 are the only players to score 30 or more points in a game three times in the last 25 years.

THREE FOR 30: Junior Lenny Collins scored 30 points in the season opener against Marist, but that isn't a big deal among his current teammates. His 31-point effort against Harvard on Feb. 21, 2004, gave the Big Red three different players who have scored 30 or more points in a game. Senior Cody Toppert notched 31 points at Duquesne on Dec. 31, while Toppert's classmate, Eric Taylor, put 30 points on the board in the 2002-03 season-opening win at Buffalo. Cornell was the only Ivy school to have three players who have scored 30 or more points in a single game on their roster last season.

RARE 600: Senior Eric Taylor upped his career rebounding total to 643 with 11 rebounds against Brown in his final collegiate game. That total was good for 10th place all-time at Cornell. He also became the first player to record 600 career rebounds in 34 years. The last player to reach 600 career rebounds was Bill Schwarzkopf `70, who ended his career with 762.

BIG BOARD WORK: Senior Eric Taylor notched a career-high 16 rebounds in the loss to Northeastern on Nov. 20 at the Pepsi Marist Classic, the most by a Cornell player since Greg Barratt `01 had 16 in a game four seasons ago.

THAT'S ACCURATE: Senior Eric Taylor led the Ivy League in field goal percentage in 2004-05, boosting his career field goal percentage to the top of the Cornell charts. Taylor shot a league-best .608 from the floor (121-of-199) and lifted his career percentage to .572. Taylor set a school single-game field goal percentage record by hitting all seven shots he took from the floor at Quinnipiac, one of three perfect shooting days this past season for Taylor.

RENAISSANCE MAN: Senior Eric Taylor displayed the all-around skills that has solidified his standing as one of the Ivy League's top post players and garnered him honorable mention All-Ivy status in 2004-05. He averaged 11.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists as a senior. Taylor recorded five double-doubles on the season after posting five as a junior. Of course, credentials like those were nothing new to Taylor, who was the only player in the Ivy League to rank among the league's top 15 players in scoring, rebounding and assists in 2002-03.

AIN'T IT GRAND: Senior Cody Toppert scored 15 points in the 83-76 loss to Quinnipiac on Dec. 1, becoming the 19th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. A back door layup with exactly 11 minutes remaining proved to be the milestone basket. He closed his career eighth on the scoring list with 1,232 points.

CENTENNIAL: Senior Cody Toppert made his 100th straight appearance in the double overtime win over Yale on Feb. 5, making him one of just 20 Big Red players in school history to appear in 100 games. He scored 12 points to match his career average. His appearance in the season finale at Brown helped him surpass Shawn Maharaj `92 (107 games) with 108 career appearances. Classmate Eric Taylor became the 21st Big Red men's basketball player to see action in 100 games with his start against Princeton on Feb. 26.

NEW ROLE, SAME RESULTS: Senior Cody Toppert came alive with his move to the bench in early January. After starting his first 91 career games, Toppert posted tremendous efforts in 12 games as a reserve before bouncing back into the starting lineup. The senior averaged 10.3 points while shooting .465 (40-of-86) from the floor in helping Cornell go 7-5. Coming off the bench for the first time against Army, Toppert scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field in the 58-51 win over the Black Knights on Jan. 2. He made both of his 3-point attempts and had two crucial offensive rebounds late in the second half. Toppert also had a steal and no turnovers in 26 minutes. Toppert proved to be even bigger in the Big Red's 76-75 win over Brown on Feb. 4, scoring 22 points and hitting the game-winning free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining. He started for the first time in 2005 against Harvard on Feb. 19, and his 15-point performance against Princeton two games later was instrumental in the comeback win over the Tigers.

STILL BOMBING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: Senior Cody Toppert hit five 3-pointers against Princeton, including four second-half treys, to surpass Brandt Schuckman `96 for the school's career record. He closed his career with 237 makes. He became the second player in school history to record 200 career treys with seven against No. 7 Syracuse on Dec. 20. Toppert has come on strong after a slow start, making 56 3-pointers in his last 23 games after notching just six in his first four contests of the season. Toppert had seven career games with six or more 3-pointers, nearly double that of second-place Schuckman with four.

TOPPING THE CHARTS: Senior Cody Toppert had a career season in 2003-04 and was outstanding again this year, averaging 11.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and a career-best 1.8 assists. In 2003-04, Toppert ranked second on the team and seventh in the Ivy League in scoring (14.6 ppg.) and stood among the Ivy League leaders in 3-pointers made per game (2.9). The Albuquerque, N.M., native closed his career with 1,232 points, eighth all-time at Cornell, and with 237 3-pointers, good for first. Toppert has been a consistent producer for the Big Red over his four seasons, averaging 11.4 points and 3.9 rebounds while starting 96 of his 108 games on East Hill.

GREAT SCOTT: Freshman Will Scott earned his reputation as a pure shooter in his rookie campaign, hitting on a school-record .484 from 3-point range. Scott had a career-high 11 points at Columbia on Jan. 15 in front of his family and friends and hit three 3-pointers in a game three times this season, including a 3-of-3 effort at Columbia and a 3-of-4 performance in the Big Red's loss at Syracuse. The rookie averaged 4.3 points per game in just 9.7 minutes per game.

IOWA BLOCK PARTY: Sophomore Andrew Naeve jumped into the top 10 on Cornell's all-time blocked shots list this season, moving into seventh place with 49 blocks. Naeve posted a career-best 28 in 2004-05, good enough to rank among the Ivy League's top five.

NAEVE FINDS RANGE IN IVY PLAY: Sophomore Andrew Naeve posted his career-best games this season in Ivy League play this past season. Naeve had a high of 12 rebounds in the loss at Dartmouth on Feb. 18, adding six points, then scored a career-best 10 points to go along with six rebounds vs. Penn. For his career, Naeve is a 50 percent shooter in Ivy League play while hitting on just 42 percent for his career. The Miles, Iowa, native averaged 3.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 13.4 minutes per game and has upped that to 5.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in his last 10 games.

THE DOW REPORT: Sophomore Graham Dow, who opened the season as the team's starter at point guard, contributed after moving to the bench and especially after the start of Ivy play. Dow flourished since the beginning of Ancient Eight competition, averaging 6.1 points, 4.0 assists and 2.7 steals while committing just 19 turnovers in nine games. Dow settled down after a rocky start at the point guard position, handing out 45 assists with just 20 turnovers in his final 17 games, helping the Big Red go 9-8. For the season, Dow averaged 3.9 points, 2.4 assists and 1.4 rebounds while hitting on 28-of-56 shots (.500) from the floor. Dow missed the final five games of the year with injury.

IT'S BEEN A LISLE: David Lisle has been a steady contributor on both offense and defense in his first three seasons. The junior averaged 2.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 13.0 minutes per game while contributing solid defense. Lisle had a season-high 11 points and eight rebounds to go along with a pair of steals in the loss to Harvard. He helped the Big Red to a 5-4 record in nine games as a starter earlier this season.

CORNELL'S SPRUNG KHALIQ: Head coach Steve Donahue gave freshman Khaliq Gant his first career start at point guard in the 69-67 win over Ithaca and that jump-started the squad to an 11-9 record in the next 20 games. Gant posted a career-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting while also recording two rebounds and an assist against the Bombers. He did not turn the ball over in 34 minutes of court time. Gant matched that in the win at Lehigh on Jan. 4, hitting all three 3-point attempts he took. Gant also had a five-point, six-assist effort without a turnover in 31 minutes against No. 7 Syracuse. Gant was a consistent contributor as a rookie, scoring 2.5 ppg. to go along with 1.1 apg., all the while shooting .436 from the floor (24-of-55). He started 19 straight games before coming off the bench against Harvard on Feb. 19.

THE BIG WIN: Cornell's 77-47 victory over Columbia on Jan. 22 at Newman Arena provided the biggest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since knocking off Colgate by 32 (80-48) on Jan. 25, 1988, Cornell's last Ivy League championship team. The last time the Big Red won an Ivy League contest by more than 30 points was a 71-35 drilling of Harvard on Feb. 22, 1986.

TREY BIEN: The Big Red will enter the 2005-06 season with at least one 3-pointer in 449 straight games. Cornell surpassed the 400-game plateau when the Big Red connected on three treys vs. Ithaca on Dec. 2, 2003. The last time Cornell did not hit a 3-pointer in a game was against Denison in the season opener of the 1988-89 season (0-for-2). Since the 3-point shot came into effect in NCAA play during the 1986-87 season, Cornell has hit at least one shot behind the arc in 500 of 504 games, connecting on 2,757 treys, an average of 5.47 per game. The Big Red has hit a 3-pointer in all 135 games coached by Steve Donahue.

ASSISTING THE OFFENSE: The Big Red assisted on 21 of 25 baskets against No. 7 Syracuse, accentuating the way head coach Steve Donahue's team wants to play offensively. This season, 354 of the team's 614 baskets (58 percent) were assisted compared to 53 percent a season ago (349 of 659). Cornell was credited with assists on 23 of 30 baskets in the 88-85 loss to Northeastern and 19 on 25 baskets in the win over Columbia.

BIG ROAD WIN: Cornell didn't just pick up its first road win of the season in a hostile environment ... it picked up that win in one of the most hostile road arenas in the country. The Big Red's 58-54 win at St. Bonaventure's Reilly Center in front of more than 5,200 fans was even more impressive when you consider that it snapped a six-game losing skid away from Newman Arena in a gym that ESPN analyst Jay Bilas dubbed one of the "five toughest places to play in the country."

TREY-FECTA: Cornell's performance from beyond the arc against No. 7 Syracuse on Dec. 20 (15-of-24) set several records and was noteworthy for many reasons.

The 15 3-pointers was a school and Carrier Dome record and matched the most all-time by a Syracuse opponent against the vaunted Orange zone defense.

Senior Cody Toppert hit on 7-of-10 3-point attempts, his 11th career game with five or more treys.

Freshman Will Scott notched a career-best three treys.

Sophomore Kevin App hit his first career 3-pointer.

In all, seven different players connected on at least one shot from beyond the arc.

The Big Red hit seven treys in the first half and eight in the second half and hit on better than 60 percent in both halves.

Junior David Lisle set the record with a buzzer-beating 30-footer to end the game.

It was the fifth time in school history the Big Red has hit on at least 60 percent of its 3-point efforts with at least 10 makes. The school record for percentage in a game is .833 (10-of-12) in the Big Red's 75-74 loss to Dartmouth during the 1989-90 campaign.

CAPTAIN NAMED: For the first time in school history, a player served as a three-year captain of the Big Red men's basketball team. Senior center Eric Taylor was bestowed the honor in a vote of his teammates entering the 107th year of basketball at Cornell. Taylor became the first sophomore to serve as captain for the Big Red in 2002-03.

TOPPERT NAMED IVY LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (DEC. 21): Senior guard Cody Toppert was named the Ivy League men's basketball Player of the Week on Dec. 21, the first weekly award for Toppert in his four-year career. The Albuquerque, N.M., native averaged 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 59 percent from the floor and 63 percent from 3-point range in a pair of contests. Toppert scored a game-high 23 points and had a career-high seven assists in the Big Red's scare of No. 7 Syracuse on Dec. 20. He connected on 7-of-10 3-pointers, helping the Big Red establish a school and Carrier Dome record with 15 treys in the 82-69 loss. He opened that week with a team-high 13 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals against Patriot League favorite Bucknell. For the week, Toppert hit 10-of-16 treys.

SCOTT NAMED IVY ROOKIE OF THE WEEK (JAN. 24): Freshman Will Scott was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Jan. 24 after helping the Big Red to its biggest league victory in 19 years. Scott notched eight points and a career-best four rebounds as the Big Red topped Columbia 77-47 on Jan. 22. Scott nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to snap a Columbia run early in the second half that had whittled a 26-point lead to 16 with more than 16 minutes to play. All four of his rebounds came on the defensive end as Scott saw a career-best 19 minutes of action.

COLLINS NAMED IVY PLAYER OF THE WEEK (FEB. 7): Junior Lenny Collins was named Ivy League men's basketball co-Player of the Week after helping Cornell sweep a weekend set with Brown and Yale. Collins shared the honor with Brown's Jason Forte. Collins averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists, while shooting 54 percent from the field and making 7-of-10 3-pointers as Cornell moved into second place in the Ivy League. Collins had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists while hitting on 8-of-12 field goals in the win over Brown. He made 5-of-6 shots and scored 11 points in the first half to help the Big Red recover from a slow start that saw Cornell trail by 12 points early. He saved his best for Yale, scoring 11 of his 21 points in the two overtime sessions, including a 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play in the first OT that sent the game into another extra session. His fifth 3-pointer of the game tied the contest at 78-78 in the second overtime, and he then hit another jumper on the next possession to give Cornell the lead for good.

CANADY NAMED IVY ROOKIE OF THE WEEK (FEB. 21): Freshman Jason Canady was named the Ivy League men's basketball Rookie of the Week for his performances in helping the Big Red split a weekend road series. Canady averaged 17.5 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 54 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range as the Big Red split a pair of weekend contests. He netted a career-high 20 points and added four assists and two blocked shots off the bench in the Big Red's loss to Dartmouth on Friday. The 20 points were the most by a Big Red freshman since Cody Toppert had 26 points in a win over Ithaca four years ago. He came back to score 15 points, dish off three assists and grab three rebounds in Cornell's 67-63 win over Harvard. He made his second Ivy League start in the contest and played a career-high 34 minutes.

NEXT UP: Cornell will return to the court next fall with the return of three starters and eight letter winners looking to increase its season win total for the fourth straight season.