In the most anticipated Ivy League game in decades, the Cornell Big Red defeated the Harvard Crimson 86-50.

A balanced effort propelled the Cornell offense. Center Jeff Foote led the team with 16, but forward Jon Jaques had 14, guards Louis Dale and Chris Wroblewski had 13 each, and forward Ryan Wittman had 11. Cornell's 86 points were the most it has scored in a non-overtime game this season.

Except for a couple early ties, Cornell led throughout. Harvard cut a 19-10 Cornell lead to 19-17 with ten and a half minutes remaining in the first half, but Cornell responded with a 16-0 run to push the lead up to 35-17, and led 38-24 at the half. The Crimson got to within ten with just under thirteen minutes remaining, but a 17-0 Cornell run, capped by a Wittman three, over the next three minutes put the game out of reach.

Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker noted that on defense, us Cornell “was very aggressive… [they] took out of whatever we wanted to run.” The Red “keyed on [star Harvard forward] Jeremy Lin, did a lot of things to limit his touches.” Amaker's counterpart, Cornell head coach Steve Donahue, echoed those sentiments, saying “we have the ability with our depth, our size” to play tremendous defense.

Although the individual scoring totals were fairly even for Cornell, the offense ran through Jeff Foote. Donahue noted that before the game, “what we wanted [Foote] to do, look to score.” Foote, at 7'0”, was able to score at will against the smaller Harvard defenders.

Foote noted that he “felt like I had a little bit of an advantage… the lack of double team really helped out.” He added, “I think they weren't sure how to guard me at first.” When given the ball, he was very efficient, making seven of his eleven shots from the field. Besides the scoring, though, Foote was able to take advantage of the attention Crimson players gave him in order to rack up four assists. Amaker reflected that “Foote's the key to their team…scores on the inside, is a great passer.”

Cornell shot 45% from the field for the game, compared to 36% for Harvard.

When asked afterward if he'd like to see Cornell, who was ranked 27th in last week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, crack the Top 25, Foote replied, “the ratings and that kinda stuff doesn't matter to us…but it would be cool” to be in the Top 25. Cornell may have a good case. Despite shooting only 64% from the foul line, well below their season average, and seeing Ivy League Player of the Year Candidate Ryan Wittman play only 23 minutes due to foul trouble, the Red blew out a Harvard team that was supposed to be their stiffest competition in the Ivy League.

The game was being hyped as the biggest Ivy League game in years, one that featured two teams that could be deserving of at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. The atmosphere at sold-out Newman Arena was electric, with constant chants of “Let's Go Red,” and “Overrated” when Harvard guard Jeremy Lin touched the ball. Amaker did not believe the atmosphere affected his young team, but noted that “the atmosphere was electric.”

Cornell and Harvard will meet again, on February 19, in Cambridge, and there is a ton of basketball for each team to play between now and then. But for one night, Cornell-Harvard looked less like a battle between heavyweights than a bully's beatdown on the schoolyard.

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