Breathing room: Naeve's double-double can't save plucky Red

With a prime chance to unseat the defending Ivy League champions, Cornell came out with both guns blazing.

The Big Red got a monster game from center Andrew Naeve, shot 52 percent from the floor and had two second-half threes each from Ryan Wittman and Geoff Reeves to not only stay close the entire time, but to take a lead at the Palestra with 12 minutes to go.

But even the Big Red's entire arsenal was not enough. Thanks to 25 points from Ibrahim Jaaber and 24 from Mark Zoller, the back-to-back league champs were too much to handle down the stretch in the 83-71 win.

While fans might have thought Penn (17-8, 8-1 Ivy) would roll over the Big Red (14-10, 7-3) yet again, everyone on the court expected a dogfight, and the away side expected to return to Ithaca, N.Y. in the conference's top spot.

"We're done with moral victories, this hurts," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. "These kids believed they were going to win."

Even though they went home empty-handed, the Big Red have a lot to be proud of.

Naeve, Cornell's third-leading scorer, gave Penn fits. He put up 20 on 8-for-11 shooting (4-for-4 from the line), to go along with 10 boards. Those 20 included a dunk in which he came flying down the baseline unmarked to take an early 24-17 lead for Cornell.

But Penn had a counterpunch ready.

As good a game Naeve had, Zoller was that much better. In the first half alone, Zoller had four of his six assists and a whopping six steals - both career highs. The two senior forwards battled it out all game, exemplified by a loose ball early on that Zoller got to first, Naeve just about tackled him for and Zoller violently fought to keep.

"He's a tough guy inside, I love banging down there," Zoller said. "We were getting into it a little there but that's just a part of the game."

At the end of the half, Zoller capped a 23-6 run with a floater in the lane, and a three at the buzzer extended the lead to 40-30.

But Cornell refused to go away. Outside shooters Wittman and Reeves scored 20 of their combined 27 points in the second half to keep their team alive.

A magnificent half from Jaaber - 16 points on eight attempts as well as three assists - kept the Quakers going after the Big Red had made it 53-50 in their favor.

At that key juncture, Jaaber took the lead back with a spinning layup, and shortly after threw a baseline inbounds pass off the back of an unsuspecting Naeve, and went up for a gimme to take a seven-point lead that would never be relinquished.

The four consistent starters - Zoller, Jaaber, Stephen Danley and Brian Grandieri - sat on the bench a combined five minutes in the second half, and that was only because Zoller picked up his third foul with 19 minutes left.

Grandieri was all over the loose balls, grabbing three offensive rebounds after halftime.

"If we're going to outplay a team as talented as them, we have to get those [50-50 balls], and that's a credit to Penn, they get those," Donahue said.

And even though the Big Red hit 52 percent from the field, their 20 turnovers to go along Penn's 17 offensive rebounds were a huge factor in the Quakers' ability to fend off the tough challenge.

In all, Penn was thrilled to walk away from the five-game homestand untouched, and still on top of the league standings.

"Cornell's a good team, and it's a nice win at home to stay in first place," Penn coach Glen Miller said.

Cornell is not out of the Ivy race, but Penn and Yale (8-2) are now heavy favorites to bring home the hardware. And while Donahue was disappointed, he can't be upset with his team's performance.

"We had every right, as young as we are and with the freshmen we have, to get blown out by 30 to this team," Donahue said. "I was proud of our effort, it was a heck of an environment. When the corners are filled at the Palestra you know it's a big game."

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