Ivy Hoops Notebook | Bulldogs bully Tigers on glass

It wasn't about height in New Haven, Conn., Friday. 383 inches of Yale blue and white lined up for tip-off, while across the way, Princeton's starting five came in at 380 inches.

But the Bulldogs played much bigger, manhandling the Tigers to the tune of a 43-23 rebounding edge in the easy 12-point victory.

"We made it pretty tough on ourselves," Princeton guard Dan Mavraides told The Daily Princetonian. "We knew that's what they pride themselves on, crashing the boards. We knew that coming in, but we didn't execute."

Those rebounding difficulties plagued the visitors from the get-go. On the opening possession, the Bulldogs missed their first four shots. No matter; they cleaned up off the glass each time. Attempt No. 5 was finally good, giving Yale a 2-0 lead.

That set the tone for the next 39 minutes. Senior captain Ross Morin led the way with his fourth double-double of the season and seventh of his career, while eight of his teammates hauled in at least two boards apiece. The Bulldogs finished with 32 points in the paint to Princeton's 16. Even more impressive was their 21-5 edge in second-chance points.

Feelin' good at No. 10. "Potent offense" and "Princeton basketball" aren't quite synonymous.

Thanks to characteristic monotony - on full display in Tuesday's 55-point overtime effort against the Quakers - nobody donning orange and black has cracked the conference scoring leaderboard since 2004-05.

That's three straight seasons without Tigers representation in the end-of-year top 10.

A Philadelphia local is trying to change that. Freshman Doug Davis - who began his high school years at Abington Friends before transferring twice - has been providing plenty of offensive firepower, at least by Princeton standards.

The 5-foot-11 guard led the Tigers with 20 points during a disappointing weekend in which they were swept by Yale and Brown. And even after a dismal 3-for-13 performance from the floor against the Quakers, there he sits, 10th in the Ancient Eight with 12.1 points per game.

Davis (no relation to the Arizona Diamondbacks hurler of the same name) has barely escaped the lengthy reach of Jeff Foote; Cornell's 7-foot center is hovering behind him with an average of 12.0 points. But if Princeton's leader in points, minutes and steals can regain his early season form, then one ignominious Tigers mark, at least, can be put to bed.

Hello, Newman. Cornell has not lost at its Newman Arena in a long, long time. Indeed, its home winning streak stands at a program-record 19 games, the third-best active mark in all of Division I.

With a little help from Dartmouth, the Big Red came dangerously close to kissing that glory goodbye on Valentine's Day. They held a comfortable 48-29 lead early in the second half Saturday - and then the wheels fell off. When Big Green center Elgin Fitzgerald sunk a jumper just after the 10-minute mark, the scoreboard read 48-44, the culmination of a five-minute, 15-0 run.

The Granite State squad completed the improbable comeback with 35 ticks remaining, and once Ryan Whitmann's late wide-open three didn't fall, it was time for an extra period. And then another one.

Finally, after 50 minutes of hoops, the Big Red could relax. They prevailed in double-overtime, 79-76.

"I've been in the league 19 years," Cornell coach Steve Donahue told The Cornell Daily Sun, "and that was a huge win for our program."

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