Penn vs. Cornell Live Updates

Good evening from the Palestra, where Penn and Cornell are set to pen a new chapter in this growing rivalry. Both teams are coming off of key losses yesterday, with Penn falling to Columbia and the heavily-favored Big Red sputtering at Princeton. This game will be crucial for both teams' Ivy League aspirations. For Penn, the game is a must-win -- falling to 1-3 in the league all but dooms its season. For Cornell, tonight is a chance to prove that last night was a fluke and that with the target on its back, it is still the team to beat in the Ivy League. Cornell's fans have traveled exceptionally well and outnumber Penn at this point, though I'm sure the student section for Penn will fill up soon. Stay tuned throughout the night, wireless willing, for live updates. --Andrew Todres

Final, Penn 73, Cornell 88

Tyler rattles home a baseline jumper on a pass from Howlett, 78-66. Cornell wastes no time on the next possession, dumping it into Tyler for a baby hook to extend the lead to 14. Gaines made a nice move to the basket but couldn't finish on the next possession. Then Foote commits an offensive foul away from the ball with 1:56 to go. Rosen clanks a 3 from the corner, which should just about seal Penn's fate. In reality it was sealed a long time ago. Dale is pushed by Rosen and goes to the line for two, as Cornell's in the double-bonus. Penn fans are heading for the exit at this point. He makes 1 of 2 to give the Big Red a 15 point lead with 1:18 to go. Harrison nets a free throw after getting fouled and Bernardini strips the inbound and goes to the line for two more, making both. 81-69 with 1:09 to go. A Rosen foul off the inbound sends Wroblewski to the line, with Cornell clearing the lane. He makes one of two, 82-69. Howlett bricks another 3, and then Dale gets fouled. He makes both of his free throws -- a 15-point lead with under a minute to go is insurmountable. This game is done.

Cornell completely took the wind out of Penn's sails midway through the first half. Penn's performance this weekend likely has sealed its fate as a team destined for another year without a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Much more coverage from the weekend will follow on the Buzz and in the DP on Monday.

3:01 to go in the 2nd Half, Penn 64, Cornell 78

Foote hits 1 of 2 from the line -- Eggleston still isn't in the game, but Cam Lewis has a nice move inside for the bucket to bring it to within 11. He then stuffs Foote, but Cornell retains possession and Wittman drills a 3-pointer. So clutch. Miller grabs a 30-second TO.

3:53 to go in the 2nd Half, Penn 62, Cornell 74

"Who's that kid," Steve Donahue asks one of his assistants about Danny Monckton, shortly before Kreefer restores Cornell's lead to 20 with a bucket. Gaines steals the ball and takes it all the the basket and gets fouled hard on the way up, converting the basket. It should have been an intentional foul. Gaines hits the free throw to convert the 3-point play, 69-54. Rosen stripped Dale but the ball landed right in Foote's hand for an easy layup to make it 71-56. At the 5:31 mark, Bernardini returns to replace Monckton. Rosen misses a 3 that he tried to create for himself, but then recoveres a loose ball and drives all the way to the basket to draw a foul. He hits both, 73-58. Then Tyler commits a foul 75 feet away from the basket, his fourth foul. He is just dreadful today. Harrison Gaines, Penn's only bright spot today, hits a jumper from the elbow to close the lead to 14, and then Eggleston draws a charge at the other end. Then he gets pulled for Howlett. Bernardini cuts the lead to 12 now, hitting a nice perimter shot. Then Rosen is whistled for a touch foul against Louis Dale. Dale misses the front end but Tyler gets a rebound over Howlett (why did Eggleston get taken out before, Coach? I disagree with that one) to keep it alive for Cornell. Then a Votel foul. Media timeout.

The Cornell band and student section now serenades Penn its own rendition of the "Hey, you suck!" song. I'm sure Penn's athletic department is thrilled. And to Cornell's band's credit, they do it a lot better and louder than Penn's band used to. Maybe that's an exaggeration -- I just haven't heard it from Penn's side in ages.

7:58 to go in the 2nd Half, Penn 49, Cornell 67

Out of the timeout, Wittman gets the feed inside and draws three Penn defenders, with Lewis committing the foul -- his fourth. He hits both to give Cornell a 20-point lead, the largest lead of the game. Gaines tips in a Turley miss at the other end. Then on the next possession Howlett hoists up a ridiculously stupid three-point attempt and bricked it severely, with Wittman responding at the other end with a deep 2. Then Tyler misses another jumper, but Penn cuts the lead back to 18 when Gaines drives coast-to-coast and uses his speed to get himself a layup. On the next possession, Tyler Bernardini failed to box out his man, leading to a continuation of Cornell's possession -- and leading Miller to yank him in favor of Danny Monckton (!). I have a feeling the bench will be emptied out in the coming minutes.

10:32 to go in the 2nd Half, Penn 45, Cornell 63

Rosen steals it and takes it the other way on the break, finding Gaines, but he is fouled before he can get up a layup (arguably should have been a shooting foul), then Gaines hoists up a brick from the elbow off the inbounds. For some reason, Steve Donahue doesn't like what he sees out on the floor and calls a 30-second TO.

11:10 to go in the 2nd Half, Penn 45, Cornell 63

Reilly and Lewis come in out of the timeout, though Penn's offense looks totally confused. Reilly puts up an ill-advised three-point attempt -- not what he was sent in to do. Miller is too depressed by this performance right now to even express his anger like he usually does. He just looks absolutely miserable on the bench right now.

11:42 to go in the 2nd Half, Penn 45, Cornell 63

Finally a three falls for Penn thanks to an open look for Mike Howlett -- I believe that's the first three since Belcore hit one in the opening minutes of the game. Brian Kreefer responds at the other end with a great offensive board and put back, but Egee sticks another 3 on the next possesion to make it a 15-point game. The shots are finally starting to fall for Penn. Then Wroblewski threw the ball away, turning it over to Penn. Tyler Bernardini took advantage of the opportunity, creating an open look and draining Penn's third consecutive three, though Kreefer put in a midrange jumper at the other end to neutralize Penn's three-point streak. Tyler tried to take it inside on the next possession and appeared to be fouled on a layup but nothing was called. Then Tyler committed an ill-advised looseball foul, his third, and was replaced by Gaines. A good interior pass from Foote to Wire sets up an easy jumper, giving Cornell a 61-45 lead at the 12:30 mark. Then Eggleston took a feed in the post but hoisted up a terrible effort on a turnaround hook shot attempt, and Cornell responded with a great pass inside from Kreefer to Foote for an easy layup. Miller grabs a much-needed TO. With 11:42 to go, I would say this game, barring a Palestra miracle, is in the books. Penn just doesn't have it tonight, and Cornell is playing too well.

15:27 to go in the 2nd Half, Penn 36, Cornell 54

Miller starts out with Lewis, Rosen, Belcore, Turley, and Gaines on the floor, as the lineup continues to fluctuate. Gaines hits a short jumper in the lane to start the Quakers off. Then Gaines is hacked but no foul is called on a layup on the ensuing possession. Cam Lewis contributed in a big way on Penn's first two defensive stops. Then Gaines took a feed from Rosen for a nice layup -- Rosen's first assit. Penn is looking sharp to start out this half, just as they did at the beginning of the last stanza. Louis Dale, who has been quiet, responds at the other end with a 3 to put Cornell up 49-33. Gaines continues his little scoring streak, going 1-2 from the line to cut the defacit to 15. On the next possession, Gaines continues to step it up, driving the lane and flushing a floater, though Dale responded in kind with a jumper in the paint at the other end. Cam Lewis then killed Penn's momentum, throwing a terrible pass in the post that was intercepted, and Wittman returned fire with a perimeter jumper to make it a 53-36 game. Lewis then mishandled a pass in the paint and Dale went all the way down the court and drew a hard foul from Turley. At the 16:08 mark, Rosen, Bernardini, and Egee checked in; Dale went 1-2 from the line. Bernardini set Rosen up on the next possession with an open 3, but Rosen missed. The Big Red then worked the ball inside with nice interior passing and drew a foul on a layup attempt under the basket. Alex Tyler will shoot 2 when we come back from the media timeout.

Halftime Stats

Wittman leads Cornell with 11 points. Foote chipped in 9 points and 3 boards. Cornell is shooting 6-11 from downtown.

Penn is led by Cam Lewis' nine points -- the next highest scorer is Belcore with 5. Penn is an icy 1-10 from three-land. The rebounding margin favors Penn by 1, while Cornell has only 5 turnovers to Penn's 7. Tyler Bernardini and Zack Rosen both have two points each, and Rosen does not yet have an assist to his name.

Ugly.

Halftime, Penn 29, Cornell 44

Harrison Gaines made a great play to pick up a defensive rebound and run the floor, dishing to Eggleston on a breakaway, but he Eggleston missed what was a tentative dunk attempt. Lewis grabbed up the rebound and got fouled, hitting one of two. "You just cost us two points," Miller said to Eggleston after yanking him because of the miss. Then Reeves responded with the clock expiring, pulling off a beautiful spin into a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to cement a 15-point lead for Cornell heading into the locker room.

What a wild game this has been. First Penn, coming out with a completely unprecedented lineup, seemed to have the upper hand. But Cornell has been completely dominant since then, making the Quakers look awful in just about every phase of the game. Other than a few nice minutes from Belcore, no Penn player stands out as having really contributed much at all. Lewis has had his moments, but Rosen and Bernardini have brought nothing to the table tonight thus far. Penn will need its better players and leaders to pick up the slack in the second half if it has any chance at making up this large defacit against a more talented Cornell team.

Halftime stats in a few...

:45.6 to go in the 1st Half, Penn 28, Cornell 42

Bernardini comes in out of the media timeout to go along with Eggleston, who came back a bit earlier, Egee, Rosen, and Lewis. Votel and Gaines immediately replace Egee and Lewis. Foote makes his free throws, 35-27 Cornell. A dumb foul on Bernardini causes him to get yanked and replaced by Egee; Reeves makes the pair to extend Cornell's lead to 10. Tyler is just playing terribly right now, and he's clearly frustrated with himself, as is Miller. Gaines draws a foul at the other end and hits one of two -- the lead for Cornell is now nine at the 2-minute mark. Then a great swing pass from Foote sets up a Wroblewski 3-pointer to move the Big Red's lead to double-digits. Meanwhile, Penn is misfiring all over the floor -- Eggelston rims out a three-pointer and Cornell takes it the other way, as Foote finishes off a powerful inside move to give Cornell a 14-point lead. The Big Red are really starting to breakthis open, and Penn just cannot get anything going on offense like they did so successfully in the beginning of the game. Maybe Miller should have stuck with his wacky starting lineup? The usual crew is just not getting it done.

3:19 to go in the 1st Half, Penn 27, Cornell 33

Belcore misses a three out of the timeout, and then Cam Lewis stuffs Foote but is called for a foul, much to the disgust of the pretty full Penn student section. Media timeout.

3:58 to go in the 1st Half, Penn 27, Cornell 33

Turley and Lewis come in out of the media timeout -- still no Eggleston. With the shot clock winding down, Wittman hoists up a three-point prayer that falls, giving Cornell its first lead since the opening minute of the game. Lewis ties it up on the next possession with a nice spin move and baby hook in the post. Then Reeves followed a Wittman 3-point miss with a layup off the rebound. Turley at the line -- chants of "Mormon" echo from the Cornell section (classless) -- but he sinks both to tie the game up at 25. Wittman rattles home another three at the other end to put the Big Red up by 3, but Rosen rides Reeves on his back on the ensuing possession to draw a foul. Egee comes in to replace Bernardini before the front end of Rosen's 1-and-1 -- Tyler has been playing far below his standards tonight. Rosen hits both to draw Penn to within 1. Reeves sticks a three on the ensuing possession to restore Cornell's lead to 4. Then Cam Lewis gets a turn at the free throw (as the Penn crowd holds its breath), and misses the front end. Then Lewis gets schooled in the post by Foote to extend Cornell's lead to 6, prompting a Miller 30-second TO.

7:38 to go in the 1st Half, Penn 21, Cornell 20

Penn returns from the media timeout with a lineup that I personally like: Rosen, Eggleston, Bernardini, Votel, and Egee. Fittingly, there's a stoppage and Howlett subs in for Eggleston before play starts up because Eggleston is bleeding -- that's just the type of player he is. Penn is hustling much better and playing with a lot more toughness than they did yesterday. It's a very noticeable change -- clearly Miller got through to them. A great play started and finished by Votel: gets a steal at one end, takes a post pass and finds Bernardini cutting backdoor for the layup, though Dale responded with a 3 at the other end to make it 17-15. Then Egee catches a pass under the basket and goes up strong for the layup, though he does commit a foul to prevent an easy layup at the other end -- his second foul and Penn's ninth. The Quakers will need to pay attention to foul trouble as the game goes on. Eggleston still hasn't come on since the media timeout, though he seems anxious to get back in at the 9:25 mark, standing up from the bench and urging on his teammates. Wittman also picked up his second foul before the 9-minute mark and was replaced by Gore. Penn demonstrated some maturity coming off of two Adam Gore free throws, slowing down the offense and patiently waiting for the right moment to take it at Cornell, which Gaines did to draw a foul on a jumpshot from the elbow. He hit both of his free throws to put Penn ahead 21-18 and was then replaced by Bernardini. An ugly alley-oop on a breakaway from Louis Dale to Jeff Foote, who barely flushed it, drew the Big Red to within 1. Cornell will take the ball out underneath Penn's basket when we return from the media timeout.

Amy Gutmann is in the house, drawing chants from the Penn student section. The Palestra is pretty full, though again there is a huge discrepency between the students in the upper level and the lower level season ticeket holders. Make this GA, Penn.

11:42 to go in the 1st Half, Penn 15, Cornell 12

Penn's starters, minus Belcore and Votel, come in out of the media timeout -- Eggleston, Rosen, and Bernardini. Gaines is struggling, though, as he's whistled for a travel trying to drive the lane. Then Gaines commited a charge driving again -- he keeps trying to drive strong side and has come away with nothing. Belcore comes in to replace him. Then Eggleston does an amazing job picking away a long loose ball while colliding with a Cornell player, and Cam Lewis receives a dish and puts up a pretty reverse layup to finish. Meanwhile, at the 13:56 mark, Cornell is already in the bonus. Votel checks in and receives a good feed from Belcore and turns around baseline to hit a short jumper. Belcore is playing very nicely so far. Then Chris Wroblewski responds at the other end with a 3 to make it 15-11. A great block from Eggleston on an Alex Tyler layup attempt, but Rosen couldn't complete the layup at the other end. Then there was a great hustle play from Eggleston to scramble for a defensive rebound, diving on the ground and passing the ball over to Egee to give the possession over to Penn.

15:48 to go in the 1st Half, Penn 11, Cornell 5

Justin Reilly needed only 42 seconds to commit two fouls, getting subbed out for Cam Lewis. The scoring started out with a free throw from Jeff Foote and a nice take off a screen for a layup by Belcore. Cornell is taking it inside on Penn early, just like Columbia did so successfully last night. Ryan Wittman added two more points from the charity stripe, and then was quickly subbed out for the recently-returned Adam Gore. Then Belcore continued the scoring with a three-pointer in the corner off a nice screen and feed from Conor Turley, who is seizing the moment in what I believe is his first career start. Then Turley drew a charge at the other end, much to the delight of an enthusiastic Glen Miller. Turley sure is making him look good here in the early going. Cam Lewis, after missing a layup on a prior possession, followed up with a nice post move and strong layup to extend Penn's ead to four and then to six with a nice putback on the next possession. Gaines is a little out of control early though, with a sloppy take to the basket that was blocked. But Penn is really making a point of taking it to the hole, as Egee drove hard to the basket and finished with a layup to give Penn the 11-5 lead at the 16-minute mark, which is where we stand now at the media timeout. An impressive start for the Quakers with the mystery lineup -- Rosen, Bernardini, Eggleston, and Votel still haven't seen a second of action. Also worth noting that the Penn student section still remains relatively sparse, while Cornell's side is absolutely full. The non-student attendance is pretty strong.

Starting Lineups

Cornell

F Ryan Wittman

F Alex Tyler

C Jeff Foote

G Louis Dale

G Geoff Reeves

Penn

F Conor Turley

F Justin Reilly

G Kevin Egee

G Harrison Gaines

G Rob Belcore

Huge suprise here -- Miller is going with a completely new-look starting lineup tonight. Perhaps a punishment for the performance last night? Who knows? Stay tuned.