Box Score Box Score
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Ryan Wittman scored a career-high 28 points, including the 1,000th of his career, but Cornell struggled on the defensive end throughout in falling to Indiana in Assembly Hall 72-57 on Sunday evening. The loss dropped Cornell to 4-3, while the Hoosiers improved to 4-2 with the win.
In the arena where his father earned Big Ten Player of the year honors, Wittman hit on 8-of-22 field goals, including five 3-pointers, surpassing the 1,000-point mark with a jumper with 9:10 remaining in the contest. He became the 23rd player in school history to reach the milestone. He added five rebounds and two steals in the loss while playing all 40 minutes.
Senior Jeff Foote was the only other Big Red player in double figures with 13 points and nine rebounds. Cornell shot just 33 percent in the loss and made 7-of-21 3-pointers with 14 turnovers.
Indiana was led by 23 points and seven rebounds from freshman Tom Pritchard, who made all seven of his field goals. Nick Williams added 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Devan Dumes posted 13. The Hoosiers shot 55 percent from the floor, inclusing 62 percent in the first 20 minutes.
Despite allowing Indiana, a team entering the game shooting just 45 percent from the floor, to shoot 62 percent in the first 20 minutes, the Big Red went into the break trailing just 35-29 thanks to 14 points from Wittman and an outstanding half of hustle from Adam Wire. The sophomore made his eight minutes count, scoring two points, grabbing three rebounds, stealing two passes and assisting on two baskets without committing a turnover. Despite trailing by 13 points in the half, Cornell whittled away at the lead. The Big Red shot just 36 percent from the floor in the stanza.
The Hoosiers, using the energy in the building, jumped out to an early 14-4 lead by the first media timeout behind seven quick points in the lane by Pritchard, including a three-point play over Foote. Cornell got right back into the game thanks to the hustle of Adam Wire. The sophomore had steals on two consecutive possessions, leading to a fastbreak layup for himself and a 3-pointer for Wittman as part of an 8-0 run that made the IU lead 17-16 nine minutes in.
The one-point game quickly turned into a double-figure lead for the Hoosiers with a 10-0 spurt over a span of 2:17with Williams scoring five of the points, including a trey to make it 27-16 with 8:14 left in the half. The basket made the Hoosiers 11-of-15 from the floor, good for 73 percent.
The second half saw the visitors climb to within two on two occassions in the second half and to three points with 13 minutes left, but IU went on a 6-0 run that put the home team back up by nine. The Big Red again made a charge thanks to five quick points by Wittman and a short jumper by Foote to make it 49-45 with 8:27 left, but another 6-0 run really sealed the victory for Indiana.
Cornell will have another tough test on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. when it travels an hour up I-81 to battle Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. The Orange leads the all-time series 84-31, including 30 consecutive wins over the Big Red.
