Foote, who also handed out a team-high five assists, was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field with his only miscue coming from the free throw line, as he went 3-for-4.
Alex Tyler poured in 14 points and grabbed six rebounds, while
Ryan Wittman scored 12 points.
Louis Dale rounded out the Cornell players in double figures with 10 points on the evening.
The Big Red put on a clinic on both ends of the floor against the preseason America East favorites, connecting on 64 percent of its shots from the floor and an impressive 55 percent from the arc while holding BU to 32 percent overall and just 20 percent from 3-point range. Cornell held the advantage on the boards, 38-31, but the Terriers collected 18 offensive rebounds to score 15 second chance points. The Big Red assisted on 21 of its 34 field goals.
The Terriers were led by Corey Lowe and Tyler Morris with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Jeff Pelage had eight points and eight rebounds off the bench, including five on the offensive glass. Matt Wolff pitched in with eight points and five boards, all on the offensive end.
Cornell got scoring contributions from 13 players who saw action, with
Geoff Reeves posting eight points and
Adam Wire putting in an impressive 16 minutes of action, hitting all three shots for six points, adding six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Chris Wroblewski had six points and three assists without a turnover in 21 minutes off the bench.
The longtime hockey rivals met for the first time in the hardwood and the Big Red never trailed. Foote took control of the game early, scoring eight points (including three thunderous dunks), assisting on another basket, grabbing three rebounds and blocking a shot in the first 3:44 of the game as the Big Red jumped out to a 13-0 advantage. The Terriers were forced to call a pair of timeouts in the early going, but the lead continued to grow. A 12-0 run highlighted by a pair of Dale treys and another by Reeves made it 28-5 eight minutes in, and the visitors would never get back within 16 the rest of the way.
Only first half offensive rebounding saved the Terriers from a worse fate, grabbing 12 errant shots, most on long rebounds, but the follow-ups weren't much better. BU shot just 11-of-38 from the floor (29 percent) in the first 20 minutes, including 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. That number wouldn't climb much in the second half, hitting on just 9-of-25 shots from the floor (36 percent) and hitting 3-of-11 from 3-point range (27 percent).
The Big Red excited the outstanding winter break crowd with two more dunks, another by Foote and a vicious one-handed slam by Wire on a press-breaking pass by Wittman with eight minutes left. On the very next possession, Foote flushed it through to push the lead back to 20.
By halftime, Foote already had totalled 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks and Tyler ripped down five boards to go along with his nine points and two swats. The duo would pick right up where they left off after the break.
Boston University tried to steal early momentum with Tyler Morris hitting a fall-away 3-pointer on its first possesison to cut into the 48-29 deficit, but Dale hit a tough jumper and Foote found Tyler underneath for a conventional three-point play to extend the lead to 21. The home team never stopped the hustle, as Wire stole three passes in the first four minutes of the half, including stealing an inbounds pass for a layup along the Cornell sideline heaing into the first media timeout that energized the crowd. BU was able to cut the lead to 19 on two occasions, but that would be as close as it would get in the final 14 minutes.
Head coach Steve Donahue was able to clear his bench for the final few minutes, and the crowd stayed in the game as Wilkins hit a short jumper, followed by a 3-pointer by Jaques.
Conor Mullen stole consecutive passes and turned the second into an
Alex Hill layup, then the senior drained a 3-pointer of his own with six seconds to play to cap the scoring.
The Big Red closes out the 2008 portion of its schedule when it meets Quinnipiac on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. at Newman Arena.
