Box Score Box Score (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sophomore Shonn Miller scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a matchup against Ivy League Player of the Year candidate Ian Hummer, but the Tigers' senior matched with 23 points and seven rebounds of his own as Princeton claimed a 72-53 win over Cornell on Saturday evening at Newman Arena.

Miller added a pair of steals and made 10-of-11 free throws as Cornell was able to crash the offensive boards and turn the Tigers over 15 times, resulting in 19 more field goal attempts. Princeton was able to make the most of the shots it got, though, hitting on 58 percent of its shots overall and connecting on 22-of-25 free throws (88 percent). He was the lone Big Red player to reach double figures, though Errick Peck had nine points, five rebounds and three steals off the bench.

Hummer was outstanding all evening, hitting on 10-of-12 field goals and adding three assists, two blocks and a steal to his 23 and 7. Will Barrett (13 points) and Denton Koon (11 points) also reached double figures for Princeton, who held a 32-26 edge on the backboards.

Cornell fell behind by as many as 22 points in the opening seconds of the second half before clawing all the way back to seven at 48-41on an Eitan Chemerinski with a little less than nine minutes left, but right on script, TJ Bray knocked down a 3-pointer to push it right back into double figures. The Big Red didn't have a final run in it after chipping away for much of the first 10 minutes of the second half.

The deficit was in double figures much of the first half as Cornell struggled to make shots. At halftime the Big Red was 5-of-32 (16 percent) and had just one 3-pointer. It made only one more in the second half while taking a season-low nine attempts. The home team didn't get on the board until 4:24 into the contest when Devin Cherry hit Errick Peck for a trey to make it 5-3, and a ti-in by Peck a minute later made it 6-5 Tigers. Just over seven minutes later, Princeton was leading by 14.

The Big Red second half run was a gradual shift, that started in earnest with an Erric Peck steal and layup on the other end four minutes in. Miller scored five straight and then both Miles Asafo-Adjei and Galal Cancer scored after consecutive steals to make it an 11-point game. A driving layup by Dominick Scelfo that rimmed around and down, followed by a driving basket by Devin Cherry, made it 46-35. Cornell got another layup from Scelfo and a tip-in from Chemerinski after a Cherry miss and all of a sudden it was 48-41 with more than eight minutes remaining in regulation.

But then Princeton went to work. Chris Clement found an open Bray in the right corner for a 3-pointer. Clement then scored a pair of free throws, Hummer hit a tough jumper and Koon hit two more free throws to get it back to 16. Miller tried to will Cornell back in it with seven points in the next three minutes, but the Tigers pulled away, hitting five straight shots from the charity stripe late before both teams emptied their benches.

Cornell will close out its home schedule next weekend when it meets Brown (Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m.) and Yale (Saturday, March 2 at 7 p.m.) as part of Senior Weekend.

MORE INFO TO COME