CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Cornell rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit and took advantage of 24 Harvard turnovers to complete a rare weekend Ivy road sweep with a 67-61 victory over Harvard on Saturday evening at Lavietes Pavilion. The Big Red matched last season's win total by improving to 12-10 (4-2 Ivy), while the Crimson fell to 11-8 (4-2 Ivy).
The Big Red outscored the Crimson 31-12 off turnovers, taking advantage of tired Harvard legs after their triple overtime win over Columbia on Friday night.
Jimmy Boeheim scored a team-high 16 points, including a career-best four 3-pointers, to lead three double figure scorers.
Matt Morgan chipped in 15 points, moving into second place on the Ivy League's all-time scoring list and surpassing Dartmouth's Jim Barton (2,158 points). He ended the night with 2,162 points and now only trails Princeton's Bill Bradley (2,503 points). He also extended his streak of consecutive double figure scoring games to 73 games, surpassing Purdue great Rick Mount.
Josh Warren netted 14 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists, while
Steven Julian had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with four points, three steals, two blocks and his usual lockdown defense.
Terrance McBride scored nine points, including a dagger 3-pointer in the game's final minute. Cornell won despite shooting 40 percent from the flor and allowing the Crimson to shoot 51 percent.
Harvard's Bryce Aiken had 24 points to lead the home team, while Christian Juzang notched 12 and Chris Lewis had 10. Harvard held a 29-24 edge on the glass, but grabbed just four on the offensive end and were out-shot 25-13 at the free throw line.
The Big Red trailed 34-21 at the break after shooting 33 percent from the field and turning the ball over 12 times. It trailed by as many as 15 points after Cornell was called for a technical bench foul with 2:40 remaining - but held the Crimson scoreless the rest of the half to launch itself into the second half. After Harvard's free throws resulting in the technical foul, Cornell outscored the Crimson 48-27 the rest of the way.
Cornell chipped away at the lead in the second half, scoring eight straight by way of a 3-pointer and two free throws by Warren sandwiched around a trey by Boeheim to make it 42-36 with 12 minutes left. Cornell finally caught Harvard on a
Steven Julian 3-pointer with less than nine minutes remaining, only to see Harvard answer with a three-ball of its own on the ensuing possession. It would go back-and-forth until Morgan gave the Big Red its first lead since 19-17 when he hit all three free throws after being fouled behind the arc. The senior, who scored 10 points in the game's final six minutes - including going 8-of-8 from the line - then put the visitors in the lead for good when he was fouled on a driving layup, getting the basket to fall for a three-point play with 2:05 left. The lead was just one before the Big Red milked the clock, ending a late possession with a McBride 3-pointer with just 33 seconds left to push the lead to four (65-61). Harvard got a shot, an offensive rebound and turned it over before sending Cornell to the line for its final points.
NOTES TO KNOW
• The Big Red completed its first Ivy weekend road sweep since topping Harvard, then Dartmouth, during the 2015-16 campaign.
• Cornell matched its season win total from a year ago when it went 12-16.
• The Big Red snapped Harvard's six-game win streak in the series.
• Cornell is now 10-7 in its last 17 Ivy League games.
• The Big Red is 6-2 since moving
Jimmy Boeheim and
Joel Davis into the starting lineup.
• The game was the 2,700th in Cornell men's basketball history.
• Cornell hit 10 3-pointers on the evening, but it was the first -
Matt Morgan's trey 2:40 into the contest - that extended the Big Red's streak of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 851.
NEXT UP
• Cornell returns home for games against Brown (Friday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m.) and Yale (Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.) at Newman Arena.
