ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell shot 22 percent from the floor in the second half and Harvard's Chris Ledlum put up a dominant performance as the Crimson took a 73-56 win over the Big Red on Saturday evening at Newman Arena. The loss dropped Cornell to 16-9 (6-6 Ivy), while the Crimson improved to 14-12 (5-7 Ivy).

Ledlum put up 35 points, 13 rebounds, six steals, three assists and two blocked shots, hitting 12-of-17 field goals and generally making every play all evening. Idan Tretout added 19 points, three rebounds and three assists in the victory for the Crimson, who shot 50 percent from the floor and held a 38-18 edge in paint scoring.

Isaiah Gray had a team-high 11 points to lead the Big Red, while Sean Hansen had 10 points and seven rebounds and Greg Dolan chipped in 10 points. Cornell shot just 33 percent from the floor overall, including 5-of-23 in the final 20 minutes. The team's eight assists were a season low for a team that entered the day third nationally in that category.

After taking a 9-6 lead less that five minutes in, Cornell found itself trailing less than a minute later, ultimately falling behind by as many as 15 (33-18) before mounting a bit of a comeback. Hansen scored eight consecutive points for the Big Red on a pair of 3-pointers and a monstrous fastbreak dunk that helped power a late run that helped Cornell back within six (40-34) at halftime. That Cornell was back in the game despite committing 11 first half turnovers and shooting 42 percent gave hope to the boisterous home crowd, but the second half was more of the same.

Cornell got within two early in the second half on a Greg Dolan 3-pointer moments after Gray circled one in from the wing.  Harvard answered with a 10-0 run behind five points each from Tretout and Ledlum and the Big Red never recovered, never getting within single digits over the game's final 16 minutes. Cornell was shooting under 20 percent in the half until hitting a late basket.

Coupled with Brown's 90-69 loss at Penn, the Big Red remains tied for fourth in the Ancient Eight standings with the Bears (6-6), a single game ahead of both Dartmouth and Harvard (5-7) and two games behind Ivy leaders Penn, Princeton and Yale, all at 8-4. 

 

Next Up

• Cornell will face its final road test of the regular season when it visits 2022 Ivy League Tournament champion Yale on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at the John J. Lee Amphitheater in New Haven, Conn.
• The Big Red will be attempting to claim its first sweep of the yearly series with the Bulldogs since the 2009-10 series and its first three-game win streak against the program since the 2007-08 and 2008-09 campaigns.