ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell scored the game's first 10 points and raced its way to a fourth consecutive appearance at Ivy Madness with a 102-70 victory over Princeton on Sunday afternoon in front of a nationally-televised audience. The Big Red improved to 16-10 (8-5), making head coach Jon Jaques '10 the winningest first-year head coach in program history. The Tigers slipped to 18-10 (7-6 Ivy) with the loss and can qualify for Ivy Madness with a win over archrival Penn in its season finale.

Cornell's offense picked right up where it left off in Friday's 90-62 victory over Penn, shooting 64 percent from the floor overall, connecting on 20-of-33 3-pointers and assisting on 29 of its 38 baskets in a clinic against the high-powered Tigers. All five starters scored at least 13 points and were +26 or better during their minutes on the floor - though none played more than 27. As a unit, the starting five made 30-of-42 shots (71 percent) and 16-of-26 shots from beyond the arc (62 percent). 

Senior guard Nazir Williams made 6-of-7 shots from the floor, including his only two 3-point shots, for 14 points and added 12 assists (No. 2 all-time in a single game at Cornell) and four rebounds to pace the Big Red offense. Junior Cooper Noard led the scoring with 19 points, while senior Guy Ragland Jr. tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Jake Fiegen scored 16 points with six boards and AK Okereke notched 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists while making 6-of-7 shots.

While the offense was again the headliner, it was the defensive effort against the Tigers that allowed Cornell to pull away. Cornell held Princeton to 42 percent shooting including a miserable 10-of-38 shooting effort from beyond the arc (26 percent). Xaivian Lee led the way with 14 points and five assists, but was hounded into a 4-of-11 shooting night. Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Caden Pierce added 12 points. The Tigers were outrebounded 35-23.
 
From the very first possession, the Big Red was locked in. Ragland Jr. found a cutting Okereke for a layup and two possessions later an Okereke steal ended with a Fiegen trey on the first of 12 assists by Williams. It was 16-2 six minutes into the game and Cornell was off and running. The Tigers briefly got back within 25-16, but missed 3-pointers on its next two possessions and Noard scored for the Big Red to put Cornell back in double figures with 7:49 remaining. It would stay that way the remainder of the game. The home team led 48-37 at the break after giving up five quick points to the Tigers, including a desperation 3-pointer as the halftime horn sounded to give Princeton some life.

Cornell extinguished that momentum as soon as it hit the court for the second half, doing the same thing it did to start the game with a 16-2 run to extend its lead to 25 at 64-39. Cornell's lead ultimately grew to 35 (88-53) when Fiegen drilled a 3-pointer with 8:33 remaining. The Big Red pulled its starters with five minutes remaining and a 34-point lead. When Corbin Zentner drained the team's 20th 3-pointer of the night with 38 seconds remaining, the Newman Nation crowd had one more chance to shower the Big Red with applause, then did so again less than a minute later when it was announced the win officially put the Big Red in the Ivy Madness field.

UP NEXT
• The Big Red will close out the regular season and celebrate its seniors when it welcomes Columbia to town on Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m..
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• Cornell will be looking to claim a season sweep of the Lions after a 94-83 win in the conference opener for both teams on Jan. 11 in New York City.
• The Big Red enters the regular season finale holding an eight-game win streak over the Lions.