By wpengine
It wasn’t the defense. It wasn’t the offense. It wasn’t even the shooting. No, this loss could only be attributed to intensity, or specifically a lack thereof. After improving in each of its last seven games, Cornell deflated and stumbled against Columbia last weekend, 56-40. The team fell behind early and never caught up. But with a raucous home crowd at its back, the Red will look to get back on its feet and back to putting Ws in the standings in its second game in a row against the Lions. “We’ll have more overall intensity, and our focus will be greater,” said freshman guard A.J. Castro. “We’ll be more physical and press our style of play, which is to run the floor.” Castro has been an integral part of that offense, as he is second on the team in 3-point field goal percentage (.440) on top of his 4.3 points per game. His 12 steals are also fourth on the team behind classmate Cody Toppert (17), sophomore Ka’Ron Barnes (16) and senior Wallace Prather (25). Millennium Club Prather has been on a tear of late, becoming the 17th Red basketball player to top the career 1,000-point mark, and establishing a school record for steals. He was also named to the All-Spider Tournament team in December. In his last eight starts, the guard is averaging 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. To beat Columbia, Cornell will not only need brilliant defense from its guards but also a solid inside game to match that of the Lions’ Craig Austin and Chris Wiedemann. “We need to limit their inside presence,” Castro added, “and have our inside players produce against theirs so we can let our guards run the courts and pass to the big men.” After a good week of practice, the Red will be ready. “We’re very focused on our game and their personnel,” Castro assured. “We’ve had a chance to make adjustments after reviewing the game film. We practiced a lot of shooting.”Archived article by Sumeet Sarin
By wpengine
Freshman year is a period of adjustment for everybody. The newbies have to get acclimated to college life, college work, new friends, Ithaca and being away from home. It’s a lot to take in at once for anyone, but even more so if you happen to be from someplace almost 5,000 miles away. Like Hawaii. Meet Travis Lee, 125 lb. wrestling wunderkind. The 5’4″ rookie has had an incredible run to start the season, peaking (thus far) with his winning the New York State title last week and being named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler. The unassuming-looking freshman is making more than just a tiny impression on the wrestling landscape this semester; he’s making waves. Waves just happen to be one of the many things Lee misses about home. Well, surfing specifically. Apparently Hawaii is full of beaches, surfers, waves and something called a sun. Certainly not things you find around this part of New York. For Lee, the transition has been extra difficult when you realize that he doesn’t get more than a handful of days to go home during the year. He managed to find his way home for a few days over winter break, but left for the mainland soon thereafter to take part in a packed wrestling schedule that saw him compete in places like Dallas and Chicago. And since Hawaii is not exactly a direct flight out of Ithaca, heading home for Thanksgiving or Fall Break is pretty much out of the question. Still, the freshman is getting used to the place. The weather, he claims, “isn’t all that bad.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. His mentor, head wrestling coach Rob Koll, jokes about both the young grappler’s na