The men’s basketball team moved back over .500 with wins over Quinnipiac and D-III powerhouse Ursinus this week. With the wins, the Red improves to 8-6 on the season and remained perfect at Newman Arena, 5-0. Cornell has won 13 straight contests at home dating back to last season.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams both dropped tough non-conference games on Monday night. The men couldn’t hold on to a 13-point first half lead as St. Joseph’s used a late 11-3 run to come out on top, 71-67. St. Bonaventure trounced the women, 70-49, in their first game after a 21-day break.

For the second time in one week, the men’s basketball team will get a chance at ruining a perfect season when it faces Minnesota tomorrow at Williams Arena, also known as “The Barn.” The Red will look to hand the Gophers their first loss of the season after falling short against undefeated Syracuse, 88-78.

Led by an electric performance from junior Ryan Wittman, Cornell put a scare into No. 20 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome last night — going up by as much as 16 points in the first half before eventually falling, 88-78.

The men’s basketball team has had its challenges on the road this season, losing contests to Siena, St. John’s and Indiana. The toughest of the season might just come tonight as the Red travels to Syracuse to take on the No. 20 Orange in a game which will be broadcast locally on Time Warner Cable. The Red will enter the central New York showdown unsure if junior point guard Louis Dale will suit up until game time. Dale’s services would help as they face a tough and physical Big East squad led by sophomore point guard Johnny Flynn.

Yesterday, said Indiana men’s basketball head coach Tom Crean, Cornell brought out the best in the Hoosiers. While the compliment was nice for Cornell, it didn’t make the final result, a 72-57 loss, any easier to handle for Cornell head coach Steve Donahue.

The men’s basketball team proved last night that it was capable of winning with both its defense and its offense in a resounding 78-53 win over Loyola University-Chicago. The win was the Red’s second straight of the NIT Preseason Tip-Off tournament after an opening round loss to St. John’s. The Red used staunch first-half defense, a high-scoring second-half offense and some aggressive rebounding to capture the win.

The men’s basketball team will face Eastern Michigan University today at 5:45 p.m. in Jamaica, N.Y. — the contest is the Red’s final consolation round game in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off Tournament, which opened last week.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The men’s basketball team couldn’t repeat its success against Siena last year, losing 74-56 after defeating the Saints last season in Ithaca. Still without the services of junior Louis Dale, the Red did not shoot well from the field, connection on 35 percent, including 7-of-24 from downtown.

The Cornell and Siena men’s basketball teams have a lot in common — both are New York mid-majors, which won their leagues last year (Ivy League and Metro At­lantic Ath­letic Con­fe­rence, respectively) and are the unanimous picks to repeat on the strength of largely returning starting rosters. In the two teams’ last matchup, the Red edged out the Saints at Newman Arena during Thanksgiving break, 83-77. This year, Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy) will travel upstate to rematch Siena (1-0, 0-0 MAAC) tomorrow night in Albany, N.Y.