SEATTLE – If there was an especially bad time for Cornell to be playing Washington, now is probably it.
The No. 7 Huskies suffered their first loss of the season in a thrilling 96-95 double-overtime defeat to Arizona on Saturday. The loss snapped the nation’s longest home winning streak at 32 games, and left questions over whether Washington’s relatively soft preseason schedule left it ready for the rigors of the Pacific-10 Conference.
Washington and Cornell meet at 7 p.m. today at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
No question, there was a notable difference between Arizona – which had played Kansas, Connecticut, Michigan State, Virginia and Utah – and Washington. The Huskies did not handle the pressure of the game as well as the Wildcats, throwing lazy passes, not playing aggressively on defense, taking some bad shots and missing key free throws.
Many of those plays they were able to get away with against the likes of American and Morgan State, but they found out quickly they couldn’t do that against Arizona.
So though the Big Red are the last of the weak opponents on Washington’s schedule, the Huskies will likely want to put on a strong show to answer some of the doubts.
It shouldn’t be particularly hard for the Huskies to win, but how they look doing it will be what to watch. Will they sleepwalk through the game, or will they assert themselves and put the game away early, as they should?
Cornell, of the Ivy League, is just 4-7, and 1-6 on the road. Two of the losses have been to Syracuse and Penn State, and the Big Red defeated Lehigh, a team that gave Washington a little trouble just before Christmas.
Cornell is shooting just 39.8 percent and averaging only 59.5 points, but is also holding teams to 41.3 percent shooting and 60.2 points. The Big Red rely a fair amount on the 3-pointer, shooting 37.2 percent from behind the arc. Expect Cornell to pack in its defense and force the Huskies to beat it from the outside in a way similar to what Lehigh did.
The Big Red’s best player is 6-foot-6 senior Lenny Collins, who averages 14 points and 4.3 rebounds. Adam Gore, a 6-foot freshman, averages 12.9 points and 6-9 junior Andrea Naeve averages 8.0 points and 7.6 rebounds.
There are a couple of connections between Cornell and Washington. Huskies assistant coach Paul Fortier spent the past two seasons as an assistant for the Big Red.
Also, Ryan Rourke of Bothell is a starting forward for Cornell, and freshman Conor Mullen was the Class 3A state tournament MVP last year after leading Seattle’s O’Dea High School to its second straight title.
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