ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team was overwhelmed by Cornell Friday night at Newman Arena, the Big Red knocking down 15 three-pointers in the first half as they cruised to a 90-62 win.
 
Penn falls to 7-18 overall and 3-9 in Ivy League play with the loss, while Cornell (15-10, 7-5) kept its Ivy League Tournament hopes very much alive.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn had 47 rebounds on Friday night, a season high, and outrebounded the Big Red 47-32 overall and 16-7 on the offensive glass.
 
*Senior Nick Spinoso posted his second double-double this season and the eight of his Penn career with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
*Spinoso shot 7-of-11 from the field and is 27-37 (.730) on 2-point field goals across the Quakers' last three games.
 
*Sophomore Sam Brown tied for game-high scoring honors with 19 points; he has hit double digits in scoring in every Ivy League game this season.
 
*Junior Ethan Roberts extended his double-figure scoring streak to 18 games with 10 points on Friday, and he added five rebounds.
 
*Cornell—which had no starter play more than 19 minutes on Friday night—got 19 points from Cooper Noard, 16 from Jake Fiegen, and 11 from Nazir Williams Nine different players hit three-pointers for the Big Red.
 
How It Happened
Cornell set the tone early Friday night at Newman, as the Big Red's first five shots were from distance and four of them went through the basket for a 12-6 lead. The score was still just 17-13 when the hosts poured it on—a Noard triple set Cornell off on an 11-0 run, and answered a free throw by Zanoni with five more for a 16-1 run to take a 33-14 lead.
 
Things got out of hand in the final seven minutes of the half. Cornell scored 28 points and held Penn to eight in that stretch. By the time Ryan Kiachian dropped in a hook shot in the final seconds of the half, the Big Red had dropped a staggering 63 points on the Quakers and took a 36-point lead into the locker room. Buckets by Noard and Fiegen then opened the second half, continuing what was a 14-0 run that pushed Cornell in front by 40.
 
Cornell shot 15-of-22 (.682) from three-point land in the opening 20 minutes on Friday, while Penn struggled from everywhere—going just 9-of-27 overall and hitting just two of their 12 shots from beyond the arc in the opening half.
 
Cornell's largest lead in the game was 43 points, at 81-38 with 12:12 remaining, but Big Red coach Jon Jaques was well into his bench already at that point and so Penn outscored their hosts 24-9 the rest of the way.
 
Up Next
Penn makes the overnight trip across the Empire State and will face Columbia Saturday night at 6 p.m. in the Big Apple. The Lions fell to Princeton on Friday night,
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.