ITHACA — For a team that relies so heavily on the three-point shot, how in South Hill is Ithaca College entering Thanksgiving Break with its first 4-0 record since 1986 while shooting 31.5 percent from beyond the arc? (Yet still averaging 89.8 points per game?)
No arguments of a weak schedule, please. It doesn't hold. Three of these early wins have come over SUNY Cortland — a 21-8 team last season with most of its personnel returning — and a pair of NCAA Sweet 16 teams last year in Trinity (Conn.) and the University of Rochester.
The latter two came over the weekend in Rochester, at the Chuck Resler Tournament. All-American point guard Sean Burton was named tournament MVP, but it was far from a one-man show.
“Once again, I felt we had a pretty good defensive effort in both games,” coach Jim Mullins said. “Everyone's heard the old expression, ‘Live by the 3, die by the 3.' What should be a motivator for every kid and every team is if you're defending and rebounding. Those are effort related facets of the game. All you have to do is go out and put forth a great amount of effort, and you'll (see results).
“The scary thing about us offensively is that we thought we had very subpar offensive performances and we've gotten about 80 every night,” Mullins added.
The effort is reflected in three statistics: opponents are averaging almost 17 turnovers per game as opposed to 11 for Ithaca; the Bombers are averaging 14 offensive rebounds per game; and the Bombers have made more free throws (67) then their opponents have attempted (47).
The offensive balance has been excellent. Sophomore Chris Cruz, Burton and senior Brendan Rogers led Ithaca in scoring its first three games, with Burton's 22 pacing four double-figure scorers in the Rochester win.
That's helped make up for some woeful 3-point shooting: 10-for-27 (.370) against Cortland; 11-for-30 (.367) against Hobart; 2-for-19 (.105) against Trinity and 11 of 32 (.344) against Rochester.
Ithaca broke for Thanksgiving vacation, and won't return to practice until Friday. The team will then travel to Meadville, Pa., for the National City Tournament at Allegheny. Baldwin-Wallace (1-2) is Ithaca's first-round opponent, set for 6 p.m. Saturday. Allegheny and Hilbert are also in the tournament.
Mullins believes the 4-0 start will help keep his players active during the layoff. Ithaca hasn't started a season 5-0 since 1960.
“The up-tempo game we play pretty much mandates that they get some running in,” he said. “You get a little nervous about the time off, but I think they're a focused group.”
Players of the week
For the Empire 8, Burton picked up his second straight player of the week award after averaging 22 points in three wins last week.
Katherine Bixby, the starting point guard for Ithaca's women's team, earned the E8 player of the week award after earning MVP honors at the Oswego Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday. She averaged 20 points, 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds as the Bombers knocked off two 2008 NCAA tournament participants.
In the Ivy League, 7-foot center Jeff Foote was named co-league player of the week along with Dartmouth senior Alex Barnett. Foote scored 20 points, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked five shots last Monday against St. John's, before posting 19 points, eight boards and seven blocks in a win over Loyola (Md.). Against Siena on Saturday, he finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Big-name stretch ahead for Cornell
Tonight's 5:45 tip-off with Eastern Michigan is the fourth and final NIT tournament game for the Big Red, which beat Loyola University of Chicago on Monday at St. John's Carnesecca Arena, 78-53.
The following five games should be a great test for Steve Donahue's club.
The current road trip continues at Indiana on Sunday night, before a trip to the Syracuse Carrier Dome on Dec. 3. Cornell visits Minnesota on Dec. 6 before a two-week break for finals. The home drought ends on Dec. 20 against LaSalle (which just gave No. 2 UConn a good game) before a road contest two days later against St. Joe's at the Palestra in Philly.
Locals at TC3
The Tompkins Cortland Community College women's team has received a boost from several local standouts, most notably Trumansburg's Mackenzie Stilwell and Newark Valley's Michelle Tuetken.
Stilwell is averaging 13.1 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals in seven games for the Panthers, who played at Davis College on Monday. Tuetken is scoring at a 9.7 ppg clip.
Newfield's Janelle Shipos, Ithaca's Katie Currier and Owego's Jennifer Iler, Kyla Knapp and Melissa Riley also play for the Panthers.
Around the Rim is published on Tuesdays. Contact Brian Delaney at bdelaney@gannett.com or by phone at 274-9214.
