Cornell has struggled offensively all year, and that’s the clearest indication that this isn’t the Big Red of a couple of years ago. That was abundantly clear in the first half on Friday, as they struggled to get anything going and committed several turnovers that were of the costly variety. They weren’t much better in the second half, as their better shooting percentage was masked by more turnovers as well as a few baskets with the outcome not in doubt that made the score closer than it looked.

“We tried to score in transition before the halfcourt defense could get set up,” said head coach Bill Courtney. “It is a problem that we don’t make shots. We know that the way this team is built, if we don’t make shots, we’re going to be in trouble a lot of nights.”

The Big Red haven’t run bad offense, and the feeling is that they have been able to get good shots often. But they have had trouble getting the ball in the basket, as they shoot less than 41 percent on the season and less than 33 percent from deep. Turnovers haven’t been as big a problem, but they were on Friday night and Harvard made them pay for it.

Even with the offensive struggles, the Big Red’s defense has helped keep them in games. The Big Red allow opponents to shoot less than 41 percent from the floor, which is good for third in the Ivy League, and they force a league-high 16 turnovers per game. They defend the three-point line better than any other Ivy League team. The down side at that end is fouling: the Big Red average over 20 fouls per game and allow teams to get to the line more than 23 times per game. That was a big part of how Harvard grabbed the lead in the first half, as the Crimson went 15-18 from the line (they were 29-34 from the line for the game). But when Cornell got them in the halfcourt and didn’t foul, they were often effective.

Cornell has lost only three games by double digits this season, and four losses have been by five points or less. The inability to pull out close games plagued last year’s team, and while this year’s team hasn’t been much better, that isn’t as big an issue this time around. Perhaps the best sign of how competitive this team has been is that during a tough four-game road stretch to close out December, the Big Red lost all four games by single digits, including two by less than five and one in overtime.

“The teams we’ve played on the road are very good,” said Courtney, now in his second season leading the program. “A lot of the times, we’ve given ourselves a chance to win, and when you’re playing a good team on the road, that’s all you can ask for.”

There is some good young talent on this team, and that tends to be what a team looks like in year two of a coaching staff. The Big Red have six freshmen and five sophomores, four of whom have played significant minutes thus far. A couple of their underclassmen have had more limited action or none at all due to injury, and that has also been the case for their most talented player, junior Errick Peck. Peck will redshirt due to a knee injury and come back for two more years, which means they can really build with this core. Peck had a breakout season a year ago with a larger role, and looked ready to contend for all-league honors this season.

Shonn Miller has started 13 games thus far for the Big Red and shown the most promise of the freshmen. He has won the league’s Rookie of the Week four times this season and is third on the team in scoring and leads in rebounding and blocked shots.

“Shonn just adds a different dimension as far as athleticism and altering shots on the defensive end,” said senior guard Chris Wroblewski.

Wroblewski is a key holdover from the championship days, having played a key role on those teams in his first two seasons. With that, it’s fair to say he knows a little about winning. That’s why it’s no surprise that Courtney singled him out in particular for the leadership on the team, especially with the young talent he has and while Wroblewski has had a tough season shooting the ball.

“Chris Wroblewski has done an incredible job of leadership,” said Courtney. “Even when he was playing bad and wasn’t making shots, he was being a great leader and really bringing this team together.”

Cornell has already shown they can be a factor in the Ivy League. The Big Red are unlikely to contend for the title this season, but they are 7-2 at home including a win over Princeton. But Courtney can see this team moving in a positive direction, and you get the feeling that if they get that first road win, it might spur them on to more. As it is, they are likely to be one of those proverbial “teams no one wants to see” down the stretch at home.

“I think it’s a team on a mission this year,” said junior Kyle Casey, who led Harvard with 20 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s 68-59 win at Brown. “Last year, we got down early, and being a veteran team, we learned from those experiences and tried to nip them in the bud.”

Last year’s trip to Providence and New Haven wasn’t so good for the Crimson. First, they didn’t play well but pulled out a win at Brown after being down by 11 at halftime. A night later, they went to New Haven and lost to Yale in overtime. Had they won that game and every other one turned out the same, the Crimson would have been dancing with an outright Ivy League title. (Interestingly, Brown’s gym was home to the other loss by the team that tied the Crimson, as the Bears knocked off Princeton at home.)

This time around, it was different. A more mature and battle-tested Crimson team won these two games convincingly. It’s undoubtedly a sign of maturity for what is a veteran team, but head coach Tommy Amaker also noted that it comes at a different point in the season, and this time it might have been advantageous.

“This is the beginning of our conference race, so there’s a lot of excitement and energy with everyone right now,” said Amaker.

On Friday night, the Crimson simply shut down Yale in their biggest win ever against the Bulldogs. They held Yale below 32 percent from the field and forced 22 turnovers, which they turned into 26 points. They kept it up the entire game, turning an 11-point halftime lead into the final 30-point victory margin with a strong second half where they outscored the Bulldogs 35-16.

Saturday night’s win over Brown will go into the book as a nine-point win. Don’t let that fool you; Harvard was in control throughout the second half after scoring the first 11 points to turn a 31-27 halftime lead into a 42-27 advantage. While Brown had some good spurts, you never had the feeling they were truly within striking distance, perhaps one play away from going on a run to make it a close game. Harvard never relaxed, aided by some good bench play (freshman Steve Moundou-Missi, in particular, had a solid weekend), and kept Brown at arm’s length as a result. They held the Bears to 37 percent shooting on the night.

Harvard’s 4-0 start in league play includes a 3-0 mark on the road. They will be playing from being ahead, which can never be underestimated in this league, and they now get to go home for a weekend. The Crimson have been excellent at protecting their home floor, so it would not be a surprise if they are 6-0 a week from now. They look like a team on a mission, and one part of that has been fulfilled.

Dartmouth gave Harvard a battle for much of the game last month when they visited Cambridge for the league opener. For years while they have struggled, they have been known for giving even the best teams a run for their money in Hanover. Thus far, they are 0-3 in the early going after dropping a 66-59 decision at Brown on Friday night, and it’s a game they could have had. The bottom line isn’t going to show it, but the future is looking bright for this team.

The Big Green had two freshmen and a sophomore in their starting lineup on Friday, and another freshman was among the first players off the bench. It’s not a stretch to say that the three freshmen are among their four or five best players right now, and head coach Paul Cormier is giving them plenty of opportunity early on.

Right behind this group will be more good talent. Next year they will add a solid point guard in Alex Mitola from New Jersey and two from the New England prep ranks: an excellent shooter in Kevin Crescenzi from the Tilton School and a versatile wing in Tommy Carpenter from Northfield Mount Hermon. With that on the way, a fan of the team can be forgiven if they lose sight of what’s in front of the team right now, although the coaching staff isn’t doing that.

“We’ve got to try to win games now as well,” said Cormier, who is in his second stint as head coach at the school. “We’ve got to learn how to win. A game like tonight, where you had the lead going into the second half, and then you made that comeback, it would be nice to make some big plays and big stops down the stretch, which we just did not do.”

Dartmouth led for most of the game after Brown scored the first four points. Brown got close several times, but Dartmouth consistently had answers to push the lead back up. Even when the Bears finally grabbed the lead at 35-33 just three minutes into the second half, Dartmouth scored the next six points and at one point led 48-40. The Big Green had another answer when Brown took a 53-52 lead with 4:07 left, but the next time they lost the lead would be the last time they held it on the night.

Cormier cited shooting as a primary concern for this team, and a look at the box score certainly shows it. They Big Green shot 37 percent from the field, including just 29.2 percent in the second half. They did well to get to the foul line 19 times (making 16), but that couldn’t make up for their struggles to make a basket. They shoot below 40 percent on the season and have shot 44 percent or better just four times this season.

At the top of those struggles on Friday night were top shooter David Rufful (2-11 from the field, including 0-3 from long range) and Gabas Maldunas (3-12). Maldunas did have 11 rebounds and has already become their best player, as he’s a tough matchup with his skill level inside and out. Cormier said Maldunas and classmate Jvonte Brooks, who led the Big Green on Friday with 16 points, were hobbled recently by the flu.

Rufful, Jabari Trotter and Kirk Crecco are the only seniors on this team. With freshmen coming in and getting good minutes and key roles right away, it could threaten the chemistry on some teams. Thus far, Cormier has seen none of that.

“We have good chemistry,” said Cormier. “The older kids have done a lot as far as helping them adjust from high school or prep school into the Ivy League and deal with both playing a Division I schedule and handling the rigors of the Ivy League academically. The upperclassmen have done a wonderful job as far as leadership, and that’s all been a help.”

Cormier said he hopes the upperclassmen get to experience more wins before they are done. They may not be here to see this team become relevant again while the talent that is in Hanover and on the way tries to develop into a contender, but they will have set the stage for it. In a couple of years, Dartmouth may well be a contender in the Ivy League, leaving recent seasons and this season’s 0-3 start in league play as relics of the past.

Let’s start with Florida State, which annihilated North Carolina 90-57 in Tallahassee. The Seminoles had a so-so non-conference run, as they came into Saturday lacking a win against the top 50 in three tries. Beating the Tar Heels is a remedy for that, although they need to make it relevant come March by playing well the rest of ACC play.

Next, we go to Northwestern, a team for whom heartbreak has become a regular occurrence. The Wildcats have had chances to play their way into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in recent years, but haven’t been able to pull out the games they needed to. It looked like this year might be another case of that, too, although they did win the Charleston Classic over Seton Hall, a win that is looking better all the time. They won at mediocre Georgia Tech and lost to Baylor, which is hardly a bad loss. But then they lost at Creighton, got hammered at Ohio State and lost tough ones to Illinois and Michigan by a combined three points. And on Saturday, they knocked off Michigan State in Evanston for their best win of the season. Add that to the Seton Hall win and the Wildcats, who don’t have a bad loss and an RPI of 33 at the start of the week, are in a good place for the moment.

Then there is Oklahoma, a team thought to be rebuilding. But the Sooners knocked off Kansas State 82-73 for their second win against a top 50 team. The Sooners are now 1-3 in Big 12 play, so they have a good deal of work to do. But if they get to .500 in conference and win a game or two in the conference tournament, they may have done enough work by then to be in the discussion for an NCAA Tournament team.  It helps that they don’t have a bad loss.

Lastly, San Diego State knocked off UNLV in a thriller, 69-67. The Aztecs were actually in a reasonably good place before Saturday, but perhaps now they can be called an NCAA Tournament lock if they win the games they should the rest of the way. The Mountain West figured to be rebuilding this season, but that hasn’t been the case thus far as both of these teams look like they will be in the field of 68.

We go coast to coast with news from around the college basketball nation.

Pittsburgh lost at Marquette, 62-57, and is now 0-5 in the Big East for the second time in program history and first in 12 years. They have never started 0-6, but they play at Syracuse on Monday.

Connecticut freshman Ryan Boatright was suspended by the NCAA and did not play in the Huskies’ 67-53 win at Notre Dame. The NCAA is investigating more eligibility matters with the freshman guard.

Iowa handily took out Michigan 75-59, and continues to be something of a Jekyll and Hyde team.

Jarnell Stokes gave Tennessee a boost in his debut, but Kentucky prevailed in Knoxville 65-62. The thinking is that although it was a loss, Saturday’s game bodes well for the Volunteers.

The Ivy League has started the season a little differently this time around, and Penn has started off 2-0 with wins at Columbia and Cornell. Normally teams play their travel partners over two weeks, save for Penn and Princeton, before the Friday-Saturday weekends start.

No America East team will go undefeated in conference play this season, as Stony Brook had its six-game winning streak end at Boston University, who has won three in a row after losing six straight.

The Crimson didn’t start slowly, but Dartmouth was able to hang around and then took a seven-point lead early in the second half as they won the first four minutes coming out of the locker room. With the Big Green still up by six, Harvard went on a 16-2 run to take over the game, and offensively-challenged Dartmouth never seriously challenged them the rest of the game.

While head coach Tommy Amaker chalks some of it up to league play, where teams know each other better, one has to wonder if there is something different going on.

“Whatever league you’re in, it’s going to feel a little different,” said Amaker. “Conference play is always a bear, and our league is no different.”

It does say something about the Crimson that even while not playing well, they not only have won four of five but they have done that by comfortable margins in all but one. Only last Saturday’s win over Saint Joseph’s came by single digits (74-69). But the margins are deceptive, and say as much about the opponents as they do about Harvard. Those last five games have come against a Florida Atlantic team that isn’t what they were a year ago, a very young Boston College team, a good Saint Joseph’s team, a mediocre Fordham team and a Dartmouth team whose most talented players are freshmen.

This caught up to them against Fordham earlier in the week, a game that was on the road. The Crimson’s leader, Oliver McNally, minced no words about it at halftime of Saturday’s game and in talking after the game.

“He was being very adamant about what we needed to do and how we were going to do it, who needed to step forward,” Amaker said of McNally, who led the Crimson with 17 points and four assists, with no turnovers.

McNally understood that what was dogging the team wasn’t a talent or effort issue. It was all about the intangibles, as he sensed his teammates putting too much pressure on themselves and the play reflecting it. The Crimson had good practices leading up to Saturday’s game, but couldn’t put a complete game together although what they did was enough to win the game.

“We’re a real veteran team,” said the senior guard. “All the juniors have played a lot of minutes, the seniors have played a lot of minutes, and it’s about getting through all the dumb stuff. We were turning the ball over, giving up offensive rebounds, and really not focusing in.

“If we take care of rebounding the basketball, take care of the ball, we’re going to win a lot of games.”

Against Florida Atlantic, the Crimson had problems with turnovers at the beginning of each half. Then they cut down on turnovers in the latter part of each half, and when they did that they gained the advantage. Against Boston College, they ran into an upstart that defended them well and executed well on offense early on, before they clamped down with their trademark defense. In the Saint Joseph’s game, the offense kept them in it until they wore down the Hawks. And against Dartmouth, offensive rebounds were the issue, as the Big Green had eight in the first half (the Crimson had nine defensive boards) but none in the second half.

It’s a good sign that the Crimson have been able to fix problems within a game. But this team now has a target on their back, especially as Ivy League play will soon begin in earnest. (The Crimson have two more non-league games, at Monmouth and home against George Washington, before playing only league games.) Every team wants to beat them, and that’s not to be underestimated.

“We talk about it a lot, and it’s something that you can’t talk about enough,” said McNally. “It’s something that you can forget about. If you don’t keep that in the front of your mind, you can sleep on somebody and not give a great effort and get your butt beat, like we did at Fordham.”

One thing that is clear is that while this Harvard team is good, they aren’t perfect. They have continued to win, even when they haven’t played well, and that’s a sign of a team that can go far. But they have been living dangerously of late, and faced a bottom-line consequence once. In league play, they won’t be able to afford that very often.

The Crimson first did the job defensively, limiting the Terriers to just below 31 percent shooting. Brandyn Curry was the first key to that, as he so often is, as the junior point guard never let BU point guard D.J. Irving get going. He didn’t let Irving get driving opportunities, and also read the offense well to steal and deflect passes while off the ball.

“There aren’t a lot of guys that can guard the way Curry can,” said Boston University head coach Joe Jones. “He’s a very good defender, did a very good job on D.J., and he was able to keep him out of the lane.”

In addition, Kyle Casey and Keith Wright played like the dynamic duo they are capable of being inside. Casey had a big second half offensively, but he and Wright combined for 18 rebounds as Harvard had a 39-30 edge on the backboards, rebounding nearly half of their own misses. They dominated the Terriers’ inside players, although Patrick Hazel nearly had a double-double.

The win over BU showed how deep the Crimson are. Wright and Casey are the guys known to be all-league candidates, and Curry has long been a key as the point guard and for his defense. Against the Terriers, the wing was a big source of offense from long range, as first Christian Webster and then Laurent Rivard had big games for the Crimson.

Webster started last season playing very well and was a big part of the Crimson’s season. While he has still started every game thus far this season, his minutes are down and so are his shooting numbers to this point. He’s basically been in a reduced role and did not score in double figures in a game until they played Boston University. There, he wasn’t in such a role at all, as he scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting, doing much of that damage in the first half as he was 5-8 from the field and the best player on the floor.

Rivard, for his part, looks more and more like the classic “instant offense” player off the bench. He certainly provided that against the Terriers, going 6-7 from long range in 27 minutes off the bench. The team’s third-leading scorer made sure they didn’t miss a beat when Webster went out or when they were on the floor together. With post threats like Wright and Casey, it’s clear Rivard understands how to benefit from them as he has been able to get his share of open looks.

The Crimson have gone from being the hunter to the hunted. In the past, they and everyone else in the Ivy League have had to chase Penn and Princeton, and more recently Cornell. With their success last season and the returning players this time, along with their non-league success, the Crimson will enter Ivy League play as the clear team to beat. In addition, this team will be favored to win every game left on the schedule except possibly their road date with Princeton.

Head coach Tommy Amaker said he has talked with his team about how this changes things, and the early returns indicate they have at least a basic understanding of it.

“We’re going to have to get accustomed to how hard people are going to come after us every night,” Amaker said. “If we aren’t having that kind of energy and effort and intensity about us, it’s going to be tough for us, no matter who we play. We’ve become a target for many folks now, which is what we want. It’s a compliment to us, but we have to know how much work we have to put in to face those kinds of opponents night in and night out.”

A complete effort like the thorough domination of the Terriers is indicative of the Crimson understanding where they are now. The next test comes on Thursday after a long break for final exams, when Florida Atlantic comes to town in a homecoming for head coach Mike Jarvis. Not only is there that angle, as well as the angle of Jarvis having been interested in the job when Amaker got it, but his team will have something to prove as they won their division in the Sun Belt Conference last year but have yet to get untracked thus far this season.

Harvard is happy to remain in the rankings, but their attitude is that the rankings don’t matter. They understand that it’s nice from a program marketing standpoint, but doesn’t drive what they do. After their first loss, the Crimson responded the way a good team would, as they showed why they have ascended to the rankings and to being talked about as one of the best mid-majors this season.

In the Tigers’ five losses early on, they allowed the opponent to shoot 45.6 percent from the field. In addition, two opponents made more than half of their shots from long range. While the Tigers struggled offensively in those games, topping 38 percent just twice, the impact of their defense could not be understated.

“Our defense has carried us in every game, so we’re always going to hang our hat on the defensive end,” said head coach Mitch Henderson. “What we did today, when we didn’t turn it over, was score efficiently.”

The Tigers certainly did that. While they had 19 turnovers, they shot 54.3 percent from the field, going 12-18 in the second half. And while the defensive wasn’t spectacular all around, as they allowed Northeastern to shoot 50 percent from the field, they forced 20 turnovers and that was where they shined. They also took advantage of Northeastern’s lack of guard depth, as it made the matchup more favorable to them.

Sunday’s game was also big in that the Tigers won despite Doug Davis not doing much. Earlier this season, that would almost certainly have spelled defeat for this team, as Davis and Ian Hummer were the two guys they could count on to score. Davis had just five points on 1-4 shooting, with four turnovers on the day. Instead, Hummer had 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals, and had good help with three others scoring in double figures. Patrick Saunders had 13, including a couple of key three-pointers in an early second-half run that gave them the lead for good, while Mack Darrow had five assists without a turnover to go with 10 points.

“This is not Ian and the other guys, and we’re not that team at all,” Henderson said. “Ian does so much for us, and the guys on the team know that. They show that they’re a huge piece of this team, too. It’s what we’re capable of, which is fun to me as a coach.”

Indeed, Hummer’s impact on the game was not lost on Northeastern head coach Bill Coen, who offered, “I think he is the best individual player that we have faced so far this season, just in the sense that he does so many things for his team.”

Davis does a lot for the Tigers as well, although he had an off game on Sunday. The other double-digit scorer on Sunday, T.J. Bray, is clearly showing signs of emerging for this team. The versatile sophomore leads the team in assists and looks like he’s on the verge of becoming a consistent double-digit scorer after scoring 12 points against the Huskies for his second straight game in double digits.

The Tigers have had a minor transition going on offensively with Henderson taking over for the departed Sydney Johnson, but it’s been just that: minor. The offense has the same base, and there’s continuity from a personnel standpoint. Even so, there is a sense that they are better with it of late.

“When it comes down to it, it’s still the Princeton offense, and that’s what we pride ourselves on,” said Bray. “It’s the back cuts, making good passes, it’s making your teammates better, and I think we’ve stepped that up the past six games.”

The Tigers’ biggest improvement, however, is on defense. Even on Sunday, when the Huskies matched the season high of 50 percent by an opponent, the Tigers got the job done by forcing turnovers. That’s a big key in a low-possession game like the ones Princeton usually plays, and with their offense scoring well when they didn’t give the ball away, they were in position to win again.

The Tigers are in the midst of a stretch of 12 straight Division I road games, with a home game against the College of New Jersey mixed in on January 8 after the first seven. Having won three of the first four in that stretch, with trips to Siena, Florida State and Florida A&M ahead before Ivy League play starts with five straight on the road, they are building confidence and getting to a better place.

Henderson said the wins don’t matter as much as where the team is on January 13, when they open Ivy League play at Cornell. But they certainly help from the standpoint of the team’s confidence, and the wins are more plentiful when they were early on now that they’re defending better since the offense is taking care of itself.

Brown has been hit hard in the personnel department since school began. Rafael Maia, who figured to change the frontcourt lineup by giving the Bears a better big man, was declared ineligible for the season by the NCAA. Joe Sharkey, who figured to give them some backcourt depth, injured his hip and will redshirt, with surgery coming near the end of this month. Tucker Halpern, who was ready to blossom further now that he would be able to play his natural small forward position more, caught a bad case of mono and is going to redshirt as well, as he’s not improving much. And Dockery Walker, another who figured to contribute up front, is on the shelf.

“We’ve had ten guys who have missed a week or more since we started practice,” head coach Jesse Agel noted.

Maia’s loss was at first the biggest hit. With him, Brown would have been able to play Andrew McCarthy and Walker at the power forward spot and Halpern at the small forward spot. Basically, everyone could play their natural position, unlike last season. But now the Bears are back to having to go small.

Halpern’s loss really hurts the offense. He was set to break out this season as he would be able to play the small forward spot consistently, save for times where Agel might want to go small and play him at power forward. Not only does his absence rob them of a proven scorer, but he can handle and pass, which would have helped everyone else.

It was early October when Halpern was diagnosed with mono. It has hit him like a blitzing linebacker, as he has been with the team at times but has struggled to do a lot of simple everyday things due to a lack of energy. He’s lost a good deal of weight and is nowhere near ready to even practice, and not surprisingly he’s not in the best of spirits right now as he was looking forward to this season.

Brown isn’t lacking talent, but what’s left isn’t good enough without the players they’re missing. Sean McGonagill was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season and is a good building block, but winning games with him as your best player is difficult. The same is true of Toledo transfer Stephen Albrecht. Junior Matt Sullivan is the veteran of the backcourt, but appears to have a reduced role and has not been shooting well.

More importantly, the Bears haven’t shown much offensively. They don’t have much in the way of post options save for McCarthy, who has played well of late but has never been the kind of player you run plays specifically for. While their guards aren’t entirely lacking in ability to drive, they have difficulty creating their own shot. Providence successfully kept them from getting much inside for a lot of the first half on Monday night. The Bears at times are reduced to a jump shooting team, and that’s a recipe for being feast or famine.

The Bears aren’t throwing in the towel for this season at all, but there’s no question next year looks brighter for this team. They have just one senior on the roster, and Maia will be eligible, so they will have many of the players they expected this season together. What won’t help is that they will not have a year of playing together that this season figured to provide. Still, with everyone back, the Bears would look like a more formidable team. Right now, this season hasn’t gone the way they planned by a long shot, and they’re still trying to get to a good place with the players they currently have.

College sports have had a rough run in recent months. Throughout the summer, fans had to try to figure out which conference their favorite team would be playing in when all the moving and shaking subsides. The motivation for conference realignment is all about the dollar bills, often at the expense of any sport not named football — and with little consideration for rivalries that make sports thrilling to watch and play.

But conference realignment was utterly benign compared to the chaos that erupted in State College, Pa., when one of the NCAA’s premier football programs crumbled under the weight of allegation after allegation of sexual misconduct by Jerry Sandusky, a former coordinator. Exacerbating the situation, coach Joe Paterno and Penn State officials appear to have covered up the activities, and it cost one of college football’s legends his job.

Then scandal crept into college hoops, at another sacred program. Coach Jim Boeheim has built Syracuse into a top program, and he relied on his top assistant, Bernie Fine, to help get the Orange there. But allegations of sexual abuse have surrounded Fine, and university officials fired him. Syracuse has received plenty of criticism for possibly failing to do enough to report the rumors of the abuse to police nearly 10 years ago, and Boeheim passionately defended his friend and assistant when ESPN first reported the allegations. He has had to backtrack from those statements, and some experts are calling for his ouster.

Yuck.

With such greed and alleged corruption percolating in college sports, it’d be easy to become disillusioned.

But resist the urge. Or to put it another way: “Don’t ever give up.”

Former NC State coach Jim Valvano made that phrase the motto of the foundation named for him after he died of cancer in 1993. Since his death, ESPN has partnered with the Jimmy V Foundation to raise funds for cancer research. The money goes directly to research, and it goes to a broad range of medical experts toiling to find a cure, not just for popular causes such as breast or prostate cancer but also rarer cancers that have a far worse death rate.

The annual Jimmy V Classic serves as a forum for ESPN to reach a national audience to urge donations, in addition to showcasing a few of the country’s best teams. If that’s not a great role for sports in U.S. society, I don’t know what is.

We go coast to coast with other news from the college basketball nation

Utah doesn’t have a Division I win yet on the season, and the Utes could struggle some more to pick that up after indefinitely suspending Josh Watkins, according to the Associated Press. Watkins has been Utah’s best player by far, averaging 17.7 ppg and 4.9 apg.

Things aren’t much better for one of the Utes’ biggest rivals, the Utah State Aggies. Diamond Leung, of ESPN.com’s “College Basketball Nation” blog, writes that Brady Jardine could be out all season after injuring his foot Nov. 19 in the team’s win against Southern Utah. Jardine is one of the team’s top rebounders, averaging 7.7 rpg.

West Virginia v. the Big East continues to froth in the legal system, with the Big East’s lawyers moving for a dismissal of West Virginia’s lawsuit attempting to get the Mountaineers out of the conference and into the Big 12 ahead of the Big East’s mandatory 27-month waiting period, according to the Associated Press’ Vicki Smith.

We don’t place a ton of stock in the polls in general, but Harvard’s arrival this week is newsworthy. As CBS Sports.com reports, it’s the first time that the Crimson have ever appeared in the top 25, and they are the first Ivy League team to reach the polls since Princeton in 1998.

Games to watch Tuesday

• Missouri vs. Villanova, 7 pm EST (Jimmy V Classic)
• George Mason at Virginia, 7 pm EST
• Kent State at James Madison, 7 pm EST
• Robert Morris at Duquesne, 7 pm EST
• Iowa at Northern Iowa, 8 pm EST
• Washington vs. Marquette, 9 pm EST (Jimmy V Classic)
• Long Beach State at Kansas, 9 pm EST
• Memphis at Miami, 9 pm EST

The Tigers started with a bang and were never seriously challenged in the first half, owing largely to their defense and Buffalo’s offense. The Bulls never got untracked at that end of the floor, and the first half numbers for them were ugly: 20 percent shooting and 12 turnovers. At one point, Princeton led 36-11 late in the first half.

The second half was a different story, and while Buffalo made it a single-digit game at the end, you never felt like the Tigers were in any danger. The Bulls played better, and some of that owed to Princeton, but the Bulls continued to do some questionable things at the offensive end. But Princeton seemed to relax and not adjust to Buffalo playing without fear, and it showed as they committed turnovers and didn’t get off good shots.

“We felt like we had done our work in the first half, and I think that showed up as we turned the ball over two out of three times to start the second half,” said Henderson.

Princeton had five turnovers before the first media timeout of the second half, nearly equaling the six they had in the entire first half. That allowed Buffalo to slowly cut into the lead, but the Princeton defense and Buffalo offense combined to thwart that. The Bulls never got within single digits until the final minute.

Henderson called a timeout to talk things over, and at first it seemed like they had righted the ship. The Tigers got a three-pointer and then followed that up by taking a charge at the other end. But after that, it was back to what they did much of the second half.

“I think we saw some things in ourselves in the second half that need to be corrected,” Henderson said.

Princeton is expected to be right in the thick of the Ivy League race along with Harvard once again. The Tigers lost a couple of key players in Dan Mavraides and Kareem Maddox, with the latter being a difficult player to replace. One way in which that has manifest itself early on is that the Tigers have two reliable scorers in senior Doug Davis and junior Ian Hummer, but after that a clear third option isn’t there at the moment. On Saturday, junior Mack Darrow became the first Tiger besides Davis and Hummer to score in double figures in a game.

The Tigers aren’t lacking players who could become complementary scorers. Patrick Saunders has started 64 games in his career prior to this season, T.J. Bray is playing more minutes and Brendan Connolly could be a fine complement to Hummer in the frontcourt. Junior Will Barrett has played sparingly behind some veterans to this point in his career, but he has good talent as well and may break out since he will have more of an opportunity this season.

“I think we’re going to be more balanced than we look over time,” said Henderson. “I feel like the balance is going to come. We obviously can’t do this all year.”

One thing that will help is simply more time playing for Henderson. There’s always an adjustment to a new head coach, even at Princeton where there tends to be a good deal of similarity between coaches. The Tigers have only played three games thus far, so it’s still early yet. That’s why it’s not surprising that there is a lot of room for improvement right now with this team.