PRINCETON, N.J. (Interstat) — The Cornell men’s basketball team delivered a commanding performance on the road Friday night, overwhelming Princeton from the opening tip and cruising to an 89-65 victory in an Ivy League contest at Jadwin Gymnasium.

The Big Red seized control with a blistering first half, building a 44-27 lead by halftime and never allowing the Tigers to mount a serious challenge. The win improved Cornell to 12-10 overall, while Princeton fell to 8-16.

The most important part of the game was the decisive opening stretch. Cornell established its dominance early, racing out to a 17-4 lead within the first five minutes. The sequence was fueled by aggressive defense and efficient offense. Josh Baldwin of Cornell hit a 3-pointer on the team’s first possession, and after a Princeton basket, Jacob Beccles answered with a 3-pointer and a dunk. A Cooper Noard 3-pointer capped the early surge, forcing Princeton into a timeout just over three minutes into the game. This initial burst set the tone for the entire evening, as Princeton spent the rest of the game trying, and failing, to climb out of that early hole.

Jake Fiegen led all scorers with 20 points for Cornell, continuing his strong recent form. Adam Hinton added 12 points, and Cooper Noard and Gioacchino Panzini contributed 11 and 9 points, respectively. Josh Baldwin facilitated the offense with 4 assists to go with 8 points.

For Princeton, Dalen Davis scored 19 points and Malik Abdullahi added 14. The Tigers struggled to find consistent offense, particularly from beyond the arc, and were outscored 38-20 in the paint.

Cornell’s offensive execution was sharp throughout. The Big Red assisted on numerous baskets, attacked the rim effectively, and capitalized on Princeton’s mistakes, scoring 14 points off turnovers compared to Princeton’s 8. Defensively, Cornell’s length and activity disrupted Princeton’s rhythm, holding the Tigers to just 27 first-half points.

The second half saw Princeton attempt to rally, but every mini-run was met with an immediate response from Cornell. When the Tigers cut the deficit to 15 early in the period, Fiegen and Hinton hit consecutive baskets to push the lead back to 19. Princeton never got closer than 17 points the rest of the way, as Cornell’s lead ballooned to as many as 28 before both teams emptied their benches in the final minutes.

The game was a reversal of the pregame statistical projections, which had slightly favored Princeton. Cornell covered the spread as a 2.5-point favorite, and the combined score of 154 fell under the over/under line of 157.

A crowd of 1,630 watched as Cornell completed a regular-season sweep of Princeton, having also defeated the Tigers 87-64 in Ithaca on Jan. 30. The Big Red will look to carry this momentum into a quick turnaround, traveling to face Penn on Saturday. Princeton will aim to regroup at home against Columbia, also on Saturday.