The Cornell Big Red and the Monmouth Hawks meet Friday in college basketball action from Multipurpose Activity Center. Cornell is 4-1 so far this year. The Big Red beat Canisius in their last game. As for Monmouth, they’re coming off a loss to Colgate. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Cornell lost their opener this year, falling 79-77 versus Boston College. The Big Red were able to recover with a win streak, however. Cornell took out SUNY Delhi, St. Francis PA and Ithaca in their next trio of outings.
On Tuesday versus Canisius, Cornell took a 45-34 lead into the break. The Red were outscored by two points in the second half but hung on for the 79-70 win. Nazir Williams led the team on a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Over on the Monmouth side, it’s been a tough year so far with some difficult matchups. The Hawks fell to Seton Hall in their opener, then lost to Virginia, Illinois and Norfolk State over the next three games.
On Monday versus Colgate, Monmouth took another rough loss. The Hawks were outscored 41-29 in the first half and went on to an 85-66 loss. Myles Foster put up 12 points to lead the team, and Myles Ruth had 10 points with three boards.
PICK: I’m going to stick with Cornell in this one. The Big Red are off to a nice start so far, rebounding well after their opener loss to Boston College. In the Canisius win, Cornell shot a nice 49.2 percent from the field with 11-of-30 (36.7 percent) from 3-point range and 38 rebounds. As for Monmouth, they’ve lost four of their five games so far by double-digits. This will probably be another one.