Morning Journal
March 19, 2009
ITHACA, N.Y. - When Cornell University senior co-captain Brian Kreefer watched the NCAA basketball tournament selection show with his teammates Sunday night, their first reaction wasn't fixated on where or who they were playing.
"No one expected us to get such a high seed," the East Liverpool High School graduate said about the team's 14th seed in the West regional bracket. "We're very happy with it."
The 21-9 Big Red, who were repeat champions of the Ivy League, will meet the third-seeded Missouri Tigers (28-6) at 3 p.m. Friday in Boise, Idaho.
Last year Kreefer made his NCAA tournament debut with a first round 77-53 loss to Stanford in Anaheim, California. This time things are very different.
"Last year we were a little too content with just being there," Kreefer said. "I think we got a little carried away and the nerves affected our shooting."
Not to mention two 7-footers.
"That was tough trying to get off shots over them," the 6-foot-7, 230-pound Kreefer said. "You don't see that kind of height very often in college basketball."
Kreefer, who has averaged 3.8 points per game over his four-year career, said he expects the game against Missouri to be just as tough.
"We know they're going to be in the full court press just about the entire game," he said. "It's a very tough matchup."
What will also be tough is the team's travel arrangements. Boise is not a main destination by any stretch of the imagination in the United States. Kreefer said the team will likely fly a private plane on a 6 or 7 hour trip directly to Boise.
For fans, it will be much more difficult.
A flight to Boise from Ithaca costs nearly $800. With multiple connections mixed in, it will likely take a fan from Cornell 16 hours or more to get to the destination. From Ohio it's not much better.
Despite the challenges present, Cornell University's allotment of 350 tickets was sold out on Monday and Kreefer said the Big Red should have plenty of support in Idaho because of the university's wide-ranging alumni base.
As for the team, going to Idaho will be a first for most of them.
"Only one guy on the team has been to Idaho," Kreefer said.
Since the Ivy League does not contest a postseason tournament, the game against the Tigers will be Cornell's first since March 7 when it beat Princeton 60-51. Kreefer, who had his only start of the season in that game, said the team treated last week like any other week, but instead of having a game on Saturday, the Big Red held an intra-squad scrimmage.
The Ivy League has not had a member school win an NCAA tournament game since Princeton beat UNLV 69-57 in a 1998 opening round game. Before that, the Ivy League's most notable performer was Pennsylvania who advanced to the Final Four in 1979.
"We're due," Kreefer said. "Hopefully we can pull off a few surprises. I think if we play well anything can happen."
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