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Monday, November 16, 2009

Cornell Athletics UMass Preview

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GAME INFORMATION
Game #2: Cornell vs. Massachusetts
Tip off: Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m.
Site: Mullins Center (9,493), Amherst, Mass.
2009-10 Records: Cornell (1-0, 0-0 Ivy); Massachusetts (0-1, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Meeting: No previous meetings
Radio: 93.5 WVBR-FM (Barry Leonard)
Massachusetts Web Site: www.UMassathletics.com
TV: None
Live Stats: Available at www.UMassathletics.com
Live Video: Available at www.UMassathletics.com

HEAD COACH STEVE DONAHUE
Cornell head coach Steve Donahue is in his 10th season at Cornell (118-133, .470) ... Donahue became the fourth Robert E. Gallagher ‘44 Coach of Men’s Basketball at Cornell on Sept. 6, 2000.
ITHACA, N.Y. — After picking up its biggest road win in many years, the Cornell men’s basketball team will look for an encore performance when it meets Massachusetts on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mullins Center. Barry Leonard will provide the call on 93.5 WVBR-FM, which can be heard live on the internet as part of the RedCast subscription service.

Cornell earned a hard-fought 71-67 victory over Alabama on Nov. 14, with senior Ryan Wittman scoring a game-high 23 points. In a return to his home state, senior Louis Dale netted 13 points, assisted on five baskets and ripped down four rebounds. Senior center Jeff Foote added 17 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots to dominate the paint. The victory was the first over an SEC team in 37 years and spoiled the debut of first-year Crimson Tide coach Anthony Grant.

The two-time defending Ivy League champions will also return junior guard Max Groebe to his former school. Groebe played his freshman season at UMass, averaging 2.1 points per game for the 25-11 Minutemen squad that was the NIT runner-up.

The Minutemen struggled shooting the ball in their opener, an 84-67 loss at Central Florida, but still have a talented roster. Picked to finish ninth in the always competitive Atlantic 10 conference, UMass is led by one of its all-time great players, Derek Kellogg, who is in his second season directing the program. Senior Ricky Harris is the leading returning scorer in the A-10 and hit for 15 points in the opener of the Golden Knights.

ABOUT UMASS
• Conference: Atlantic 10.
• Head Coach: Derek Kellogg (Massachusetts ‘95), second season.
• UMass lost its season opener at Central Florida on Nov. 13, dropping an 84-67 decision.
• The Minutemen attempted a school-record 38 3-pointers in the loss, hitting 12.
• Senior guard Ricky Harris, the leading returning scorer in the Atlantic 10, had 15 points in the loss to UCF.
• Freshmen Freddie Riley and Terrell Vinson have been recognized as preseason All-Rookie selections by the Atlantic 10.
•UMass hit the offensive boards hard in the opener, collecting 16 errant shots.
• The Minutemen also scored 38 bench points.
• UMass was picked to finish ninth in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll.
• UMass is coming off a 12-18 season (7-9 A-10) in its first season under Kellogg, a former Minutemen great on the hardwood.

CORNELL VS. THE ATLANTIC 10
• Cornell is 14-18 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10.
• The Big Red has never played Massachusetts, but has played Dayton (0-1), Duquesne (0-2), Fordham (4-4), La Salle (2-2), Richmond (0-1), St. Bonaventure (8-3), Saint Joseph’s (0-3), Saint Louis (0-1) and Xavier (Ohio) (0-1).
• The Big Red has never played Charlotte, George Washington, Rhode Island or Temple.
• This is the first of three scheduled meetings this season against teams from the A-10. Cornell will also play host to Saint Joseph’s on Dec. 6 and will visit La Salle on Dec. 29.
• Cornell’s last win against an A-10 team was last year in a 79-70 win over La Salle at Newman Arena. Its last road win over an Atlantic 10 school came at St. Bonaventure (58-54) in 2004-05.

A WIN OVER UMASS WOULD ...
• give the Big Red a win in its first-ever meeting against UMass.
• make Cornell 15-18 all-time against members of the Atlantic 10.
• give the senior class a 61-28 mark over their four seasons.
• be the 1,147th in school history.

THE SERIES
• This will be the first-ever meeting between Cornell and UMass.

THE STORY LINE
• Two-time defending Ivy League champion Cornell will attempt to pick off a second consecutive major conference team on the road when it meets Massachusetts.
• The game will be the first of four games in the Legends Classic. Regardless of the result, Cornell will head to Philadelphia next weekend for three predetermined games at Drexel.
• Junior guard Max Groebe will be playing his second game at Cornell after transferring from UMass. As a freshman in 2007-08, Groebe played in 19 contests and averaged 2.1 points in 5.5 minutes for the 25-11 Minutemen. The team finished as the NIT runner-up. He sat out the 2008-09 campaign while competing on the scout team for the Big Red.

REVIEWING THE ALABAMA GAME
• Cornell knocked off Alabama 71-67 in the season opener for both teams on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Coleman Coliseum.
• The Big Red were able to knock off an SEC team for the first time since tipping Arkansas 78-77 in the first round of the Razorback Invitational 37 years ago.
• The Cornell victory also spoiled the debut of new head coach Anthony Grant, who moved in after a successful three-year run at Virginia Commonwealth University.
• The Big Red led by as many as 15 points in the second half and never trailed after taking a 3-2 lead.
• The visitors hit on 10-of-18 3-pointers, including getting a 5-of-8 performance from senior Ryan Wittman, who had a game-high 23 points.
• Senior guard Louis Dale, the 2007-08 Ivy League Player of the Year, had 13 points, five assists and four rebounds in front of nearly 200 family and friends. He is a native of nearby Birmingham, Ala.

THE BIG RED AND IN-SEASON TOURNAMENTS
• Cornell last won an in-season tournament when it dropped VMI and Vermont to capture the 1990-91 USAir-Cornell Classic.
• The Big Red has also won tournament championships at the 1978-79 and 1967-68 Kodak Classic (both in Rochester, N.Y.).
• Overall, Cornell is 35-93 in tournament play during the regular season.
• The Big Red went 3-1 in the 2008-09 NIT Preseason Tip-Off, dropping an 86-75 decision to St. John’s before consecutive wins over Loyola (MD) (82-72), Loyola (IL) (78-53) and Eastern Michigan (67-54).

NEXT UP
• The Big Red will play its home opener when Seton Hall of the Big East attempts to snap Cornell’s 21-game home streak on Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.
• The game will be televised by Time Warner Cable Sports.
• The Pirates have won both previous meetings between the teams.

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