* Game notes vs. Penn, Princeton
* Buy tickets to the game online
* Live stats
* Watch the game online (Redcast subscription required)
GAME INFORMATION
Game #29: Penn at Cornell
Tip off: Friday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2008-09 Records: Penn (9-16, 5-6 Ivy League); Cornell (19-9, 9-3 Ivy League)
Series Record: Penn leads 142-69
Last Meeting: Cornell won 88-73, February 7, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Game #30: Princeton at Cornell
Tip off: Saturday, March 7, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2008-09 Records: Princeton (12-12, 7-4 Ivy League); Cornell (19-9, 9-3 Ivy League)
Series Record: Princeton leads 134-75
Last Meeting: Princeton won 61-41, February 6, 2009 in Princeton, N.J.
Radio: 1160 ESPN Radio, WPIE (Barry Leonard)
TV: None
Live Stats: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Tickets: available by calling (607) 254-BEAR
HEAD COACH STEVE DONAHUE
Cornell head coach Steve Donahue is in his ninth season at Cornell (115-132, .466) ... Donahue became the fourth Robert E. Gallagher ‘44 Coach of Men’s Basketball at Cornell on Sept. 6, 2000.
Game #29: Penn at Cornell
Tip off: Friday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2008-09 Records: Penn (9-16, 5-6 Ivy League); Cornell (19-9, 9-3 Ivy League)
Series Record: Penn leads 142-69
Last Meeting: Cornell won 88-73, February 7, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Game #30: Princeton at Cornell
Tip off: Saturday, March 7, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2008-09 Records: Princeton (12-12, 7-4 Ivy League); Cornell (19-9, 9-3 Ivy League)
Series Record: Princeton leads 134-75
Last Meeting: Princeton won 61-41, February 6, 2009 in Princeton, N.J.
Radio: 1160 ESPN Radio, WPIE (Barry Leonard)
TV: None
Live Stats: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: check availability at www.CornellBigRed.com
Tickets: available by calling (607) 254-BEAR
HEAD COACH STEVE DONAHUE
Cornell head coach Steve Donahue is in his ninth season at Cornell (115-132, .466) ... Donahue became the fourth Robert E. Gallagher ‘44 Coach of Men’s Basketball at Cornell on Sept. 6, 2000.
ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men’s basketball team will attempt to honor its five seniors in the best way possible — by walking off the Newman Arena court as Ivy League champions for the second straight year. Standing in the way is perennial Ivy League contenders Penn (Friday, March 6) and Princeton (Saturday, March 7). Cornell enters the weekend with the third-longest streak at home in the country (19 games). Both contests are scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. with Barry Leonard providing the calls locally on 1160 ESPN Radio as well as part of the RedCast subscription service. Live video of the game will also be available on RedCast.
Over the last 22 years, Penn, Princeton or Cornell have won or shared the Ivy League title every season. In 20 of those years, it has been the Quakers or the Tigers. With the Big Red needing a win to clinch at least a share of the Ivy title, it is more than fitting that Penn and Princeton would be the roadblocks.(see page 3 for scenarios)
Continuing to lead Cornell on both ends of the court are a trio of All-Ivy players, juniors Ryan Wittman (18.5 ppg., 3.7 rpg.) and Louis Dale (13.7 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 3.7 apg.) and senior Jeff Foote (12.2 ppg., 6.9 rpg., 2.2 apg., 2.2 bpg.). Combined with key contributors like juniors Geoff Reeves (9.1 ppg.) and Alex Tyler (6.4 ppg., 4.5 rpg.) who have also started all 28 games, and the Big Red looks poised to defend its 2007-08 Ivy League title. Freshman Chris Wroblewski, sophomore Adam Wire and seniors Brian Kreefer and Jason Battle have also played key roles off the bench. The return of senior Adam Gore from a knee injury also adds depth in the backcourt.
ABOUT PENN: The Quakers were picked to finish second in the Ivy League preseason media poll, but a young roster and several key injuries have the team at 9-16 (5-6 Ivy). The Quakers split last weekend’s Ivy weekend, dropping an 87-79 contest to Yale on Feb. 27, then topping Brown 64-54 the following day. Sophomore Tyler Bernardini leads the team in scoring (13.7 ppg.) and 3-pointers (39), while point guard Harrison Gaines (10.3 ppg.) is also in double figures. Freshman Zack Rosen (7.7 ppg., 5.1 apg.) paces the Ivy League in assists, while Jack Eggleston (9.8 ppg. 6.0 rpg.) is among the conference’s top rebounders. The Quakers have struggled on the boards (outrebounded by 2.7 rebounds per game) and have struggled from the perimeter (.322 from 3-point range). Third-year head coach Glen Miller has posted a 44-43 record at Penn and 232-200 in 16 years as a collegiate head coach. His 2006-07 Quaker team won an Ivy League title.
ABOUT PRINCETON: Second-year head coach Sydney Johnson has the Tigers playing with confidence, and like Cornell, controls its own destiny with three games remaining in Ivy League play. Despite its 12-12 record overall, the Tigers are 7-4 in Ancient Eight action and already own a 20-point win over the Big Red earlier this season at Jadwin Gymnasium. Freshman Douglas Davis (12.4 ppg.) and sophomore Dan Mavraides (10.5 ppg.) are scoring double figures for Princeton, which is surrendering just 57.1 points per game on .394 shooting. Pawel Buczak (7.6 ppg., 4.2 rpg.) paces the team in rebounding. Johnson’s team has already surpassed last season’s win totals overall (7) and in Ivy League play (3). He has an 18-35 record in his two seasons as a head coach.
SO WHAT’S THE SCENARIO?: While there are numerous scenarios entering the weekend, the basics are this — Cornell controls its own destiny heading into the final two games. The Big Red can clinch a share of the Ivy title with a win on Friday against Penn, and coupled with a Princeton loss at Columbia that night, Cornell would earn the outright championship and an NCAA bid. The Big Red would also clinch the outright title with a win over the Tigers on Saturday night regardless of any other results on the weekend.
STOP LOSS: Cornell hasn’t lost consecutive Ivy League contests since losing at Penn on Feb. 17 and at Yale on Feb. 23, 2007, a span of 30 contests.
BACK TO BASICS: After winning 19 straight Ivy League contests, Cornell is 5-3 in its last eight contests thanks to road losses at Princeton, Yale and Harvard. The Big Red’s average margin of victory in those five wins, however, is 19.4 points.
RARE COMPANY: Cornell has extended its home win streak to 19 games, ranking it tied for third-longest in Division I with Pittsburgh, which faces Marquette on March 4, and Dayton, which plays Duquesne on March 7. Utah State’s streak is at 33 heading into a March 7 contest against San Jose State. The longest active home win streak in the country is Kansas, which has a 40-game stretch it will put to the test against Texas on March 7.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Big Red is riding a school-record 19-game home win streak dating back to last year. Here are some facts about the streak.
• The previous longest home win streak was 14 games and started on Dec. 3, 1983 with a win over Cleveland State and culminated in a Jan. 9, 1985 loss to Canisius.
• Last year the Big Red went 12-1 at home, meaning Cornell is now 30-3 in its last 33 home contests.
• The 11 straight wins to open this season is the longest since also opening 11-0 during the 1983-84 campaign.
HOME WRECKERS: Cornell has been extremely impressive in its 11-0 start this season at Newman Arena, doing everything well. As a team, Cornell is outscoring foes by 19.3 points (82.4-63.1) while hitting at a .519 clip from the field and .463 from 3-point range. The team has a 1.4:1 assist:turnover ratio and is defending at an outstanding pace, limiting opponents to .389 shooting from the floor and .308 from 3-point range. Seven of the team’s top 10 scorers are shooting at least 50 percent from the floor at home, with three hitting better than 60 percent.
FIRST TO 20-20?: A win over Penn would give Cornell its third 20-win season in program history and its second straight for the first time in 110 years of Big Red basketball. The other 20-win seasons were in 1950-51 (20-5) and last season at 22-6.
PERFECT 10: With its next win, Cornell would claim its second consecutive 10-win season in Ivy League play, something it hasn’t done since posting at least 10 conference victories three straight years, from 1964-65 to the 1966-67 seasons.
BOARD GAMES: Entering the weekend, six different players have a chance to establish a new school record for games played in a season. The previous mark of 29 during the 1989-90 season can be surpassed by Jeff Foote, Brian Kreefer, Geoff Reeves, Alex Tyler, Ryan Wittman and Chris Wroblewski, all of whom have played 28 games with two contests remaining.
EARTH-QUAKING: The Big Red will be in search of its first four-game win streak of Penn in men’s basketball since winning five in a row from 1966-1968, including back-to-back season sweeps during the 1966-67 and 1967-68 campaigns. In 211 meetings, the Big Red has strung together four-game win streaks just three times with the longest being five-game streaks done twice.
TIGER HUNTING: Despite the loss to Princeton in their first meeting, Cornell is having nearly unprecedented success against the Tigers of late, winning seven of the last nine contests. Prior to the stretch, Princeton had won 30-of-33 going back to 1987-88 and 63-of-75 heading all the way back to 1966-67.
THREE FOR ALL: With its seven 3-pointers in the loss to Harvard, Cornell increased its total on the season as a team to 222. With two regular season games remaining, the team is well on its way of breaking the single-season record of 228 set last year.
ON THE BLOCK: Cornell enters Friday night’s game vs. Penn with 115 blocked shots, good for second all-time at Cornell for a season behind the 117 in 1996-97. With three blocked shots this weekend, the team would set a new Big Red record.
MOVING ON UP: Head coach Steve Donahue won his 63rd Ivy League contest with a 75-57 victory at Dartmouth, good for 13th place on the all-time Ivy League coaching wins list. He ranks second among Cornell coaches with only Sam MacNeil’s 77 wins from 1959-68 ranking ahead.
EVEN STEVEN: With the team’s victory over Yale, head coach Steve Donahue evened his career Ivy League record at 58-58. It was the first time in his career that he had a .500 Ivy League record overall since taking over the program in 2000-01. He currently sits at 63-61 over his eight years.
TALL IVY: Over the last three seasons, Cornell’s 32-8 record in the best among Ivy League teams in conference action. Penn, who claimed the 2006-07 title, is second at 27-12, followed by Yale (24-16), Columbia (20-20) and Brown (18-22). Other Ivy teams include Dartmouth (14-26), Harvard (13-27), and Princeton (12-27).
TREY BIEN: The Big Red has hit at least one 3-pointer in 561 straight games entering the Penn contest. Cornell surpassed the 500-game plateau when the Big Red connected on six treys at Princeton on Feb. 16, 2007. The last time Cornell did not hit a 3-pointer was against Denison in the 1988-89 season opener (0-for-2). Since the 3-point shot came into effect in NCAA play during the 1986-87 season, Cornell has hit at least one shot behind the arc in 612 of 616 games, connecting on 3,602 treys, an average of 5.85 per game. The Big Red has hit a 3-pointer in all 247 games coached by Steve Donahue.
CENTURY MARKED: Head coach Steve Donahue picked up his 100th career coaching victory with a 67-54 triumph over Eastern Michigan in the final contest of the 2008 NIT Preseason Tip-Off on Nov. 25. The 2007-08 USBWA and NABC District Coach of the Year has a 115-132 overall record in nine seasons at Cornell and is 57-27 (.679) in his last three seasons, including last year’s Ivy League title. His teams have matched or surpassed its win totals overall and in league play each of the last six seasons (only school in the country) and has finished in the top three of the Ancient Eight standings for five straight years.
GRAND ENTRANCE: Cornell has seen both Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale surpass the 1,000-point mark this season. Wittman reached the milestone against Indiana earlier this season, while Dale hit the mark against Brown. The two became the first set of teammates to each reach 1,000 points in the same season since Cody Toppert ‘05 and Eric Taylor ‘05 each reached the milestone during the 2004-05 season.
PERFECT 10: The Big Red won 10 non-conference contests in one season for the fourth time in program history and for the first time since the 1950-51 season when Cornell also won 10 games. The Big Red won a program-best 11 games out of the league in 1949-50 and also took home 10 decisions in the 1919-20 campaign.
NON-LEAGUE SUCCESS: The Big Red posted its third consecutive non-conference season with at least a .500 record with a 10-6 mark. The last time the Big Red at least broke even in non-league play in more consecutive years was the 1959-60 to the 1967-68 campaign, a span of nine straight years.
WITTMAN GETS CORNELL 3-POINT RECORD: Junior Ryan Wittman put his stamp on Cornell’s career 3-point list with four treys in the 96-75 victory over Harvard, giving him a school record 240 in his three seasons. He passed Cody Toppert ‘05, who had 237 in his four-year career with his field goal with 14:10 left in the first half as part of a 20-point night. He has since upped his career total to 257.
WITTMAN CLIMBS UP IVY TREY CHART: Two weeks after junior Ryan Wittman set the school’s career record for 3-pointers, he jumped to second on the Ivy League’s list in the win at Dartmouth. Wittman hit four 3-pointers as part of a 20-point effort, ending his night with 254 career treys. That total surpassed Penn’s Tim Begley (253, 2001-05), and now sits behind only conference record holder Brian Earl of Princeton (281, 1995-99). He has since improved on his total of 257, just 24 shy of Earl’s mark.
THE BIG 5-0-0: Junior Ryan Wittman became the fifth player in school history to record 500 points in a season with his big 24-point effort in the loss at Harvard. With 517 points in 28 games, he sits behind only Mike Davis (557 in 1977-78), Chuck Rolles (553 in 1955-56) and Ka’Ron Barnes (544 in 2003-04). John Bajusz, the school’s career scoring leader, scored 505 points in 1986-87.
MORE ON WITT: Junior Ryan Wittman moved into second place on the single-season 3-pointers list with 86 this season. He trails only ... Ryan Wittman. As a freshman, Wittman made 93 3-pointers in 2006-07. He now holds three of the top five season efforts at Cornell.
ANOTHER THREE SPREE: Junior forward Ryan Wittman hit nine 3-pointers against Syracuse, matching the single-game school record by Alex Compton at Yale on Feb. 24, 1996. The 19 attempts from beyond the arc set a school record, surpassing the 16 attempts by Cody Toppert against Duquesne on Feb. 6, 2004. The nine makes were one shy of a single-game Ivy League and Carrier Dome record.
RARE 30: Junior Ryan Wittman’s 33 points against Syracuse was the most by a Big Red player since Ray Mercedes notched 37 in a 93-84 loss to Harvard on March 3, 2001. It was the first 30-point effort by any Cornell player since Lenny Collins had 30 in a 72-67 loss at Marist on Nov. 19, 2004.
WITTMAN’S SCORING GRAND: Junior forward Ryan Wittman became the 23rd player in school history to score 1,000 career points when he posted 28 against Indiana on Nov. 30. He entered the contest with 979 points in his first 62 games and delivered his 1,000th point on a jumper with 9:10 left in regulation. He has since moved to sixth on the all-time list with 1,377 points. Next up is Ka’Ron Barnes ‘06 who scored 1,396 career points.
MORE THAN JUST THE SCORING: While his 18.5 points per game is spectacular, so are junior Ryan Wittman’s other contributions through 28 games. The 6-6 forward is averaging 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and has posted a 1.4:1 assist-turnover ratio while playing 33.9 minutes per game. All of those numbers are career highs except for his rebounding average, which was at 4.2 rpg. a season ago.
WELCOME BACK: Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Louis Dale is back after missing the first eight games of the 2008-09 season with a hamstring injury, and so far the returns have been excellent. The junior is averaging 13.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 25.7 minutes per game.
TRUE HOMER: Junior Louis Dale has played half of his 20 games of the season at home and his numbers have been impressive at Newman Arena. Dale is averaging 15.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists while connecting on 58 percent of his shots from the floor (50-of-86) and 47 percent from 3-point range (16-of-34) in the home contests.
ADDING ANOTHER FOOTE: Senior center Jeff Foote has turned into a dominating force in the paint this season, ranking third on the team in scoring (12.2 ppg.) and pacing the squad and the Ivy League in rebounding (6.9 rpg.) and blocked shots (2.2 bpg.). Foote ranks among the team leaders in assists (2.2 apg.) while shooting 54 percent from the floor, also a team-best.
BRING IT ON, NIT: The NIT Preseason Tip-Off was the coming out party for senior center Jeff Foote, who ripped through both St. John’s and Loyola (MD). In those two games, Foote averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.0 blocks and 2.0 assists while getting to the line 18 times. He set a career-high with 20 points and five blocked shots to go along with seven rebounds and three assists against the Red Storm, then answered with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks against the Greyhounds. In his four games in the preseason NIT, Foote averaged 16.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.5 blocked shots and 2.8 assists while shooting 61 percent from the floor in Cornell’s 3-1 tournament run.
BLOCK TO BLOCK: Senior center Jeff Foote has blocked 61 shots in 28 games in 2008-09 after posting 30 blocks a season ago in 22 contests. After just 50 varsity contests, he already ranks fifth on the career list with 91 blocked shots.
AND THOUGH HE’S A SENIOR: Senior center Jeff Foote will be eligible to compete again in the 2009-10 season after sitting out a full season after transferring to Cornell from St. Bonaventure in the winter of 2006. A former walk-on for the Bonnies, he never played a varsity contest in his year-and-a-half with the program.
MOST IMPROVED?: Few players in the Ivy League have seen a bigger scoring jump than junior Geoff Reeves this season. The 6-4 guard is averaging 9.1 points a year after posting an average of 3.5 points per game. A 44 percent shooter thus far, Reeves has connected on 50-of-120 shots from beyond the arc (42 percent) and is also among the team leaders in assists (40) while averaging 26.6 minutes per game.
20-20: Junior Geoff Reeves has already posted a pair of 20-point games this season, including a career-best 26 points in a win over Loyola (IL). He made 10-of-14 shots overall, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc in the contest. The 26 points were the most by an active Cornell player at the time and the most since Lenny Collins netted 27 points against Long Beach State on Dec. 30, 2005. Reeves also scored 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc.
TYLER MORE: Junior Alex Tyler has been his strong, steady self in 2008-09, as the two-year starter at power forward is averaging 6.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots while playing 22.1 minutes per game. Tyler has reached double figures in scoring six times and posted a season-high 10 rebounds in the season opener against South Dakota. He had 14 points and a career-high four blocked shots to go along with six rebounds in the win over Boston University. His 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocks also led the Big Red past Columbia on the road, while he matched a career-high with 19 points and added seven rebounds in the return contest against the Lions.
TYLER MAKING CAREER MOVES: Senior Alex Tyler ranks among the school’s career leaders in field goal percentage (12th, .515) and blocked shots (ninth, 51).
ROBO-POINT GUARD: When Ivy League Player of the Year Louis Dale went down with an injury in the preseason, freshman Chris Wroblewski was forced to take over running the offense from the point guard position and so far has been outstanding. He averaged 6.6 points, 2.9 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game in the team’s first nine games, including six starts.The freshman posted a 1.4:1 assist-turnover ratio (26a, 18t). He is currently third on the team lead in assists (71) and is averaging 6.4 points, 2.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. Wroblewski averaged 8.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in two contests against Columbia.
WROBO HOT: Since the beginning of Ivy League play, freshman Chris Wroblewski has shown to be one of the Ancient Eight’s top rookies, averaging 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 42 percent from the floor and a scorching 47 percent from 3-point range (18-of-38).
WROBO RECORD: Freshman Chris Wroblewski hit on 5-of-6 shots from beyond the 3-point arc in the win over Harvard, setting a Cornell Newman Arena record for 3-point percentage in a game (.833). The previous record of .800 (4-of-5) had happened eight times previously.
COMING IN WIRED: Sophomore Adam Wire didn’t play in the team’s first two games of the year, but made quite an impact off the bench since. Wire has averaged 3.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals while playing 15.9 minutes in 26 appearances. The 6-6 forward corralled seven rebounds, including five on the offensive end, and added two points and two steals in 15 minutes of action against Loyola (MD) for his breakout game. In all, 40 of his 98 rebounds on the season have been on the offensive end and he leads the team and ranks third in the Ivy League with 40 steals.
BATTLE, KREEFER PLAYING KEY ROLES AS CAPTAINS: Old stalwarts Jason Battle and Brian Kreefer have played outstanding basketball this season while providing excellent leadership. Battle has started two contests and is averaging 1.2 points and 0.7 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per game. Battle had six points and three rebounds in a win over Loyola (MD). Kreefer has played 12.5 minutes per game off the bench and has picked up 3.6 points and 3.0 rebounds while making 57 percent of his shots from the field. Kreefer had a career-high six assists in the win over Loyola (IL).
KREEF NEAR-PERFECT: Senior Brian Kreefer has made 19 of his last 26 shots from the floor over his last seven games (73 percent) to raise his field goal percentage to .566. He is shooting an insane 69 percent (24-of-35) from the floor against Ivy League opponents in 2009.
WELCOME HOME: Senior Adam Gore made his triumphant return to college basketball in the 90-58 victory over Brown. Just four and a half months after suffering his second torn ACL in two years, Gore played 10 productive minutes, scoring three points, grabbing two rounds and dishing off an assist. He has averaged 2.6 points and 0.8 rebounds in his first 10 games, seeing 7.5 minutes per contest.
BIG RED PICKED TO REPEAT IN PRESEASON POLL: After capturing its first Ivy League title in 20 years, the Ivy League media picked the Cornell men’s basketball team to repeat as Ivy League champions by a unanimous vote in the 2008-09 preseason poll. The Big Red is the first team in the League’s storied history not named Penn or Princeton to garner a unanimous first-place selection. Cornell returns four starters and seven of its top eight scorers from last season’s 22-6 squad that ran through an undefeated league campaign (14-0) en route to its third NCAA tournament appearance in program history. Directly behind Cornell is traditional Ivy League power Penn, who received 110 votes as a near-unanimous second-place choice for the 16 voters. Each of the eight schools had two media representatives who cover Ivy League basketball eligible to vote. Yale (80 points) was picked third, followed by a resurgent Harvard squad (77 points) led by coach Tommy Amaker. Brown, last year’s runner-up, was close behind the Crimson with 75 points for fifth place. Rounding out the poll was Columbia (45), Dartmouth (33) and Princeton (28).
DONAHUE NAMED COURT COACH FOR U-18 NATIONAL TEAM TRYOUTS: This summer, Cornell head coach Steve Donahue spent a week in July as a court coach for the U.S. Under-18 national team tryouts in Washington, D.C. The team, under the direction of Davidson’s head coach Bob McKillop, also featured VCU’s Anthony Grant and Georgetown’s John Thompson III as assistant coaches. The team won the silver medal at the 2008 FIBA U18 championship in Formosa, Argentina, falling to the host team 77-64 in the gold medal game.
GETTING UP THERE: Cornell head coach Steve Donahue entered the 2008-09 campaign with the second-longest tenure at the helm of their current team in the Ivy League. Only James Jones at Yale (10th year) has been at his current school longer than Donahue has directed the Big Red (nine years).
2008-09 CAPTAINS: Cornell’s four-year senior class of Jason Battle, Adam Gore, Brian Kreefer and Conor Mullen will represent the Big Red as team captains for the 2008-09 season. It will be the second year as captain for both Battle and Gore and the first for Kreefer and Mullen.
BIG RED ON THE RADIO: For the second straight year, the Cornell University men’s basketball games will be broadcast live on WPIE-1160 AM out of Elmira, N.Y., with Barry Leonard on the call. A half-hour pregame show and postgame analysis will enable Big Red fans to follow Coach Steve Donahue’s team throughout the season.
LIVE VIDEO: The Big Red’s home contests will all be broadcast live with streaming video as part of the RedCast subscription service. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for all the latest information on Cornell broadcasts.
LIVE STATS: Cornell will use SIDEARM Live Stats for each of the Big Red’s home games in 2008-09. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for all of the official statistics.
NEXT UP: The Big Red will continue practice after this weekend with an expected postseason bid in mind regardless of this weekend’s results. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for more information.
Over the last 22 years, Penn, Princeton or Cornell have won or shared the Ivy League title every season. In 20 of those years, it has been the Quakers or the Tigers. With the Big Red needing a win to clinch at least a share of the Ivy title, it is more than fitting that Penn and Princeton would be the roadblocks.(see page 3 for scenarios)
Continuing to lead Cornell on both ends of the court are a trio of All-Ivy players, juniors Ryan Wittman (18.5 ppg., 3.7 rpg.) and Louis Dale (13.7 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 3.7 apg.) and senior Jeff Foote (12.2 ppg., 6.9 rpg., 2.2 apg., 2.2 bpg.). Combined with key contributors like juniors Geoff Reeves (9.1 ppg.) and Alex Tyler (6.4 ppg., 4.5 rpg.) who have also started all 28 games, and the Big Red looks poised to defend its 2007-08 Ivy League title. Freshman Chris Wroblewski, sophomore Adam Wire and seniors Brian Kreefer and Jason Battle have also played key roles off the bench. The return of senior Adam Gore from a knee injury also adds depth in the backcourt.
ABOUT PENN: The Quakers were picked to finish second in the Ivy League preseason media poll, but a young roster and several key injuries have the team at 9-16 (5-6 Ivy). The Quakers split last weekend’s Ivy weekend, dropping an 87-79 contest to Yale on Feb. 27, then topping Brown 64-54 the following day. Sophomore Tyler Bernardini leads the team in scoring (13.7 ppg.) and 3-pointers (39), while point guard Harrison Gaines (10.3 ppg.) is also in double figures. Freshman Zack Rosen (7.7 ppg., 5.1 apg.) paces the Ivy League in assists, while Jack Eggleston (9.8 ppg. 6.0 rpg.) is among the conference’s top rebounders. The Quakers have struggled on the boards (outrebounded by 2.7 rebounds per game) and have struggled from the perimeter (.322 from 3-point range). Third-year head coach Glen Miller has posted a 44-43 record at Penn and 232-200 in 16 years as a collegiate head coach. His 2006-07 Quaker team won an Ivy League title.
ABOUT PRINCETON: Second-year head coach Sydney Johnson has the Tigers playing with confidence, and like Cornell, controls its own destiny with three games remaining in Ivy League play. Despite its 12-12 record overall, the Tigers are 7-4 in Ancient Eight action and already own a 20-point win over the Big Red earlier this season at Jadwin Gymnasium. Freshman Douglas Davis (12.4 ppg.) and sophomore Dan Mavraides (10.5 ppg.) are scoring double figures for Princeton, which is surrendering just 57.1 points per game on .394 shooting. Pawel Buczak (7.6 ppg., 4.2 rpg.) paces the team in rebounding. Johnson’s team has already surpassed last season’s win totals overall (7) and in Ivy League play (3). He has an 18-35 record in his two seasons as a head coach.
SO WHAT’S THE SCENARIO?: While there are numerous scenarios entering the weekend, the basics are this — Cornell controls its own destiny heading into the final two games. The Big Red can clinch a share of the Ivy title with a win on Friday against Penn, and coupled with a Princeton loss at Columbia that night, Cornell would earn the outright championship and an NCAA bid. The Big Red would also clinch the outright title with a win over the Tigers on Saturday night regardless of any other results on the weekend.
STOP LOSS: Cornell hasn’t lost consecutive Ivy League contests since losing at Penn on Feb. 17 and at Yale on Feb. 23, 2007, a span of 30 contests.
BACK TO BASICS: After winning 19 straight Ivy League contests, Cornell is 5-3 in its last eight contests thanks to road losses at Princeton, Yale and Harvard. The Big Red’s average margin of victory in those five wins, however, is 19.4 points.
RARE COMPANY: Cornell has extended its home win streak to 19 games, ranking it tied for third-longest in Division I with Pittsburgh, which faces Marquette on March 4, and Dayton, which plays Duquesne on March 7. Utah State’s streak is at 33 heading into a March 7 contest against San Jose State. The longest active home win streak in the country is Kansas, which has a 40-game stretch it will put to the test against Texas on March 7.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Big Red is riding a school-record 19-game home win streak dating back to last year. Here are some facts about the streak.
• The previous longest home win streak was 14 games and started on Dec. 3, 1983 with a win over Cleveland State and culminated in a Jan. 9, 1985 loss to Canisius.
• Last year the Big Red went 12-1 at home, meaning Cornell is now 30-3 in its last 33 home contests.
• The 11 straight wins to open this season is the longest since also opening 11-0 during the 1983-84 campaign.
HOME WRECKERS: Cornell has been extremely impressive in its 11-0 start this season at Newman Arena, doing everything well. As a team, Cornell is outscoring foes by 19.3 points (82.4-63.1) while hitting at a .519 clip from the field and .463 from 3-point range. The team has a 1.4:1 assist:turnover ratio and is defending at an outstanding pace, limiting opponents to .389 shooting from the floor and .308 from 3-point range. Seven of the team’s top 10 scorers are shooting at least 50 percent from the floor at home, with three hitting better than 60 percent.
FIRST TO 20-20?: A win over Penn would give Cornell its third 20-win season in program history and its second straight for the first time in 110 years of Big Red basketball. The other 20-win seasons were in 1950-51 (20-5) and last season at 22-6.
PERFECT 10: With its next win, Cornell would claim its second consecutive 10-win season in Ivy League play, something it hasn’t done since posting at least 10 conference victories three straight years, from 1964-65 to the 1966-67 seasons.
BOARD GAMES: Entering the weekend, six different players have a chance to establish a new school record for games played in a season. The previous mark of 29 during the 1989-90 season can be surpassed by Jeff Foote, Brian Kreefer, Geoff Reeves, Alex Tyler, Ryan Wittman and Chris Wroblewski, all of whom have played 28 games with two contests remaining.
EARTH-QUAKING: The Big Red will be in search of its first four-game win streak of Penn in men’s basketball since winning five in a row from 1966-1968, including back-to-back season sweeps during the 1966-67 and 1967-68 campaigns. In 211 meetings, the Big Red has strung together four-game win streaks just three times with the longest being five-game streaks done twice.
TIGER HUNTING: Despite the loss to Princeton in their first meeting, Cornell is having nearly unprecedented success against the Tigers of late, winning seven of the last nine contests. Prior to the stretch, Princeton had won 30-of-33 going back to 1987-88 and 63-of-75 heading all the way back to 1966-67.
THREE FOR ALL: With its seven 3-pointers in the loss to Harvard, Cornell increased its total on the season as a team to 222. With two regular season games remaining, the team is well on its way of breaking the single-season record of 228 set last year.
ON THE BLOCK: Cornell enters Friday night’s game vs. Penn with 115 blocked shots, good for second all-time at Cornell for a season behind the 117 in 1996-97. With three blocked shots this weekend, the team would set a new Big Red record.
MOVING ON UP: Head coach Steve Donahue won his 63rd Ivy League contest with a 75-57 victory at Dartmouth, good for 13th place on the all-time Ivy League coaching wins list. He ranks second among Cornell coaches with only Sam MacNeil’s 77 wins from 1959-68 ranking ahead.
EVEN STEVEN: With the team’s victory over Yale, head coach Steve Donahue evened his career Ivy League record at 58-58. It was the first time in his career that he had a .500 Ivy League record overall since taking over the program in 2000-01. He currently sits at 63-61 over his eight years.
TALL IVY: Over the last three seasons, Cornell’s 32-8 record in the best among Ivy League teams in conference action. Penn, who claimed the 2006-07 title, is second at 27-12, followed by Yale (24-16), Columbia (20-20) and Brown (18-22). Other Ivy teams include Dartmouth (14-26), Harvard (13-27), and Princeton (12-27).
TREY BIEN: The Big Red has hit at least one 3-pointer in 561 straight games entering the Penn contest. Cornell surpassed the 500-game plateau when the Big Red connected on six treys at Princeton on Feb. 16, 2007. The last time Cornell did not hit a 3-pointer was against Denison in the 1988-89 season opener (0-for-2). Since the 3-point shot came into effect in NCAA play during the 1986-87 season, Cornell has hit at least one shot behind the arc in 612 of 616 games, connecting on 3,602 treys, an average of 5.85 per game. The Big Red has hit a 3-pointer in all 247 games coached by Steve Donahue.
CENTURY MARKED: Head coach Steve Donahue picked up his 100th career coaching victory with a 67-54 triumph over Eastern Michigan in the final contest of the 2008 NIT Preseason Tip-Off on Nov. 25. The 2007-08 USBWA and NABC District Coach of the Year has a 115-132 overall record in nine seasons at Cornell and is 57-27 (.679) in his last three seasons, including last year’s Ivy League title. His teams have matched or surpassed its win totals overall and in league play each of the last six seasons (only school in the country) and has finished in the top three of the Ancient Eight standings for five straight years.
GRAND ENTRANCE: Cornell has seen both Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale surpass the 1,000-point mark this season. Wittman reached the milestone against Indiana earlier this season, while Dale hit the mark against Brown. The two became the first set of teammates to each reach 1,000 points in the same season since Cody Toppert ‘05 and Eric Taylor ‘05 each reached the milestone during the 2004-05 season.
PERFECT 10: The Big Red won 10 non-conference contests in one season for the fourth time in program history and for the first time since the 1950-51 season when Cornell also won 10 games. The Big Red won a program-best 11 games out of the league in 1949-50 and also took home 10 decisions in the 1919-20 campaign.
NON-LEAGUE SUCCESS: The Big Red posted its third consecutive non-conference season with at least a .500 record with a 10-6 mark. The last time the Big Red at least broke even in non-league play in more consecutive years was the 1959-60 to the 1967-68 campaign, a span of nine straight years.
WITTMAN GETS CORNELL 3-POINT RECORD: Junior Ryan Wittman put his stamp on Cornell’s career 3-point list with four treys in the 96-75 victory over Harvard, giving him a school record 240 in his three seasons. He passed Cody Toppert ‘05, who had 237 in his four-year career with his field goal with 14:10 left in the first half as part of a 20-point night. He has since upped his career total to 257.
WITTMAN CLIMBS UP IVY TREY CHART: Two weeks after junior Ryan Wittman set the school’s career record for 3-pointers, he jumped to second on the Ivy League’s list in the win at Dartmouth. Wittman hit four 3-pointers as part of a 20-point effort, ending his night with 254 career treys. That total surpassed Penn’s Tim Begley (253, 2001-05), and now sits behind only conference record holder Brian Earl of Princeton (281, 1995-99). He has since improved on his total of 257, just 24 shy of Earl’s mark.
THE BIG 5-0-0: Junior Ryan Wittman became the fifth player in school history to record 500 points in a season with his big 24-point effort in the loss at Harvard. With 517 points in 28 games, he sits behind only Mike Davis (557 in 1977-78), Chuck Rolles (553 in 1955-56) and Ka’Ron Barnes (544 in 2003-04). John Bajusz, the school’s career scoring leader, scored 505 points in 1986-87.
MORE ON WITT: Junior Ryan Wittman moved into second place on the single-season 3-pointers list with 86 this season. He trails only ... Ryan Wittman. As a freshman, Wittman made 93 3-pointers in 2006-07. He now holds three of the top five season efforts at Cornell.
ANOTHER THREE SPREE: Junior forward Ryan Wittman hit nine 3-pointers against Syracuse, matching the single-game school record by Alex Compton at Yale on Feb. 24, 1996. The 19 attempts from beyond the arc set a school record, surpassing the 16 attempts by Cody Toppert against Duquesne on Feb. 6, 2004. The nine makes were one shy of a single-game Ivy League and Carrier Dome record.
RARE 30: Junior Ryan Wittman’s 33 points against Syracuse was the most by a Big Red player since Ray Mercedes notched 37 in a 93-84 loss to Harvard on March 3, 2001. It was the first 30-point effort by any Cornell player since Lenny Collins had 30 in a 72-67 loss at Marist on Nov. 19, 2004.
WITTMAN’S SCORING GRAND: Junior forward Ryan Wittman became the 23rd player in school history to score 1,000 career points when he posted 28 against Indiana on Nov. 30. He entered the contest with 979 points in his first 62 games and delivered his 1,000th point on a jumper with 9:10 left in regulation. He has since moved to sixth on the all-time list with 1,377 points. Next up is Ka’Ron Barnes ‘06 who scored 1,396 career points.
MORE THAN JUST THE SCORING: While his 18.5 points per game is spectacular, so are junior Ryan Wittman’s other contributions through 28 games. The 6-6 forward is averaging 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and has posted a 1.4:1 assist-turnover ratio while playing 33.9 minutes per game. All of those numbers are career highs except for his rebounding average, which was at 4.2 rpg. a season ago.
WELCOME BACK: Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Louis Dale is back after missing the first eight games of the 2008-09 season with a hamstring injury, and so far the returns have been excellent. The junior is averaging 13.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 25.7 minutes per game.
TRUE HOMER: Junior Louis Dale has played half of his 20 games of the season at home and his numbers have been impressive at Newman Arena. Dale is averaging 15.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists while connecting on 58 percent of his shots from the floor (50-of-86) and 47 percent from 3-point range (16-of-34) in the home contests.
ADDING ANOTHER FOOTE: Senior center Jeff Foote has turned into a dominating force in the paint this season, ranking third on the team in scoring (12.2 ppg.) and pacing the squad and the Ivy League in rebounding (6.9 rpg.) and blocked shots (2.2 bpg.). Foote ranks among the team leaders in assists (2.2 apg.) while shooting 54 percent from the floor, also a team-best.
BRING IT ON, NIT: The NIT Preseason Tip-Off was the coming out party for senior center Jeff Foote, who ripped through both St. John’s and Loyola (MD). In those two games, Foote averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.0 blocks and 2.0 assists while getting to the line 18 times. He set a career-high with 20 points and five blocked shots to go along with seven rebounds and three assists against the Red Storm, then answered with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks against the Greyhounds. In his four games in the preseason NIT, Foote averaged 16.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.5 blocked shots and 2.8 assists while shooting 61 percent from the floor in Cornell’s 3-1 tournament run.
BLOCK TO BLOCK: Senior center Jeff Foote has blocked 61 shots in 28 games in 2008-09 after posting 30 blocks a season ago in 22 contests. After just 50 varsity contests, he already ranks fifth on the career list with 91 blocked shots.
AND THOUGH HE’S A SENIOR: Senior center Jeff Foote will be eligible to compete again in the 2009-10 season after sitting out a full season after transferring to Cornell from St. Bonaventure in the winter of 2006. A former walk-on for the Bonnies, he never played a varsity contest in his year-and-a-half with the program.
MOST IMPROVED?: Few players in the Ivy League have seen a bigger scoring jump than junior Geoff Reeves this season. The 6-4 guard is averaging 9.1 points a year after posting an average of 3.5 points per game. A 44 percent shooter thus far, Reeves has connected on 50-of-120 shots from beyond the arc (42 percent) and is also among the team leaders in assists (40) while averaging 26.6 minutes per game.
20-20: Junior Geoff Reeves has already posted a pair of 20-point games this season, including a career-best 26 points in a win over Loyola (IL). He made 10-of-14 shots overall, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc in the contest. The 26 points were the most by an active Cornell player at the time and the most since Lenny Collins netted 27 points against Long Beach State on Dec. 30, 2005. Reeves also scored 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc.
TYLER MORE: Junior Alex Tyler has been his strong, steady self in 2008-09, as the two-year starter at power forward is averaging 6.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots while playing 22.1 minutes per game. Tyler has reached double figures in scoring six times and posted a season-high 10 rebounds in the season opener against South Dakota. He had 14 points and a career-high four blocked shots to go along with six rebounds in the win over Boston University. His 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocks also led the Big Red past Columbia on the road, while he matched a career-high with 19 points and added seven rebounds in the return contest against the Lions.
TYLER MAKING CAREER MOVES: Senior Alex Tyler ranks among the school’s career leaders in field goal percentage (12th, .515) and blocked shots (ninth, 51).
ROBO-POINT GUARD: When Ivy League Player of the Year Louis Dale went down with an injury in the preseason, freshman Chris Wroblewski was forced to take over running the offense from the point guard position and so far has been outstanding. He averaged 6.6 points, 2.9 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game in the team’s first nine games, including six starts.The freshman posted a 1.4:1 assist-turnover ratio (26a, 18t). He is currently third on the team lead in assists (71) and is averaging 6.4 points, 2.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. Wroblewski averaged 8.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in two contests against Columbia.
WROBO HOT: Since the beginning of Ivy League play, freshman Chris Wroblewski has shown to be one of the Ancient Eight’s top rookies, averaging 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 42 percent from the floor and a scorching 47 percent from 3-point range (18-of-38).
WROBO RECORD: Freshman Chris Wroblewski hit on 5-of-6 shots from beyond the 3-point arc in the win over Harvard, setting a Cornell Newman Arena record for 3-point percentage in a game (.833). The previous record of .800 (4-of-5) had happened eight times previously.
COMING IN WIRED: Sophomore Adam Wire didn’t play in the team’s first two games of the year, but made quite an impact off the bench since. Wire has averaged 3.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals while playing 15.9 minutes in 26 appearances. The 6-6 forward corralled seven rebounds, including five on the offensive end, and added two points and two steals in 15 minutes of action against Loyola (MD) for his breakout game. In all, 40 of his 98 rebounds on the season have been on the offensive end and he leads the team and ranks third in the Ivy League with 40 steals.
BATTLE, KREEFER PLAYING KEY ROLES AS CAPTAINS: Old stalwarts Jason Battle and Brian Kreefer have played outstanding basketball this season while providing excellent leadership. Battle has started two contests and is averaging 1.2 points and 0.7 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per game. Battle had six points and three rebounds in a win over Loyola (MD). Kreefer has played 12.5 minutes per game off the bench and has picked up 3.6 points and 3.0 rebounds while making 57 percent of his shots from the field. Kreefer had a career-high six assists in the win over Loyola (IL).
KREEF NEAR-PERFECT: Senior Brian Kreefer has made 19 of his last 26 shots from the floor over his last seven games (73 percent) to raise his field goal percentage to .566. He is shooting an insane 69 percent (24-of-35) from the floor against Ivy League opponents in 2009.
WELCOME HOME: Senior Adam Gore made his triumphant return to college basketball in the 90-58 victory over Brown. Just four and a half months after suffering his second torn ACL in two years, Gore played 10 productive minutes, scoring three points, grabbing two rounds and dishing off an assist. He has averaged 2.6 points and 0.8 rebounds in his first 10 games, seeing 7.5 minutes per contest.
BIG RED PICKED TO REPEAT IN PRESEASON POLL: After capturing its first Ivy League title in 20 years, the Ivy League media picked the Cornell men’s basketball team to repeat as Ivy League champions by a unanimous vote in the 2008-09 preseason poll. The Big Red is the first team in the League’s storied history not named Penn or Princeton to garner a unanimous first-place selection. Cornell returns four starters and seven of its top eight scorers from last season’s 22-6 squad that ran through an undefeated league campaign (14-0) en route to its third NCAA tournament appearance in program history. Directly behind Cornell is traditional Ivy League power Penn, who received 110 votes as a near-unanimous second-place choice for the 16 voters. Each of the eight schools had two media representatives who cover Ivy League basketball eligible to vote. Yale (80 points) was picked third, followed by a resurgent Harvard squad (77 points) led by coach Tommy Amaker. Brown, last year’s runner-up, was close behind the Crimson with 75 points for fifth place. Rounding out the poll was Columbia (45), Dartmouth (33) and Princeton (28).
DONAHUE NAMED COURT COACH FOR U-18 NATIONAL TEAM TRYOUTS: This summer, Cornell head coach Steve Donahue spent a week in July as a court coach for the U.S. Under-18 national team tryouts in Washington, D.C. The team, under the direction of Davidson’s head coach Bob McKillop, also featured VCU’s Anthony Grant and Georgetown’s John Thompson III as assistant coaches. The team won the silver medal at the 2008 FIBA U18 championship in Formosa, Argentina, falling to the host team 77-64 in the gold medal game.
GETTING UP THERE: Cornell head coach Steve Donahue entered the 2008-09 campaign with the second-longest tenure at the helm of their current team in the Ivy League. Only James Jones at Yale (10th year) has been at his current school longer than Donahue has directed the Big Red (nine years).
2008-09 CAPTAINS: Cornell’s four-year senior class of Jason Battle, Adam Gore, Brian Kreefer and Conor Mullen will represent the Big Red as team captains for the 2008-09 season. It will be the second year as captain for both Battle and Gore and the first for Kreefer and Mullen.
BIG RED ON THE RADIO: For the second straight year, the Cornell University men’s basketball games will be broadcast live on WPIE-1160 AM out of Elmira, N.Y., with Barry Leonard on the call. A half-hour pregame show and postgame analysis will enable Big Red fans to follow Coach Steve Donahue’s team throughout the season.
LIVE VIDEO: The Big Red’s home contests will all be broadcast live with streaming video as part of the RedCast subscription service. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for all the latest information on Cornell broadcasts.
LIVE STATS: Cornell will use SIDEARM Live Stats for each of the Big Red’s home games in 2008-09. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for all of the official statistics.
NEXT UP: The Big Red will continue practice after this weekend with an expected postseason bid in mind regardless of this weekend’s results. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for more information.
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