News and Notes

Above, Ryan Wittman is presented the Legends Classic-Philadelphia Subegional MVP award, while Jon Jaques below, moves to center court as he is awarded All Tournament honors.

Below, Wittman's honor as MVP was not as surprising.

Below, some news and notes from the afternoon...

• Cornell's three wins this weekend at the Legends Classic were quite impressive when all circumstances are considered. The Big Red won three games in three days without two of the team's top nine players. Starting power forward, Alex Tyler (hamstring) and reserve guard, Max Groebe (flu), both missed the final two games of the tournament. Cornell also knocked off a Drexel team in its own gym. This is the same Drexel team that beat Ivy rival, Penn quite convincingly, 58-49 in Penn's Palestra.

• Since Cornell knocked off Alabama 67-71 on November 14 in the season opener for both teams, the Crimson Tide have improved to 4-2, claiming wins over Providence, Baylor and No. 15 Michigan.

• Although Cornell lost 89-79 to Seton Hall on November 20, the Pirates are off to a 4-0 start. In fact, the other team to knock off Cornell, No. 9/10 Syracuse is 6-0. Although 'Cuse beat Cornell by 15 points, 88-73, Cornell played Syracuse the toughest this season of any opponent. Syracuse beat Columbia by 25, Albany by 32, Robert Morris by 40, California by 22, and North Carolina by 16. The Cal and Carolina wins were also on neutral courts, while Cornell lost in the Carrier Dome.

• Cornell could have another opportunity for a signature win over a Big East team. St. John's is off to a 5-0 start, claiming wins over St. Bonaventure, Temple and Siena. The Big Red could meet the Red Storm in the December 21 championship game of the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival.

• We've received a lot of questions as to who voted for the Legends Classic All Tournament Team. The answer is the four participating coaches. Ryan Wittman was the MVP while Cornell's Jon Jaques also made the All Tournament team. While Jaques did not have the attractive stats of some other players, he was inserted into the Cornell rotation in place of injured players-- Alex Tyler and Max Groebe-- and contributed some big plays, particulary on the defensive end that will never show up in the stat books.