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Cornell Men to Face Stanford in NCAA First Round
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Courtesy: Cornell Athletic CommunicationsITHACA, N.Y. -- The Ivy League men's basketball champion Cornell Big Red will open 2008 NCAA tournament play as the No. 14 seed in the South region and will meet No. 3 seed Stanford out of the Pac-10 Conference on Thursday, March 20 in Anaheim, Calif. Game time will be approximately 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET), or 25 minutes after the completion of the Marquette/Kentucky game set for 11:30 PT (2:30 ET).
The Big Red will be making its third NCAA tournament appearance and its first in 20 years after completing the 13th undefeated conference slate (14-0) in Ancient Eight history. Cornell set school records for most wins overall (22) and longest win streak (16) in the 109-year history of Big Red basketball. Head coach Steve Donahue's team also set school records for points (2,083) and 3-point field goals (220) in a season and highest team free throw percentage (.763). The Big Red is the only team in the country ranked among the top 10 nationally in field goal, free-throw and 3-point percentage and is also the only team to improve its win totals both overall and in league play in each of the last six seasons.
Directed by Donahue, the 2008 NABC and USBWA District Coach of the Year, Cornell has just one senior on its roster and features four players with two more years of eligibility remaining after this year. Sophomore guard Louis Dale (13.8 ppg., 5.0 apg., 4.4 rpg.) was named the Ivy League Player of the Year and was joined as a unanimous first-team all-Ivy selection by sophomore forward Ryan Wittman (15.4 ppg., 4.3 rpg.). Wittman was named to the NABC and USBWA all-district teams as well. Junior center Jeff Foote (8.1 ppg., 6.4 rpg., 1.4 bpg.) and junior guard Adam Gore (10.1 ppg.) were second-team All-Ivy selections.
They will have a major task in the first round, opposing a Cardinal team that went 26-7 (13-5 Pac-10). Led by 7-0 center Brook Lopez (19.2 ppg.), Stanford is scoring 70.7 points per game. The Cardinal make living with its defense, limiting foes to 60.6 ppg. on .394 shooting. A win would pit the Big Red against the winner of the Marquette-Kentucky matchup for a trip to the Sweet 16. That contest would be played on Saturday at a time to be determined.
Cornell was previously a No. 16 seed, falling to No. 1 Arizona 90-50 in the 1988 tournament. The 1954 team that earned an EIBL title was during a time when seedings weren't made public.
