2009 Men's Divsion I NCAA Tournament Bracket (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Ivy League men's basketball champion Cornell Big Red will open 2009 NCAA tournament play as the No. 14 seed in the West region and will meet No. 3 seed Missouri out of the Big XII Conference on Friday, March 20 in Boise, Idaho. Game time is set for 3 p.m. ET (1 p.m. MT), or approximately 30 minutes following the completion of the game between Marquette and Utah State. Tickets are available by calling the Big Red Athletic Ticket Office at (607) 254-2327. Check back at www.CornellBigRed.com for updates.

The Big Red will be making its fourth NCAA tournament appearance and second consecutive, becoming the first Ivy League team other than Penn or Princeton to win consecutive outright championships in the conference's history. Cornell is one win shy of matching last year's school record of 22 wins, entering the tournament with a 21-9 overall record (11-3 Ivy League). The Big Red was a perfect 13-0 at home and holds a 21-game home win streak, the third-longest among all Division I teams. Cornell ranks third nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.415) and also set team records for points (2,222), 3-pointers (235) and blocked shots (121) in a season.

Directed by ninth-year head coach Steve Donahue, the 2008 NABC and USBWA District Coach of the Year, Cornell is expected to return all five starters a year from now, including two-time first-team all-league selections Ryan Wittman (18.5 ppg.) and Louis Dale (13.5 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 3.7 apg.). Wittman is the first two-time NABC all-district selection in school history, including a first-teamer in 2008-09, while Dale was the 2007-08 Ivy League Player of the Year. Senior center Jeff Foote (11.8 ppg., 7.1 rpg., 2.1 bpg.) was also named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, as well as a second-team All-Ivy and NABC all-district pick. Two-year starter Alex Tyler (6.7 ppg., 4.6 rpg.), junior guard Geoff Reeves (9.1 ppg.) and Ivy League Rookie of the Year Chris Wroblewski (6.7 ppg., 2.6 apg.) also are playing key roles. Leadership on and off the court has been provided by Cornell's four graduating seniors and captains Jason Battle, Brian Kreefer, Conor Mullen and two-time All-Ivy selection Adam Gore, who worked his way back to the court for the last 12 games after suffering a preseason knee injury.

No. 14 Missouri finished the season by winning the Big XII tournament championship after defeating Baylor, 73-60, in the title game, for the Tigers first Big XII title in any men's sport. Missouri owns a 28-6 record overall and posted a 12-4 mark in the conference, including quality wins over USC, Cal and Kansas. The Tigers are led by first-team All-Big 12 selection DeMarre Carroll. The senior forward ranks first on the team with 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. In addition to Carroll, fellow senior Leo Lyons was a third-team selection, while junior guard J.T. Tiller was named an honorable mention pick. Tiller was also named the Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the league and was the only unanimous pick to the Big 12's All-Defensive Team.