Game Notes vs. Loyola (MD)

GAME INFORMATION
Game #3: Cornell vs. Loyola (MD)
Tip off: Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 4:30 p.m.
Site: Conte Forum (8,606), Chestnut Hill, Mass.
2008-09 Records: Cornell (1-1, 0-0 Ivy); Loyola (0-2, 0-0 MAAC)
Series Records: First Meeting with Loyola (MD)
Radio: 1160 ESPN Radio, WPIE (Barry Leonard)
TV: ESPN2 (championship game only)
Live Stats: Check BCEagles.com for availability
Live Video: Not available for these games
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH STEVE DONAHUE
Cornell head coach Steve Donahue is in his ninth season at Cornell (97-124, .439) ... Donahue became the fourth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on Sept. 6, 2000.

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ITHACA, N.Y. — After a Monday loss to St. John's in a game that stretched to nearly 11:30 p.m., Cornell will hve to bounce back quickly when it meets Loyola (MD) on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 4:30 p.m. in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off consolation game at Boston College's Conte Forum. Barry Leonard will provide the call on 1160 ESPN Radio, while live audio of the game will be available on the RedCast subscription service.

Cornell did plenty right in its 86-75 loss to the Red Storm out of the Big East, but its defensive breakdowns cost the Big Red its second win to open the season. The loss snapped a 17-game regular season win streak for Cornell dating back to last season. 

Junior Ryan Wittman matched his career high with 25 points for the second consecutive game, but it was senior Jeff Foote who was the dominating presence for Cornell. Foote posted 20 points, seven rebounds, five blocked shots and three assists in a career-best 35 minutes of action. Senior Brian Kreefer added 10 points in the loss.

While the offense was able to score enough points, the defense had trouble stopping an athletic Red Storm team that was able to build double figure leads in both halves before holding off hard charges. St John's was able to shoot 54 percent from the floor and held a decisive 40-26 edge in rebounding.

The Greyhounds of Loyola dropped to 1-2 after an 18-0 run pushed Boston College to a 90-57 victory. Jamal Barney had 18 points off the bench, while Brett Harvey added 12. Loyola shot just 35 percent from the floor, 19 percent from 3-point range and 53 percent from the free-throw line.

ABOUT LOYOLA (MD): Loyola enters the game with a 1-2 record after last night's 90-57 loss to Boston College. The Greyhounds had opened the year with an 84-76 defeat at the hands of Mount St. Mary's and a 73-70 victory over Tennessee State, both contests coming at home. This will be the fourth game in five days for Loyola, including the third game in three days. Brett Harvey leads the way with 19.7 ppg., while Jamal Barney is averaging 13.0 ppg. Opponents are shooting 49 percent from the floor and 44 percent from 3-point range and are outrebounding Loyola by 9.4 boards per contest. Fifth-year head coach Jimmy Patsos has a 59-64 record during his tenure on the sidelines.

CORNELL VS. THE MAAC: The Big Red holds a 59-46 all-time record against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and will be meeting Loyola (MD) for the first time today. The Big Red has faced Canisius (25-17), Fairfield (0-2), Iona (0-2) Manhattan (1-1), Marist (2-3), Niagara (27-20), Rider (3-0) and Siena (1-1), but has never played St. Peter's. This only scheduled game this season for Cornell against a team from the MAAC. 

A WIN OVER LOYOLA (MD) WOULD ...
• improve Cornell's record to 2-1.
• snap a three-game losing streak in neutral site games.
• give the Big Red 20 wins in its last 23 games.
• be the 1,126th in school history.

QUICK TURNAROUND: The Big Red is used to quick turnarounds, but this one is a little different. After playing until 11:15 p.m. and getting back to the hotel at midnight, Cornell will have just 16 hours to recover for its consolation game against Loyola this afternoon. Few teams are as used to playing so quickly, so often. The Ivy League plays all of its conference games on Friday and Saturday nights and has no conference tournament, meaning that six straight weeks of two games within 24 hours decides the league championship. 

THE BIG RED AND IN-SEASON TOURNEYS: Cornell last won an in-season basketball tournament when it dropped Virginia Military Institute and Vermont to win the 1990-91 USAir-Cornell Classic. The Big Red has also earned tournament championships at the 1978-79 Pepsi Classic and the 1967-68 Kodak Classic (both in Rochester, N.Y.). Overall, Cornell is 35-94 in tournament play during the regular campaign. The last tourney the Big Red participated in was the 2006-07 William & Mary Tip-Off Classic, falling to the host school 73-68 in overtime in the championship game. 

CAREER RECORDS FALL IN OPENER: Several Cornell players tallied career highs in Friday's win over South Dakota. Junior Geoff Reeves set new standards with his 21 points and five 3-point field goals. Junior Ryan Wittman's 25 points and five assists both tied career-bests, as did senior Jeff Foote's four assists and four blocked shots. Alex Tyler's 10 rebounds also matched his previous career best.

BIG NIGHT FOR WITTMAN: In the 2008-09 seaosn-opening win over South Dakota, Ryan Wittman poured in a career-best 25 points, the most by a Cornell in a season opener since Eric Taylor notched 30 points on 14-of-16 shooting in a 78-72 victory at Buffalo to open the 2002-03 campaign.

SCORING IT WELL: Junior Ryan Wittman is off to a great start so far this season, matching his career high of 25 points in each of his first two games in 2008-09.

ON THE BLOCK: Senior Jeff Foote has nine blocked shots in his first two games of the year, giving him 39 in his 24-game career. Foote needs just one blocked shot to move into the Big Red's all-time top 10 list.

FOOTE CAUSES RED STORM HEADACHES: Senior Jeff Foote was a dominating presence in the Big Red's loss to St. John's last night, posting career highs of 20 points and five blocked shots. while adding seven rebounds and three assists with just one turnover in 35 minutes. Foote made 8-of-14 field goals and is now averaging 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds this season.

REEVES HITS BLACKJACK: Junior Geoff Reeves proved a capable replacement for the injured Adam Gore in the starting lineup in the opener against South Dakota, putting up a career-best 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. His previous best was 16 points against Harvard during his rookie campaign. The start was the first for Reeves after 44 career games as a reserve.

KREEF OFF TO GOOD START: Senior Brian Kreefer has been the team's top reserve in the first two games, averaging 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while seeing 19.5 minutes of action. Kreefer scored a season-best 10 points in last night's loss to St. John's.

WROBLEWSKI MAKES IMPRESSIVE DEBUT: Two games into his career, freshman Chris Wroblewski has had a solid showing at point guard. While his averages of 5.5 points and 3.0 assists don't jump off the page, he has done an excellent job of running the offense during his 23.0 minutes per game. Wroblewski has a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio through two games.

MAN AMONG BOYS: Junior Alex Tyler tied a career-high with 10 rebounds in the 2008-09 opener against South Dakota. He is tied for second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game.

NEW LINE NOT BOTHERING CORNELL: After finishing fourth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage a season ago, Cornell proved it could bury shots behind the arc at 19-9. This year the line moved back a foot to 20-9 and the Big Red have barely noticed. Cornell hit on 8-of-18 from 3-point range for 44 percent in the season-opening win over South Dakota, including a 5-of-8 performance by junior Geoff Reeves. While that number was only 6-of-17 (35 percent) in the loss to St. John's last night, the Big Red is still shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc in two games.

THAT BEING SAID ... : Only three different Cornell players have attempted a 3-pointer in the team's first two games, with junior Geoff Reeves leading the way by hitting 7-of-14 treys for 50 percent. Junior Ryan Wittman, a career 44 percent shooter from beyond the arc, has struggled with his shot in the first two games. He has hit 5-of-16 for 31 percent thus far.

TREY BIEN: The Big Red has hit at least one 3-pointer in 535 straight games entering the Loyola (MD) 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 586 of 590 games, connecting on 3,393 treys, an average of 5.75 per game. The Big Red has hit a 3-pointer in all 221 games coached by Steve Donahue. 

NEXT UP: The Big Red will visit defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Siena on Saturday, Nov. .22 at 7 p.m. at the Times Union Center in Albany.