* Game notes vs. No. 20 Syracuse
* Buy tickets to Wednesday's game online
* View live video of the Cornell-Syracuse game (Syracuse All-Access subscription required)
* Live audio of the game (Cornell Redcast subscription required)
* Live stats vs. Syracuse

GAME INFORMATION
Game #8: Cornell at No. 20 Syracuse
Tip off: Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: The Carrier Dome (33,633), Syracuse, N.Y.
2008-09 Records: Cornell (4-3, 0-0 Ivy); Syracuse (7-0, 0-0 Big East)
Series Record: Syracuse leads 84-31
Last Meeting: Syracuse won 80-64, Dec. 22, 2007 in Syracuse, N.Y.
Radio: 1160 ESPN Radio, WPIE (Barry Leonard)
TV: Time Warner Cable-Syracuse
Live Stats: available at www.SUAthletics.com
Live Video: available at www.SUAthletics.com
Tickets: available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH STEVE DONAHUE
Cornell head coach Steve Donahue is in his ninth season at Cornell (100-126, .442) ... Donahue became the fourth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on Sept. 6, 2000.

---

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Big Red men's basketball team (4-3) will face its toughest challenge of the season when it battles undefeated Syracuse (7-0) on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome. The game will be broadcast locally on Time Warner Cable of Central New York (channel 26 in Ithaca). Barry Leonard will provide the call on 1160 ESPN Radio, while live audio will be available on the RedCast subscription service. 

Cornell is coming off a 72-57 loss to Indiana in Bloomington, a game that saw junior Ryan Wittman become the 23rd player in school history to surpass 1,000 career points. On the court where his father Randy earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors, Ryan went off for a career-high 28 points to keep the Big Red in the game.

Wittman (21.0 ppg.) continues to lead three double figure scorers, with classmate Geoff Reeves (14.0 ppg.) and senior Jeff Foote (13.9 ppg., 7.7 rpg., 3.7 bpg.) also in double figures. Cornell's 4-3 start is especially impressive when considering it has been without the service of one of the top mid-major backcourts in the country in reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Louis Dale and two-time All-Ivy selection Adam Gore due to injuries. Junior forward Alex Tyler (7.1 ppg., 4.6 rpg.) and freshman guard Chris Wroblewski (5.9 ppg., 3.0 apg.) round out the team's starters over the first quarter of the season.

The Big Red will be fighting history when Cornell meets a powerful Orange team that already owns wins over defending national champion Kansas, as well as Florida and Virginia. Cornell hasn't defeated Syracuse since the 1968-69 campaign, suffering 30 consecutive losses to its Big East foe. 

ABOUT SYRACUSE: No. 20 Syracuse has come racing out of the gates to a 7-0 record after Monday's 78-53 win over Colgate. Among its early-season wins are Florida, Virginia and defending national champion Kansas. Under the direction of Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, the Orange have four players averaging in double figures with point guard Jonny Flynn leading the way at 20.0 ppg. He also paces the team with 30 assists. Eric Devendorf (14.8 ppg.), Arinze Onuaku (13.5 ppg., 8.7 rpg.) and Paul Harris (12.5 ppg., 9.5 rpg.) are also into double figures, while Andy Rautins is averaging 9.8 points and has made 16 of the team's 40 3-pointers. The teams will be meeting for the 116th time with SU leading 84-31, including 30 straight victories.

CORNELL VS. THE BIG EAST: The Big Red holds a 46-114 all-time record against current members of the Big East Conference, including a 31-84 mark against the Orange. The Big Red has also faced Cincinnati (1-0), Connecticut (1-1), Georgetown (1-0), Marquette (0-1), Notre Dame (1-7), Pittsburgh (5-11), Providence (0-1), Rutgers (1-1), Seton Hall (0-2), St. John's (0-1), Villanova (2-2) and West Virginia (3-3), while never meeting DePaul, Louisville or South Florida. The Big Red fell to St. John's 87-74 in the first round of the NIT Preseason Tip-Off earlier this season.

A WIN OVER SYRACUSE WOULD ...
• improve Cornell's record to 5-3.
• snap a 30-game losing skid against SU dating back to the 1968-69 campaign.
• make Cornell 1-1 against Big East foes this season.
• give the Big Red 23 wins in its last 28 games.
• be the 1,129th in school history.

HOME AWAY FROM DOME: Cornell is 1-16 all-time at the Carrier Dome, picking up its lone victory with a 75-54 triumph over St. Francis (Pa.) to open the 2005-06 season as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The Big Red is 0-16 all-time against the Orange. 

THE LAST TIME CORNELL DEFEATED SYRACUSE: Things have changed mightily since the last time Cornell defeated Syracuse, a 93-81 Big Red win during the 1968-69 season in Ithaca. Below are some of the differences between 1968 and 2008, when the Big Red will attempt to snap a 30-game losing skid to SU. (Comparisons thanks to dmarie time capsules.)

Category           1968                             2008
Loaf of bread      $0.22                            $1.29
Milk (Gallon)      $1.21                            $3.50
New Car            $2,450                           $28,400
Gas (Regular)      $0.34                            $1.89
New House          $26,600                          $305,900
Postage Stamp      $0.06                            $0.42
Household Income   $9,670                           $50,233
No. 1 Song         "Love Child"                     "Live Your Life"
                   Diana Ross and the Supremes       T.I. featuring Rihanna

NEW LINE NOT BOTHERING CORNELL MUCH: Despite struggling from beyond the arc against Siena in a 7-of-24 night, Cornell doesn't look to be affected much by the new 3-point line. 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 has 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. Through seven games, head coach Steve Donahue's team has hit 47-of-125 3-point shots, good for a .376 shooting percentage. Leading the way has been junior Geoff Reeves at 48 percent (21-of-44), while classmate Ryan Wittman has connected on 19-of-54 (35 percent). That effort comes despite missing the second and third-leading 3-point shooters by percentage in Cornell history on Louis Dale and Adam Gore (both tied for second behind Wittman at .420). The duo has missed the first seven games due to injury.

TREY BIEN: The Big Red has hit at least one 3-pointer in 540 straight games entering the Syracuse 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 591 of 595 games, connecting on 3,426 treys, an average of 5.76 per game. The Big Red has hit a 3-pointer in all 226 games coached by Steve Donahue. 

NIT SUCCESS: Cornell posted a 3-1 record in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off, earning consecutive victories over Loyola (MD) (82-72), Loyola-Chicago (78-53) and Eastern Michigan (67-54) after opening the tournament with a loss to St. John's (87-75). Of the 16 teams in the tournament, Cornell joined a who's who of college basketball programs that includes Arizona, Davidson, Georgia, Oklahoma, Purdue and St. John's, as well as the winner of Boston College and UAB, all of whom earned at least three wins in the tournament.

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 100-126 overall record in nine seasons at Cornell, but is 42-21 (.667) 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 four straight years.

WITTMAN'S SCORING GRAND: Junior forward Ryan Wittman became the 23rd player in school history to score 1,000 career points when he posted a career-high 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. 

BIGGER, STRONGER WITTMAN: Junior Ryan Wittman has come back for his junior season with a vengeance, opening the year with four 20-point efforts in the team's first seven games and is averaging a team-high 21.0 points in Cornell's 4-3 start. In the 2008-09 season-opening win over South Dakota, Wittman poured in 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. He responded by again matching that high of 25 in the loss to St. John's and putting up 24 more in the win over Loyola (MD). He is coming off a career-high 28 points against Indiana in his last game. Wittman gained 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason and has shown his strength early on, scoring 61.3 percent of his points from inside the 3-point arc and from the free-throw line this season compared to 40.4 percent in his first two seasons.

LINE 'EM UP, KNOCK 'EM DOWN: Junior Ryan Wittman has made 28-of-31 shots from the free-throw line so far this season, good for a .903 percentage through seven contests. That ups his already school-record pace to .882 (135-of-153).

MORE THAN JUST THE SCORING: While his 21.0 points per game is spectacular, so are junior Ryan Wittman's other contributions through seven games. The 6-6 forward is averaging 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals and has posted a 1.8:1 assist-turnover ratio while playing 36.7 minutes per game. All of those numbers are career highs except for his rebounding average, which was at 4.2 rpg. a season ago.

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 (13.9 ppg.) and pacing the squad in rebounding (7.7 rpg.) and blocked shots (3.7 bpg.) in seven contests. He is also shooting 60 percent from the floor and averaging a career-high 3.0 assists per contest.

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 26 shots in just seven games after posting 30 blocks a season ago in 22 contests. After just 29 varsity contests, he already ranks sixth on the career list with 56 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 country have seen a bigger scoring jump that junior Geoff Reeves this season. The 6-4 guard is averaging 14.0 points in the team's first seven games a year after posting an average of 3.5 points per game. A 45 percent shooter thus far, Reeves has connected on 21-of-44 shots from beyond the arc (48 percent) and is also among the team leaders in assists (20) while averaging 35.4 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-Chicago. 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 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.

SMART BOMBER: While classmate Ryan Wittman entered the season with much of the publicity of being one of the nation's top shooters, junior Geoff Reeves is out to prove he is fully capable of joining Wittman atop that list. Reeves has made 21-of-44 3-pointers this season (3.0 per game, 48 percent) and is now hitting 46 percent from beyond the arc for his career (49-of-106). 

TYLER MORE: Junior Alex Tyler has been his strong, steady self in the first six games of 2008-09, as the two-year starter at power forward is averaging 7.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.7 blocks while playing 22.6 minutes per game. Tyler has reached double figures in scoring twice and posted a season-high 10 rebounds in the season opener against South Dakota. He had 10 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 25 minutes vs. Eastern Michigan, hitting on 5-of-9 shots from the floor.

TYLER MAKING CAREER MOVES: Senior Alex Tyler ranks among the school's career leaders in field goal percentage (10th, .520) and blocked shots (21st, 25). He needs one blocked shot to move into the top 20 and four to move all the way to 17th.

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. His averages of 5.9 points, 3.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game don't adequately reflect his poise through seven games, including five starts. The freshman has posted a 1.5:1 assist-turnover ratio (21a, 14t), averaging just 2.8 turnovers per 40 minutes. He is tied for the team lead in assists this season. 

BIG MINUTES FOR THE FRESHMAN: Freshman Chris Wroblewski has averaged 30.8 minutes per game in the last five contests since taking over the starting position at point guard and is averaging 6.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game over that span. Wroblewski had a career-high six assists and posted a career-best 13 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists in the win over Loyola-Chicago.

BATTLE, KREEFER PLAYING KEY ROLES AS CAPTAINS: Old stalwarts Jason Battle and Brian Kreefer have played outstanding basketball in the first seven games of the season while providing excellent leadership. Battle has started two contests and is averaging 2.3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 12.7 minutes per game, shooting 50 percent from the floor in the process. Battle had six points and three rebounds in a win over Loyola (MD). Kreefer has played 19.3 minutes per game off the bench and has picked up 4.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists while making 46 percent of his shots from the field. Kreefer had a career-high six assists in the win over Loyola-Chicago 

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 against Loyola (MD). 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. He entered the game midway through the first half and in his 3:05 of action he had four rebounds, including three offensive boards, and a steal. When he left, Cornell had an eight point lead that it would never surrender despite playing its second game in 19 hours. He was also tremendous off the bench against Indiana with five rebounds, three steals and two assists in 12 minutes. Wire has averaged 1.8 points and 3.6 rebounds while playing 10.6 minutes in five appearances. Ten of his 18 rebounds on the season have been on the offensive end.

HOME SWEET HOME: Cornell finished the 2007-08 season with a 12-1 record at home, including seven straight triumphs in front of the Newman Nation crowd. The Big Red fans came out in droves to support the team, averaging 3,992 fans for conference games and posting crowds of more than 4,000 in four of the final five home games, including sell-outs for wins over Penn (2/9) and Harvard (3/1). Cornell extended its home win streak to eight with the season-opening 79-69 win over South Dakota in front of 3,679 fans.

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.

WITTMAN NAMED ALL-DISTRICT BY USBWA AND NABC IN 2007-08: Sophomore Ryan Wittman was named to the USBWA All-District 2 team and to the NABC All-District 2 second-team. Wittman is the 10th player in school history to be honored by the NABC and the first since Ka'Ron Barnes was also a second-team pick in 2004.

DALE NAMED HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICAN: Louis Dale capped off an outstanding sophomore season in 2007-08 by earning honorable mention All-America accolades by the Associated Press. Dale is the first Cornell player to earn All-America honors from the AP since Ken Bantum was also an honorable mention pick in 1985. Prior to Bantum, Cornell hadn't had an All-American since Robert Gale was named to the second team by Helms in 1948. Dale is the Big Red's seventh All-American, with Gil Halstead earning first team honors twice (1913 and 1914).

DONAHUE NAMED NABC, USBWA DISTRICT COACH OF THE YEAR: Cornell men's basketball coach Steve Donahue was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District II and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Coach of the Year in 2007-08. Donahue was chosen in a vote by his peers by the NABC and was one of 16 coaches who were finalists for the NABC National Coach of the Year. The USBWA also named him the top coach and was one of nine candidates for Coach of the Year. Additionally, Donahue was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com and was a finalist for the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year.

TALL IVY: Over the last four seasons, Cornell's 39-17 record is second-best among Ivy League teams in conference action. Penn claimed the previous three Ancient Eight titles and has posted a 43-13 mark in conference over the same span.

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 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).

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: Cornell completes its competition for the first semester when it heads to Minneapolis to meet the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 1 p.m. at Williams Arena. Minnesota leads the all-time series 3-1.