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GAME INFORMATION
Game #10: La Salle at Cornell
Tip off: Saturday, Dec. 20, at 2:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2008-09 Records: La Salle (5-4, 0-0 Atlantic 10); Cornell (4-5, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: La Salle leads 2-1
Last Meeting: La Salle won 73-59, Dec. 28, 2002 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Radio: 1160 ESPN Radio, WPIE (Barry Leonard)
TV: None
Live Stats: available at www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: available at www.CornellBigRed.com
Tickets: available by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH STEVE DONAHUE
Cornell head coach Steve Donahue is in his ninth season at Cornell (100-128, .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. — Following a two-week break for final exams that allowed the Big Red to refocus and get healthy, the Cornell men's basketball team will return home to face La Salle on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall. Live video of the game is available as part of the RedCast subscription service, while Barry Leonard will provide the call locally on 1160 ESPN Radio. 

Cornell enters the contest with a three-game losing streak on the road against teams that are a combined 22-6 while playing in either the Big East or Big Ten. The Big Red led both No. 16 Syracuse and undefeated Minnesota at halftime and extended those leads in the second half before running out of gas. Now, with the return of reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Louis Dale, who missed the first eight games of the season due to an injury, Cornell will look to build up to the start of Ivy League play in January.

Dale's full-time return will be music to the ears of junior Ryan Wittman (22.3 ppg.), who has shouldered much of the scoring load with Dale's absence. Senior Jeff Foote (12.8 ppg., 7.4 rpg., 3.1 apg.) and junior Geoff Reeves (12.6 ppg.) are also in double figures. Cornell's 4-5 start is especially impressive when considering it has been without the service of one of the top mid-major backcourts in the country in Dale and two-time All-Ivy selection Adam Gore due to injuries. Dale has played just 10 total minutes, while Gore has missed all nine contests. Junior forward Alex Tyler (7.3 ppg., 4.6 rpg.) and freshman guard Chris Wroblewski (6.6 ppg., 2.9 apg.) have rounded out the starters over the first quarter of the season. Sophomore Adam Wire and seniors Brian Kreefer and Jason Battle have also played key roles off the bench.

ABOUT LA SALLE: The Explorers are off to a 5-4 start after its 92-75 victory over Rider on Wednesday. Fifth-year head coach John Giannini has done an excellent job establishing the Explorers among the teams to watch in the Atlantic 10 after the program had fallen on hard times, with competitive losses to Florida State (65-61), Connecticut (89-81) and Villanova (70-59) on the resume. Rodney Green leads three scorers averaging double figures with 14.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. La Salle has stayed in games thanks to a huge rebounding edge (+6.7) and a strong defensive effort (.418 field goal percentage defense) in surrendering 70.6 points per game. The Explorers lead the all-time series between the two teams 2-1, with a 73-59 Big Red loss on Dec. 28, 2002 the only meeting between the programs with Cornell head coach Steve Donahue patrolling the sidelines. 

CORNELL VS. THE ATLANTIC 10: The Big Red holds a 13-17 all-time record against current members of the Atlantic 10 and is 1-2 against La Salle. The Big Red has faced Dayton (0-1), Duquesne (0-2), Fordham (4-4), La Salle (1-2), Richmond (0-1), St. Bonaventure (8-3), St. Joseph's (Pa.) (0-2), Saint Louis (0-1) and Xavier (Ohio) (0-1) while never meeting Charlotte, Massachusetts, George Washington, Rhode Island or Temple. This is the first of two scheduled games against Atlantic 10 opponents with Cornell slated to visit St. Joseph's on Dec. 22 at the Palestra. 

A WIN OVER LA SALLE WOULD ...
• even Cornell's record at 5-5.
• make Cornell 2-0 at home this year and extend its home win streak to 10 games.
• snap a three-game losing streak, the program's longest since dropping consecutive contests to Colgate, Bucknell and Syracuse last season. The Big Red responded with 18 wins in its next 19 games.
• be the 1,129th in school history.

 

HOME SWEET HOME: Cornell finished the 2007-08 season with a 12-1 record at home, including eight 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 nine with the season-opening 79-69 win over South Dakota in front of 3,679 fans on Nov. 14.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET (Dec. 28, 2002): Cody Toppert netted a career-best 27 points, but La Salle's 54 percent shooting proved too much in a 73-59 victory over Cornell. Toppert scored 22 points in the first half, including hitting on 6-of-8 3-pointers, to single-handedly keep the Big Red in the game. He added five rebounds and a pair of steals. Eric Taylor had a solid floor game, scoring nine points, grabbing a season-best 10 rebounds and dishing off five assists. Lenny Collins added 11 points and four rebounds in the loss. La Salle was led by Jermaine Thomas' 16 points and eight assists and Steven Smith's 14 points and team-high five boards. Gary Neal added 12 points, while David Bell and Jeff Farmer scored nine and eight points, respectively. The Explorers hit on 28-of-52 shots (.538) and assisted on 20 of the team's 28 baskets. The Big Red came out of the gates running, with Toppert scoring 16 of his points in the first 8:07 of the game.

ATLANTIC 10 WINS: When the Big Red faces La Salle, it will attempt to knock off its first Atlantic 10 opponent since toppling St. Bonaventure 58-54 on Dec. 4, 2004 in Olean, N.Y. Former Big Red center Eric Taylor had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Cornell, while Ryan Rourke converted a three-point play with 29 seconds left to pick up the win in the Reilly Center. It iwll be the first time Cornell has matched up with an Atlantic 10 team since the 2004-05 season. A little more than a month after topping the Bonnies, Cornell dropped a 62-51 decision at Dayton (Jan. 9, 2005) despite 13 points and six rebounds from Lenny Collins.

FINALLY BACK HOME: Cornell returns home for the first time since opening the 2008-09 season with a 79-69 victory over South Dakota at Newman Arena on Dec. 14. The span of a month and six days between home games marks the second straight year the Big Red went more than a month in the regular season without playing in front of the home fans. A season ago, the Big Red spent a month and nine days (Dec. 1-Jan. 10) between facing Colgate (L, 64-53) and Alvernia (W, 91-46).

AND BACK WHERE THEY BELONG: That win over Alvernia started the team's current nine-game home win streak. The longest home win streak for the Big Red is a 14-game strecth that started on Dec. 3, 1983 with a win over Cleveland State and culminated in a Jan. 9, 1985 loss to Canisius. 

WHERE IT STANDS: The team's nine-game win streak is the longest since a 12-game stretch that started with a 75-74 overtime win over Harvard on Feb, 17, 1989 and ended with a 60-54 loss to Princeton on Feb. 3, 1990. The streak included wins in two buildings, with the first six wins taking place in Barton Hall and the final six happening at Newman Arena.

TREY BIEN: The Big Red has hit at least one 3-pointer in 542 straight games entering the La Salle 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 593 of 597 games, connecting on 3,445 treys, an average of 5.77 per game. The Big Red has hit a 3-pointer in all 228 games coached by Steve Donahue. 

TOUGH ROAD: The Big Red's five losses have come against four teams from the Big East and Big Ten, with its five opponents posting a cumulative record of 36-10 (Indiana 5-5; Minnesota 9-0; Siena 5-3; St. John's 8-1; Syracuse 9-1). According to collegerpi.com, the Big Red's strength of schedule is ranked as the 67th-most difficult in the country (as of Dec. 15).

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 100-128 overall record in nine seasons at Cornell, but is 42-23 (.646) 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.

UNLUCKY 13: Cornell's 13 3-pointers as a team against Syracuse is tied for the fourth-highest total in school history and ranks behind only the 15 it hit against the Orange on Dec. 20, 2004 and the 14 it made against Ithaca College on Dec. 3, 2001 and Alvernia on Jan. 10, 2008. It was the fifth time the Big Red hit 13 in a game with the last coming against Hartford on Nov. 26, 2005.

THREE SPREE: Junior forward Ryan Wittman enters the La Salle game with 203 career 3-pointers and became the third Big Red player to record 200 treys in a career with his four first-half makes from beyond the arc against Minnesota.

ANOTHER THREE SPREE: Junior forward Ryan Wittman hit nine 3-pointers against Syracuse, matching the single-game school record by Alex Compton at Yale on Feb. 24, 1996. The 19 attempts from beyond the arc set a school record, surpassing the 16 attempts by Cody Toppert against Duquesne on Feb. 6, 2004. The nine makes were one shy of a single-game Ivy League and Carrier Dome record.

RARE 30: Junior Ryan Wittman's 33 points against Syracuse was the most by a Big Red player since Ray Mercedes notched 37 in a 93-84 loss to Harvard on March 3, 2001. It was the first 30-point effort by any Cornell player since Lenny Collins had 30 in a 72-67 loss at Marist on Nov. 19, 2004.

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. He has since moved to 17th on the all-time list with 1,061 points.

BIGGER, STRONGER WITTMAN: Junior Ryan Wittman has come back for his junior season with a vengeance, opening the year with five 20-point efforts in the team's first nine games and is averaging a team-high 22.3 points in Cornell's 4-5 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). Wittman scored 28 points against Indiana in before answering that with a career-best 33 against Syracuse. Wittman gained 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason.

LINE 'EM UP, KNOCK 'EM DOWN: Junior Ryan Wittman has made 33-of-37 shots from the free-throw line so far this season, good for an .892 percentage through nine contests. That ups his already school-record pace to .881 (140-of-159).

MORE THAN JUST THE SCORING: While his 22.3 points per game is spectacular, so are junior Ryan Wittman's other contributions through nine games. The 6-6 forward is averaging 4.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.2 steals and has posted a 1.6:1 assist-turnover ratio while playing 37.1 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 second on the team in scoring (12.8 ppg.) and pacing the squad in rebounding (7.4 rpg.), blocked shots (3.0 bpg.) and assists (3.1 apg.) in nine contests. He is also shooting 55 percent from the floor, also a team-best.

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 27 shots in just nine games after posting 30 blocks a season ago in 22 contests. After just 31 varsity contests, he already ranks sixth on the career list with 57 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 12.6 points in the team's first nine games a year after posting an average of 3.5 points per game. A 41 percent shooter thus far, Reeves has connected on 23-of-55 shots from beyond the arc (42 percent) and is also among the team leaders in assists (25) while averaging 35.2 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 23-of-55 3-pointers this season (2.6 per game, 42 percent) and is now hitting 44 percent from beyond the arc for his career (51-of-116), tops on the school's career list. 

TYLER MORE: Junior Alex Tyler has been his strong, steady self in the first nine games of 2008-09, as the two-year starter at power forward is averaging 7.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.6 blocks while playing 21.9 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, .522) 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 6.6 points, 2.9 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game don't adequately reflect his poise through nine games, including six starts. The freshman has posted a 1.4:1 assist-turnover ratio (26a, 18t) and is third on the team lead in assists this season. 

BATTLE, KREEFER PLAYING KEY ROLES AS CAPTAINS: Old stalwarts Jason Battle and Brian Kreefer have played outstanding basketball in the first nine games of the season while providing excellent leadership. Battle has started two contests and is averaging 1,8 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 10.2 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 17.2 minutes per game off the bench and has picked up 3.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists while making 47 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, and at Minnesota with five points, eight rebounds and four steals in 30 minutes. Wire has averaged 2.1 points and 4.3 rebounds while playing 13.9 minutes in seven appearances. In all, 16 of his 30 rebounds on the season have been on the offensive end.

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.

WITTMAN NAMED ONE OF NATION'S TOP 10 SHOOTERS BY ESPN.COM: Junior Ryan Wittman was named one of the nation's top 10 shooters in a special article about the NCAA 3-point line being moved back from 19-9 to 20-9 this coming season according to ESPN.com college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla. Fraschilla placed Wittman No. 10 on his list that also included Davidson's Stephen Curry, Notre Dame's Kyle McAlarney, Miami's Jack McClinton, Texas' A.J. Abrams, Drake's Josh Young, UAB's Robert Vaden, Cal State Fullerton's Josh Akogmon, American's Garrison Carr and Rhode Island's Jimmy Baron. In two seasons, Wittman has connected on 171 3-pointers at a 44 percent clip. His total of 93 as a freshman set a school record and the 6-6 sophomore has paced the Ancient Eight in 3-pointers made in each of his first two years. He already ranks fourth on the school's career 3-point list and is first in career percentage.

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.

GETTING UP THERE: Cornell head coach Steve Donahue entered the 2008-09 campaign with the second-longest tenure at the helm of their current team in the Ivy League. Only James Jones at Yale (10th year) has been at his current school longer than Donahue has directed the Big Red (nine years).

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 will play its second consecutive Atlantic 10 foe from Philadelphia when it travels to the Palestra to face Saint Joseph's on Monday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. The Hawks lead the all-time series 2-0 with the last meeting coming during the 1981-82 season, a 72-49 Big Red loss.