JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Entering the 2009-10 season, the vaunted senior class had one goal it hadn't reached and desperately wanted to secure its place among the all-time Ivy League dynasties - advance in the NCAA tournament.

After Cornell's 78-65 victory over No. 5 seed Temple on Friday afternoon in the East Regional first round at Jacksonville veterans Memorial Arena, now all that remains is advancing as far as it possibly can.

Cornell dominated the backboards (30-20), shot 56 percent from the field and scored at a season-high clip against the Owls in capturing the program's first-ever postseason basketball win and first NCAA tourney victory by an Ivy school since Princeton defeated UNLV during the 1997-98 campaign.

The Big Red's big three of Louis Dale (21 points, seven assists), Ryan Wittman (20 points, five rebounds) and Jeff Foote (16 points, seven rebounds) controlled the game and the 12th-seeded Big Red took advantage of 11 turnovers by Temple to score 18 points off of them.

Next up for Cornell (28-4) will be No. 4 seed Wisconsin (24-8), who escaped an upset from No. 13 seed Wofford with a 53-49 victory. It will be the first-ever meeting between the programs. Game times will be announced later Friday evening.

"Well, I thought from the start we were really focused," said head coach Steve Donahue. "I thought we did everything you need to do against a very good defensive team. I thought we really just -- little things like catching a ball strong and swinging it and making extra passes, and I thought Temple did a good job at stretches of making us take it to the basket."

While Dale, Foote and Wittman will get the most credit, Cornell got plenty of contributions from others. Chris Wroblewski scored nine points, while Jon Jaques had six points, four rebounds and a pair of steals. Senior Geoff Reeves had a pair of offensive rebounds and hounded Temple guard Juan Fernandez during his 18 minutes on the court. Mark Coury chipped in four points and Adam Wire had two points and a big steal.

With the more than 10,000 fans in Jacksonville squarely behind the underdog Big Red, Cornell shook off an early deficit to gain control less than three minutes into the game. By halftime, the Cornell lead was 37-29 behind 68 percent shooting from the field and only two 3-point makes. Dale had 11 points and

both Foote and Wittman scored nine. The Big Red forced nine turnovers, outrebounded the Owls 11-7 and outscored the higher seed 15-4 of turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Wittman made 3-of-4 shots, while Foote connected on all three attempts. Brooks and Fernandez each had eight points to lead Temple.

Both teams got off to good starts offensively and the Big Red led 10-9 after just five mimnutes in a game most pegged as a defensive struggle. Foote had the first two baskets of the game to get Cornell off, then Wittman's running jumper from just outside the lane gave the visitors on the scoreboard its first lead at 6-5 with 17:17 on the clock. A 9-2 run by, including five straight from Dale and a loose ball scrum that ended in the hands of Wire for a layup, forced a Temple timeout with the Big Red up 19-11 with just under 12 minutes to play.

Cornell had made 8-of-10 shots to open the game, with its only two misses coming from 3-point range. Two Big Red turnovers and good execution on the other end by the Owls let Temple get back within 22-16 at the third media timout, with Fernandez hitting a 3-pointer from the corner, then finding a cutting Brooks on the break after a steal for another hoop. A layup by Jefferson cut the deficit to four, but Cornell embarked on a 7-0 run, including five points by Wittman, to go bring the lead to double figures.

Temple got back within five with 4:20 remaining, but the Big Red didn't back down. A layup by Foote, followed by a block on the other end that ended with a pair of Dale free throws were part of six straight points by the underdogs in the final four minutes.

The second half turned into a celebration for the advancing Big Red. Three consecutive Big Red 3-pointers, including consecutive bombs by Wittman, held off a Temple squad that scored 13 points in the first 4:29 of the second half. Cornell's lead dipped to six twice, the last at 48-42, but each time Cornell

answered. AN 18-6 run over less than five minutes turned a six-point nailbiter into an 18-point buldge with nine minutes left. The run featured eight points by Dale and seven by Wittman. The closest the margin would get the rest of the way was 13 points as the Owls scored the final six points. The Big Red celebrated its first tournament win with a brief celebration on the court, then quickly headed to the locker room to get ready to regroup.

"I think it starts with us just being best friends," Dale said. "We all like to have fun. Even though we got the NCAA game, it's just another game. We're going to go out and play hard and have fun. That's the most important thing."

With the victory, Cornell tied the record for most wins by an Ivy League team since the formation of the conference with its 28th victory, matching the 1970-71 Penn squad (28-1). The squad also improved to 4-0 against Atlantic 10 squads this season and was the squad's 16th win in its last 17 games. It was Cornell's first win over a team ranked in the top 25 national rankings since topping No. 19 California 74-54 in the 1992 Seton Hall/Meadowlands Tournament. It is the highest ranked non-conference squad Cornell has ever beaten. With his four 3-pointers, Wittman moved into 16th on the NCAA's career 3-point field goal list (now 372) and moved within six points of becoming the fifth Ivy League player to reach 2,000 career points.