Cornell Rolls to Upset Temple

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

By RAY GLIER
Published: March 19, 2010

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When Cornell guard Louis Dale made a nifty stop-and-go move with the basketball and finished with a layup off the glass, the Big Red had 56 points against Temple.

That is how many points Temple’s vaunted defense was giving up per game this season on average, and there was still 12 minutes 49 seconds left in the N.C.A.A. tournament East Region game.

Playing with confidence offensively, 12th-seeded Cornell turned its first-round N.C.A.A. tournament game with the fifth-seeded Owls on its head with efficient, fast-moving play and won, 78-65, in Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

It was the first N.C.A.A. tournament win in university history for Cornell and it was the first N.C.A.A. tournament win for an Ivy League team since Princeton beat U.N.L.V. in 1998.

The Big Red shot 56.3 percent from the field and made 9 of 23 from 3-point range. Dale led Cornell with 21 points and 7 assists, and the senior guard Ryan Wittman added 20 points. Center Jeff Foote had 16.

The Owls could not bother the Big Red with some bumping and grinding on defense. Cornell committed only 11 turnovers and controlled the game from start to finish.

It was supposed to be a matchup of Cornell’s 3-point shooters against Temple’s defense, but Cornell made only two 3-pointers in the first half while building a 37-29 lead. Instead, Dale cut through the Temple defense and Wittman drove the ball for shots inside the 3-point arc.

The Owls came out for the second half and hit their first six shots, but Cornell countered with its 3-point shooting and kept Temple on its heels.

Ryan Brooks and Juan Fernandez, the Temple guards, led their team with 14 points each.

Only No. 1 Kansas scored more points against Temple (29-6) this season, in an 84-52 victory.

Cornell (28-4) will play the winner of the Wisconsin-Wofford game here Sunday in the second round.