# 2008–09 Cornell Big Red men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Cornell Big Red men's basketball team represented Cornell University in the 2008–09 college basketball season. This was coach Steve Donahue's 8th season at Cornell. The Big Red compete in the Ivy League and played their home games at Newman Arena. They went 11–3 in Ivy League play to win the championship and received the league's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They received a 14 seed in the West region. They were beaten by No. 3 seed Missouri in the first round to finish their season at 21–10.

## Roster

Source

## Schedule and results

Source
* All times are Eastern
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 14, 2008* | | South Dakota | W 79–69 | 1–0 | Newman Arena (3,679) Ithaca, New York |
| Nov 17, 2008* | | vs. St. John's | L 75–86 | 1–1 | Silvio O. Conte Forum (4,283) Boston, Massachusetts |
| Nov 18, 2008* | | vs. Loyola (MD) | W 82–72 | 2–1 | Silvio O. Conte Forum (865) Boston, Massachusetts |
| Nov 22, 2008* | | at Siena | L 56–74 | 2–2 | Times Union Center (7,575) Albany, New York |
| Nov 24, 2008* | | Loyola (IL) | W 78–53 | 3–2 | Carnesecca Arena (893) Queens, New York |
| Nov 25, 2008* | | vs. Eastern Michigan | W 67–54 | 4–2 | Carnesecca Arena (959) Queens, New York |
| Nov 30, 2008* | | at Indiana | L 57–72 | 4–3 | Assembly Hall (13,325) Bloomington, Indiana |
| Dec 3, 2008* | | at No. 16 Syracuse | L 78–88 | 4–4 | Carrier Dome (18,859) Syracuse, New York |
| Dec 6, 2008* | | at Minnesota | L 54–71 | 4–5 | Williams Arena (12,615) Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 20, 2008* | | La Salle | W 79–70 | 5–5 | Newman Arena (1,522) Ithaca, New York |
| Dec 22, 2008* | | at Saint Joseph's | L 67–71 | 5–6 | The Palestra (6,177) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 29, 2008* | | Boston University | W 89–59 | 6–6 | Newman Arena (2,358) Ithaca, New York |
| Dec 31, 2008* | | Quinnipiac | W 73–70 | 7–6 | Newman Arena (1,014) Ithaca, New York |
| Jan 3, 2009 | | Ursinus | W 99–45 | 8–6 (2–0) | Newman Arena (1,936) Ithaca, New York |
| Jan 6, 2009* | | Bucknell | W 75–64 | 9–6 | Newman Arena (1,143) Ithaca, New York |
| Jan 12, 2009* | | at Bryant | W 69–46 | 10–6 | Chace Athletic Center (387) Smithfield, Rhode Island |
| Ivy League Regular Season ||||||
| Jan 17, 2009 | | at Columbia | W 71–59 | 11–6 (1–0) | Levien Gymnasium (1,655) New York, New York |
| Jan 24, 2009 | | Columbia | W 83–72 | 12–6 (2–0) | Newman Arena (3,469) Ithaca, New York |
| Jan 30, 2009 | | Brown | W 90–58 | 13–6 (3–0) | Newman Arena (3,213) Ithaca, New York |
| Jan 31, 2009 | | Yale | W 64–36 | 14–6 (4–0) | Newman Arena (3,418) Ithaca, New York |
| Feb 6, 2009 | | at Princeton | L 41–61 | 14–7 (4–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium (2,413) Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 7, 2009 | | at Penn | W 88–73 | 15–7 (5–1) | Palestra (4,825) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 13, 2009 | | Harvard | W 96–75 | 16–7 (6–1) | Newman Arena (3,438) Ithaca, New York |
| Feb 14, 2009 | | Dartmouth | W 79–76 $^{2OT}$ | 17–7 (7–1) | Newman Arena (4,123) Ithaca, New York |
| Feb 20, 2009 | | at Yale | L 60–72 | 17–8 (7–2) | Payne Whitney Gymnasium (1,905) New Haven, Connecticut |
| Feb 21, 2009 | | at Brown | W 85–45 | 18–8 (8–2) | Pizzitola Sports Center (887) Providence, Rhode Island |
| Feb 27, 2009 | | at Dartmouth | W 75–57 | 19–8 (9–2) | Leede Arena (1,572) Hanover, New Hampshire |
| Feb 28, 2009 | | at Harvard | L 70–71 | 19–9 (9–3) | Lavietes Pavilion (1,971) Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Mar 6, 2009 | | Penn | W 83–58 | 20–9 (10–3) | Newman Arena (4,093) Ithaca, New York |
| Mar 7, 2009 | | Princeton | W 60–51 | 21–9 (11–3) | Newman Arena (4,211) Ithaca, New York |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 20, 2009* | (14 W) | vs. (3 W) No. 9 Missouri First Round | L 59–78 | 21–10 | Taco Bell Arena (11,997) Boise, Idaho |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. ||||||