# 2009–10 Cornell Big Red men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Cornell Big Red men's basketball team represented Cornell University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was coach Steve Donahue's tenth season at Cornell. The Big Red competed in the Ivy League and played their home games at Newman Arena. They went 13–1 in Ivy League play to win the championship for the third year in a row and received the league's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They earned a 12 seed in the East Region. They upset 5 seed and AP #12 Temple in the first round for the first tournament win in school history. They continued their success by upsetting 4 seed and AP #16 Wisconsin to advance to their first Sweet Sixteen where they lost to 1 seed and AP #2 Kentucky to finish their season at 29–5.
The Cornell Big Red were the first Ivy League team to reach the Sweet Sixteen since the 1978–79 Penn Quakers and set an Ivy League record with 29 wins. The team is the only Cornell basketball team to finish the season ranked in the polls and the only team to defeat two ranked opponents in a season. During the season they were able to give number-one ranked Kansas a real challenge at Allen Fieldhouse where Kansas was unable to secure the lead for good until just 41 seconds remained.

## Roster

Source
| # | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous Team(s) |
| 1 | Jeff Foote | 7'0" | 265 | C | Sr. | Lockwood, NY, U.S. | Spencer-Van Etten HS St. Bonaventure |
| 3 | Chris Wroblewski | 6'0" | 180 | G | So. | Highland Park, IL, U.S. | Highland Park, IL |
| 4 | Aaron Osgood | 6'9" | 230 | F | Jr. | Overlake, WA, U.S. | The Hill School |
| 5 | Errick Peck | 6'6" | 215 | F | Fr. | Indianapolis, IN, U.S. | Cathedral HS |
| 11 | Max Groebe | 6'4" | 200 | G | Jr. | North Miami Beach, FL, U.S. | Dr. Michael M. Krop HS UMass |
| 12 | Louis Dale | 5'11" | 180 | G | Sr. | Birmingham, AL, U.S. | Altamont School |
| 13 | Andre Wilkins | 6'5" | 198 | G | Jr. | Toronto, ON, Canada | Emery HS Blinn |
| 15 | Geoff Reeves | 6'4" | 180 | G | Sr. | Burlington, KS, U.S. | Burlington HS |
| 20 | Ryan Wittman | 6'7" | 215 | F | Sr. | Eden Prairie, MN, U.S. | Eden Prairie HS |
| 21 | Peter McMillan | 6'7" | 220 | F | Fr. | Brentwood, CA, U.S. | Northfield Mt. Hermon HS |
| 22 | Miles Asafo-Adjei | 6'2" | 170 | G | Fr. | Antioch, TN, U.S. | The Ensworth School |
| 23 | Johnathan Gray | 6'3" | 175 | G | Fr. | Tampa, FL, U.S. | Berkeley Prep |
| 24 | Adam Wire | 6'5" | 222 | C | Jr. | Southern Pines, NC, U.S. | Pinecrest HS |
| 25 | Jon Jaques | 6'7" | 220 | F | Sr. | Los Angeles, CA, U.S. | Harvard-Westlake School |
| 33 | Alex Tyler | 6'7" | 235 | F/C | Sr. | Clear Spring, MD, U.S. | Mercersburg Academy |
| 34 | Josh Figini | 6'9" | 200 | F | Fr. | Chisago Lakes, MN, U.S. | Chisago Lakes HS |
| 40 | Pete Reynolds | 6'8" | 220 | F | Sr. | Blair, NE, U.S. | Blair HS |
| 42 | Mark Coury | 6'9" | 240 | F/C | Sr. | West Bloomfield, MI, U.S. | Detroit Country Day School Kentucky |
| 55 | Eitan Chemerinski | 6'8" | 195 | F | Fr. | Potomac, MD, U.S. | Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School |
| | Anthony Gatlin | 6'8" | 180 | F | Fr. | Pearland, TX, U.S. | Pearland HS Centenary |

## Schedule and results

Source
* All times are Eastern
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/14/2009* 2:00pm | | at Alabama | W 71–67 | 1–0 | Coleman Coliseum (10,135) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 11/18/2009* 7:30pm | | at UMass Legends Classic | W 74–61 | 2–0 | Mullins Center (3,482) Amherst, MA |
| 11/20/2009* 7:00pm, TWCSN | | Seton Hall | L 79–89 | 2–1 | Newman Arena (4,473) Ithaca, NY |
| 11/24/2009* 7:00pm, ESPN360 | | at No. 10 Syracuse | L 73–88 | 2–2 | Carrier Dome (18,238) Syracuse, NY |
| 11/27/2009* 2:00pm | | vs. Toledo Legends Classic | W 78–60 | 3–2 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (NA) Philadelphia, PA |
| 11/28/2009* 2:00pm | | vs. Vermont Legends Classic | W 67–59 | 4–2 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (NA) Philadelphia, PA |
| 11/29/2009* 2:30pm | | at Drexel Legends Classic | W 61–54 | 5–2 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,033) Philadelphia, PA |
| 12/2/2009* 7:00pm | | at Bucknell | W 104–98 $^{OT}$ | 6–2 | Sojka Pavilion (2,105) Lewisburg, PA |
| 12/6/2009* 2:00pm | | Saint Joseph's | W 78–66 | 7–2 | Newman Arena (3,132) Ithaca, NY |
| 12/20/2009* 12:00pm | | vs. Davidson Holiday Festival | W 91–88 $^{OT}$ | 8–2 | Madison Square Garden (5,780) New York, NY |
| 12/21/2009* 9:00pm | | at St. John's Holiday Festival | W 71–66 | 9–2 | Madison Square Garden (5,210) New York, NY |
| 12/29/2009* 4:00pm | | at La Salle | W 78–75 | 10–2 | Tom Gola Arena (2,553) Philadelphia, PA |
| 12/31/2009* 2:00pm | | Penn State Behrend | W 73–49 | 11–2 | Newman Arena (2,218) Ithaca, NY |
| 1/2/2010* 2:00pm | | Bryant | W 75–49 | 12–2 | Newman Arena (1,962) Ithaca, NY |
| 1/6/2010* 8:00pm, ESPN360 | | at No. 1 Kansas | L 66–71 | 12–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 1/8/2010* 8:30pm | | at South Dakota | W 71–65 | 13–3 | Vermillion, SD (2,116) DakotaDome |
| 1/11/2010* 7:00pm | | Clarkson | W 82–37 | 14–3 | Newman Arena (2,421) Ithaca, NY |
| 1/16/2010 4:00pm, TWCSN | | Columbia | W 77–67 | 15–3 (1–0) | Newman Arena (4,132) Ithaca, NY |
| 1/23/2010 7:00pm | | at Columbia | W 77–51 | 16–3 (2–0) | Levien Gymnasium (2,974) New York, NY |
| 1/29/2010 7:00pm | | Dartmouth | W 71–37 | 17–3 (3–0) | Newman Arena (3,871) Ithaca, NY |
| 1/30/2010 7:00pm | | Harvard | W 86–50 | 18–3 (4–0) | Newman Arena (4,473) Ithaca, NY |
| 2/5/2010 7:00pm | | Yale | W 90–71 | 19–3 (5–0) | Newman Arena (4,255) Ithaca, NY |
| 2/6/2010 7:00pm | | Brown | W 74–60 | 20–3 (6–0) | Newman Arena (4,014) Ithaca, NY |
| 2/12/2010 7:00pm | | at Penn | L 64–79 | 20–4 (6–1) | Palestra (4,332) Philadelphia, PA |
| 2/13/2010 6:00pm | | at Princeton | W 48–45 | 21–4 (7–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium (5,775) Princeton, NJ |
| 2/19/2010 7:00pm | | at Harvard | W 79–70 | 22–4 (8–1) | Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA |
| 2/20/2010 7:00pm | | at Dartmouth | W 88–70 | 23–4 (9–1) | Leede Arena (877) Hanover, NH |
| 2/26/2010 7:00pm | | Princeton | W 50–47 | 24–4 (10–1) | Newman Arena (4,473) Ithaca, NY |
| 2/27/2010 7:00pm | | Pennsylvania | W 68–48 | 25–4 (11–1) | Newman Arena (4,473) Ithaca, NY |
| 3/5/2010 7:00pm | | at Brown | W 95–76 | 26–4 (12–1) | Pizzitola Sports Center (1,976) Providence, RI |
| 3/6/2010 7:00pm | | at Yale | W 79–59 | 27–4 (13–1) | Payne Whitney Gymnasium (2,381) New Haven, CT |
| 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament ||||||
| 3/19/2010* 12:30pm, CBS | (12) | vs. (5) No. 12 Temple First Round | W 78–63 | 28–4 | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (10,657) Jacksonville, FL |
| 3/21/2010* 2:50pm, CBS | (12) | vs. (4) No. 16 Wisconsin Second Round | W 87–69 | 29–4 | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (12,547) Jacksonville, FL |
| 3/25/2010* 9:57pm, CBS | (12) | vs. (1) No. 2 Kentucky Sweet Sixteen | L 45–62 | 29–5 | Carrier Dome (22,271) Syracuse, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | RV | — | — | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV | — | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 22 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 17 | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

## Awards and honors

* Ryan Wittman – Ivy League Player of the Year, Honorable Mention AP All-American