Breakthrough

Pablo S. Torre

March 10, 2008

With an 86--53 win over Harvard last Saturday, Cornell ended the era of Ivy League bipartisanship—a 20-year span in which only Penn or Princeton (the so-called Killer P's) earned NCAA tournament berths. Representing the long-awaited third party, Cornell (20--5) clinched the title by going unbeaten in its first 12 Ivy games. (There's no postseason tourney in the Ancient Eight.) The Big Red was fifth in the nation in field goal, free throw and three-point percentage at week's end, paced by 6'6" sophomore Ryan Wittman (15.3 points per game and 47.0% from beyond the arc). Says senior Jason Hartford (above), "When we get down, we're not out. In previous years the game was over. Now our shooters can pull us back."