Owls Fail to Fly, Crushed by Big Red

Another Fran Dunphy coached team is taking an early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

The apprentice beat the master Friday when Steve Donahue’s Big Red crushed Dunphy’s Owls in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Donahue was an assistant under Dunphy for a decade at UPenn. And, the Cornell coach’s game plan played perfectly for his sharpshooting team.

Despite boasting a stifling defense the whole season, the Owls weren’t able to slow down Cornell as the Bog Red dropped 56 percent from the floor and 39 percent from 3-point range compared to Temple’s 52 percent and 29 percent from distance.

Louis Dale scored 21 points, Ryan Wittman added 20 and No. 12 seed Cornell beat fifth-seeded Temple 78-65.

Jeff Foote chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds for the Big Red, which won for the first time in five trips to the tournament. It also was the Ivy League's first victory since Princeton beat UNLV in 1998.

This upset came in dominant fashion.

Cornell (28-4) took the lead early and never looked back, showing why so many people had it pegged as the best team to come out of the Ivy League in more than a decade.

Temple (29-6) lost in the first round for the third straight year. Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks each had 14 points for the Owls. Lavoy Allen added 11.

The loss was Dunphy’s 10th straight in the tourney.