NCAA Tournament Second Round Recap - Wisconsin vs Cornell

(12) Cornell 87, (4) Wisconsin 69

When it’s one-and-done and the calendar hits the month of March, all it takes to bow out of the NCAA Tournament is going cold at the wrong time, or running into a red-hot opponent.

That’s exactly what happened to Wisconsin, which collided with a Cornell squad that seemingly couldn’t miss a shot.

The Big Red took a 16-4 lead just over five minutes into the game and never looked back, putting on a sharpshooting clinic to the tune of 61 percent from the field, 53 percent from three-point range, and 81 percent from the foul line.

Cornell is one trendy underdog, hyped to be a potential Cinderella, who has lived up to the pundits' projections.  On Sunday, the Big Red beat the Badgers at their own game: rugged defense, methodical offense, and hitting outside shots.

Bo Ryan’s Badgers were unable to stop a late-season slide that featured a flat performance in the Big Ten quarterfinals against Illinois, and a near-miss against 13th-seeded Wofford on Friday.  Wisconsin has now failed to reach the Sweet 16 four times in the last five seasons.

Louis Dale scored 26 points for Cornell, and Ryan Wittman added 24. Jon Leuer was a rare bright spot for Wisconsin, leading the Badgers with 23 points.  Jason Bohannon bounced back from his scoreless first-round performance with 18 on Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla.

Cornell’s starting five carried the load, combining for 83 of the 87 Big Red points.

WHAT’S NEXT

Cornell will face Kentucky on Thursday night in Syracuse in the East Regional semifinals.  Can the hot shooting continue when Big Red takes on Big Blue?

The Big Red might have homecourt advantage, as the game will be played about 55 miles from the Cornell campus.  That’s clearly not what the selection committee was hoping for, but it will make for a much more interesting matchup.