Davidson Athletics Game Notes for Davisdson vs. Cornell

Davidson Wildcats (3-7) vs. Cornell Big Red (7-2)

MSG Holiday Festival
Davidson Athletics

Date: Dec. 20, 2009
Time: Noon
Site: Madison Square Garden (19,763 capacity) - New York, N.Y.
Audio: John Kilgo calls the action on the Davidson Radio Network (1350 AM, 97.5 FM and online at www.DavidsonWildcats.com)
Video: Televised live on MSG with Mike Crispino calling the action and Bucky Waters providing color analysis
Web sites: Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com), Cornell (www.cornellbigred.com)

• Full game notes (PDF)

Layup Line
• Davidson travels to New York to play two games in the MSG Holiday Festival, the nation’s longest-running holiday tournament, in Madison Square Garden.
• It’s the Wildcats’ second in-season tournament of the campaign. Davidson lost three games in the Charleston Classic Nov. 19-22.
• It’s Davidson’s second trip to New York City and The Garden in consecutive seasons. The ‘Cats topped West Virginia 68-65 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden last season.
• Prior to that contest, Davidson had not played in The Garden since falling 81-77 to Syracuse in the 1972 Postseason NIT.
• The two contests in New York are the end of a stretch in which Davidson has played five of six games away from home.
• Following the MSG Holiday Festival, Davidson plays four consecutive home contests, beginning with a game against Penn Dec. 28.
• The Wildcats are coming off a 90-49 home win over The College of New Jersey Thursday night.
• The ‘Cats are 0-3 on a neutral floor this season.
• Cornell has won its last five contests and is coming off a 78-66 victory over Saint Joseph’s Dec. 6.
• When the Big Red takes on Davidson, Cornell will have had 13 days in between games.
• Cornell is undefeated in the month of December with its last loss coming against then ninth-ranked Syracuse, an 88-73 decision in the Carrier Dome Nov. 24.
• The Big Red’s only other loss also came at the hands of a Big East opponent, an 89-79 setback to Seton Hall at home.
• Ryan Wittman leads the team in scoring with 18 points a game, while Jeff Foote is averaging 13.2 points and 8.9 boards a contest.
• The Big Red has four players averaging in double figures scoring and is shooting 46 percent as a team.
• Cornell has won two consecutive Ivy League titles and has been picked to win a third straight title this season in the league’s Preseason Poll.

Series History
• This is the first meeting between Davidson and Cornell.
• It’s the fourth game this season in which Davidson is playing an opponent for the first time.

Leftovers from TCNJ
• Davidson has shot 50 percent or better from the field in its last two games.
• It was the fourth career double-double for Rossiter and first for Kuhlman.
• Davidson has hit 13 or more 3-pointers in four games this season.

Homecoming for Coach McKillop
• The Holiday Festival will be a homecoming for New York native and Davidson coach Bob McKillop. It will be the second time he has coached Davidson in Madison Square Garden.
• McKillop, who grew up on Long Island, played baseball and basketball at Chaminade High School.
• He began his collegiate career in basketball at East Carolina but transferred to Hofstra, where he became the team’s MVP and was later elected into the school’s Hall of Fame.
• He began his coaching career at Holy Trinity High School, where he spent five seasons, and also coached at Long Island Lutheran from 1979-89 before becoming the head coach at Davidson.