BOISE, Idaho -- The Big Red men stormed out of the gate and used every weapon they had, but the University of Missouri Tigers overtook them, 78-59, in their first-round NCAA tournament game March 20.

The loss spells the end of Cornell's second-straight championship season, and a flight back to Ithaca sooner than had been hoped. The team came to Boise with an automatic tournament bid after winning the Ivy League. The Big Red ends its season with a record of 21-10.

As expected, the game's pace was quick from start to finish.

The 14th-seeded Big Red ran furiously with the No. 3-seed Tigers, who clearly had Cornell outmatched in size and speed.

The Big Red's high scorer was Ryan Wittman, with 18 points. Alex Tyler chipped in 13, and Jeff Foote had 12. The Tigers held Cornell's second-leading scorer, Louis Dale, to only three points -- likely a factor in their defeat.

At about seven minutes left in the first half, Wittman passed a personal milestone, surpassing Mike Davis' single-season scoring record of 557 points, which dated back to the 1977-78 season. Wittman finished the season with 572 points.

Foote had a game-high 10 rebounds, tying with Missouri forward Leo Lyons, who also led the Tigers' scoring with 23 points.

Though disappointing, the loss does not detract from what they did earlier in the year, Wittman said.

"Winning back-to-back Ivy League championships is still a great accomplishment," Tyler said.

Cornell came out strong and clearly prepared, and they trailed four points at halftime. They also took care of the ball in the first half, turning it over only three times, which Missouri coach Mike Anderson acknowledged in the postgame press conference.

But the Tigers soon took control, and the deficit grew wider in the second half.

Cornell players and coach expressed disappointment in a first half that was good on defense but laden with missed shots.

"The game was probably a loss for us in the first half," said head coach Steve Donahue.

Loud Cornell fans took up a respectable section of the arena, and buoyed by the cheerleaders, pep band and mascot, they shouted support for the Big Red from start to finish.

Cornell was up against history in addition to powerful athletes. The last Ivy League team to win an NCAA tournament game was Princeton University, which upset the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1998, 69-57.

Donahue noted that his seven top players are returning next year, and he hopes they'll make their third-straight NCAA tournament appearance in 2010.

"I have great aspirations for this team," Donahue said.