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CORNELL INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics I History

YALE INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

BROWN INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

GAME INFORMATION
Game #25: Cornell at Yale
Tip off: Friday, Feb. 20, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,532), New Haven, Conn.
2014-15 Records: Cornell (12-12, 4-4 Ivy); Yale (18-7, 7-1 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads the series 110-107
Last Meeting: Yale won 65-57, Jan. 31, 2015 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: 98.7 FM The Buzzer (Barry Leonard)
TV: None

Game #26: Cornell at Brown
Tip off: Saturday, Feb. 21, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Pizzitola Sports Center (2,800), Providence, R.I..
2014-15 Records: Cornell (12-12, 4-4 Ivy); Harvard (15-5, 5-1 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads 74-48
Last Meeting: Cornell won 57-49, Jan. 30, 2015 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: 98.7 FM The Buzzer (Barry Leonard)
TV: None

HEAD COACH BILL COURTNEY
Cornell head coach Bill Courtney is in his fifth season at Cornell (49-90, .353; 23-41 Ivy, .359) ... Courtney became the fifth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on April 23, 2010.

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STORY LINES:
The Cornell men's basketball team begins the stretch run with its eyes on potential postseason play when the Big Red visits first-place Yale on Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m., then looks for a season sweep of Brown on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. Barry Leonard will provide coverage on 98.7 FM The Buzzer, with live video of both contests available on the Ivy League Digital Network.

Picked to finish eighth in the Ivy League preseason media poll, head coach Bill Courtney's Big Red team is one of the most improved in the country. Cornell is 12-12 a year removed from a 2-26 campaign. The Big Red has the looks of a team on the rebound, playing suffocating defense (.382 field goal percentage defense, .321 3-point percentage defense, 61.2 ppg. allowed, 5.0 blocked shots per game) in its 24 contests. The Big Red has limited foes to below 40 percent shooting in 15 of its 24 games. Six of its 12 losses this season have come by five points or less or in overtime.

The biggest difference from last year is the return of first-team All-Ivy selection Shonn Miller, who missed the 2013-14 season with a shoulder injury. The two-time Ivy League Player of the Week paces the conference in rebounding (8.3 rpg.), ranks second in scoring (16.1 ppg.), and in the top 10 in free-throw percentage (fifth, .835) blocks (third, 1.9 bpg.) and steals (seventh, 1.3 spg.) to make him an early contender for top Ivy League honors.

Other big differences in Cornell's quick turnaround include the return of senior Galal Cancer (9.4 ppg., 3.8 rpg., 3.2 apg., 1.1 spg.) after a year away from basketball, the move of senior Devin Cherry to point guard (10.4 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 3.5 apg., 0.8 spg.) and the maturation of sophomores Robert Hatter (11.5 ppg., 2.8 rpg., 1.3 spg.) and David Onuorah (2.2 ppg., 3.7 rpg., 1.5 bpg.). A number of other players have added key minutes as reserves over the first 24 contests. Among them are guards JoJo Fallas (3.2 ppg., 21 3-pointers, .368 3-point percentage), Pat Smith (2.7 ppg.) and Darryl Smith (2.9 pg., 1.9 rpg.). Together with the starting trio, the six make for one of the most talented and deepest backcourts in the Ancient Eight. The senior big man trio of Deion Giddens, Dave LaMore and Ned Tomic are combining to average 4.5 ppg. and 5.3 rpg. and have provided leadership on and off the court.

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD:
• make the Big Red 13-12 overall and 5-4 in Ivy League play.
• give Cornell a 7-4 record in its last 11 games.
• give head coach Bill Courtney his 50th career victory at Cornell.
• improve the Big Red to 3-1 on the road in Ivy play this season.
• give the Big Red a 111-107 lead in the all-time series between the programs.
• be the 1,224th in program history (1,223-1,364 in 116 seasons, .473).

ABOUT YALE:
• At 18-7 overall and 5-1 in Ivy play, Yale enters the week tied atop the Ivy League standings with Harvard.
• The Bulldogs are 6-2 on the road this season and also own a 10-5 mark away from home, including a victory over defending national champion Connecticut earlier this season.
• Justin Sears (14.6 ppg., 7.3 rpg., 2.6 bpg.) and Javier Duren (13.5 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 4.2 apg.) both average double figures this season.
• Five other players average between 5.0 and 9.6 points each night, including Jack Montague (9.6 ppg.), who hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer earlier this season against the Huskies.
• Yale limits opponents to 42 percent shooting and outrebounds opponents by more than five per game (38.2-32.9).
• James Jones, in his 16th season on the Yale sidelines, is the winningest coach in school history. The dean of Ivy coaches has won an Ivy League title and has helped the Bulldogs to three postseason appearances, including last year's CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).

THE CORNELL-YALE SERIES:
• Cornell leads 110-107 overall in a series that dates back to the 1898-99 campaign.
• Cornell has had the best of the series recently, winning 11 of the last 19 meetings.
• Yale has won five of the last six meetings between the teams and three of the last four in New Haven, Conn.

LAST TIME VS. YALE:
• Cornell took a brief lead midway through the second half, but Javier Duren's 3-pointer on the ensuing possession triggered an 8-0 Yale run and the Big Red never recovered in a 65-57 loss to Yale on Jan. 31, 2015 at Newman Arena.
• The Big Red shot just 33 percent for the game and 19 percent from 3-point range, but stayed in the contest with its defense.
• The Bulldogs turned the ball over 16 times and shot under 40 percent from the field and 30 percent from the arc, but its clear advantages on the glass (46-31) and at the free throw line (22-13) were too much to overcome in a grind-it-out type game.
• Shonn Miller had 15 points, 11 rebounds and two steals, but like his teammates, struggled from the floor with 6-of-20 shooting. '
• Devin Cherry added 14 points and five assists and Galal Cancer had 12 points and two steals in the loss.
• Cornell had nine steals that led to an 18-7 Big Red advantage off turnovers and turned the ball over themselves just eight times, allowing them to stay within shouting distance until the final five minutes.
• Justin Sears had a game-high 19 points and Javier Duren notched 16 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
• Matt Townsend rounded out the double figure scorers with 13 points.
• Armani Cotton had a solid all-around floor game, scoring seven points, grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out three assists.

ABOUT BROWN:
• At 11-14 on the season, the Bears have won two of their last three contests prior to Friday's matchup with Columbia.
• Three Brown players are averaging double figures, led by Tavon Blackman (10.8 ppg., 4.2 apg.).
• Both Cedric Kuakumensah (10.6 ppg., 7.3 rpg., 2.6 bpg.) and Steven Spieth (10.2 ppg., 4.8 rpg., 2.2 apg.) are also averaging double figures for the Bears, while Rafael Maia (9.3 ppg., 8.3 rpg.) and JR Hobbie (8.1 ppg.) aren't far behind.
• Brown outrebounds its opponents by nearly two per game (37.0-35.2).
• Brown is turning the ball over 15.2 times per game, but is hitting 42 percent of its field goals on the offensive end.
• Third-year head coach Mike Martin sports a 39-43 record with the Bears and led them to a CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) last year.

THE CORNELL-BROWN SERIES:
• Cornell leads the series 74-48, dating back to the first meeting between the teams in the 1949-50 season.
• The Big Red is 17-4 in the last 21 contests against the Bears.
• Brown ended Cornell's 13-game win streak in the series in March of 2014, then won three straight before the Big Red won the first game in the series this season.

LAST TIME VS. BROWN:
• Up six points with under 20 seconds to play, Big Red sophomore David Onuorah blocked Tavon Blackman's drive into the lane. It was that kind of night for Cornell's defense in a 57-49 win over Brown on Jan. 30, 2015 at Newman Arena.
• Onuorah's career-best seventh block was the 11th of the night for the home team. Both marks rank third in a single game in school history.
• Even more than that, the intimidation factor played a huge role in limiting the Bears to 30 percent shooting in capturing its second Ivy win of the season, surpassing last season's total.
• The 6-9 center added eight rebounds and two steals, but it was senior Galal Cancer's key late plays that pushed the home team over the top. Cancer ended the night with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals without a turnover.
• Backcourt mate Devin Cherry had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists with only one miscue.
• Overall, Cornell turned the ball over just five times in the victory.
• Cornell held the Bears scoreless for the final 3:30 after Brown's Cedric Kuakumensah hit a free throw to give the visitors a 49-47 lead. They wouldn't score again.

CORNELL EIGHTH IN IVY PRESEASON POLL:
• The Cornell men's basketball team was picked to finish eighth when the 2014-15 Ivy League preseason media poll was announced during the annual conference call with the league's eight head coaches.
• Harvard, last year's league champion, was the unanimous preseason favorite, picking up all 17 first-place votes and 136 points total.
• Yale was chosen second (108 points), while Columbia (94 points) and Princeton (88 points) weren't far behind in third and fourth.
• Brown was chosen fifth (75 points), while Dartmouth was sixth with 47 points. Rounding out the field was Penn in seventh with 39 points and Cornell in eighth with 25 points.
• Two media members from each school and one national representative voted in the poll.

DEFENSIVE TURNAROUND:
• Cornell's defense has spearheaded the Big Red's turnaround, as its points per game allowed, field goal percentage defense overall and from 3-point range are significantly down, while its steals and blocked shots are way up over last season.
• The Big Red is limiting opponents to .382 shooting over its first 24 games. In all, Cornell recorded a .495 field goal percentage defense mark in 2013-14
• Cornell has allowed opponents to shoot 50 percent or better 15 times in 28 games a season ago, while this year it has held 15 of its first 24 opponents under 40 percent shooting and just one opponent has hit 50 percent of its shots.
 
           Scoring Def.   FG% Def.      3pt FG Def.     Steals       Blocks
2013-14    78.4 (331)     .495 (341)    .409 (345)      4.2 (338)    3.5 (267)
2014-15    61.2 (54)      .382 (20)     .321 (88)       6.6 (138)    5.0 (31)

NOTES TO KNOW:
• With the Big Red's next win, Bill Courtney will get his 50th career victory as head coach at Cornell.
• Cornell has already won 10 more games than the entire 2013-14 campaign when it went 2-26. Only 21 teams in the country have won at least five more games this season than last year (as of Feb. 16), topped by Cornell's +10, a mark shared by UC Davis, New Hampshire and Temple. Five schools have won eight more games than a season ago.
• Cornell's 17 points in the overtime win over Dartmouth is tied for the third-highest OT scoring period in school history and the most since the Big Red scored a school-record 21 points at Bucknell is a 73-65 win on Jan. 2, 1993.
• Senior Shonn Miller has recorded 16 career double-doubles, a mark that ranks third all-time at Cornell. Bernard Jackson '91 and Mike Davis '80 each had 18 career games with double figures in scoring and rebounding.
• The Big Red's has limited opponents to .382 shooting. Cornell hasn't held opponents under 40 percent shooting in a season since the 1963-64 campaign.
• Miller had 15 rebounds in the second half and overtime of the win at Dartmouth. His 11 rebounds in the second half alone was the most by a Big Red player in a half under head coach Bill Courtney.
• Last weekend, both Galal Cancer and Devin Cherry jumped into the school's top 20 career assist list. Cancer is 17th with 227 assists, while Cherry is 20th with his 221.
• The Big Red has blocked 121 shots entering the weekend and needs six more to match the single season school record.
• Seniors Galal Cancer (557 points, 232 rebounds, 227 assists) and Devin Cherry (800 points, 300 rebounds, 221 assists) are just the 17th and 18th players in school history to register 500 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in a career.
• Senior Shonn Miller is approaching becoming the 22nd player in school history to score 1,000 points. He needs 54 in his last six regular season contests (9.0 ppg.).
• Over the team's last 12 games, Cornell is shooting an outstanding .787 from the free-throw line (248-of-315).
• In its last 10 contests, the Big Red has 110 assists and just 96 turnovers.
• Cornell's 78-point margin of victory against Alfred State (107-29) was the largest in school history, bettering a 71-point win over Rome Air Force Base in 1943.
• The team's 107 points against Alfred State made for the seventh-highest total in school history and the most in 22 years.
• Cornell allowed just 29 points against the Pioneers, the fewest surrendered in a contest since Sampson Naval Hospital scored 29 in a 68-29 Big Red victory on Dec. 1, 1945.
• The Big Red has posted three of the top 20 free-throw shooting percentage efforts in school history over the first 16 games. Cornell tied a school record with a 13-for-13 effort (one of eight perfect nights with at least 10 attempts) against UMass Lowell and had the best day with a miss in going 21-of-22 for .955 against Penn State. Cornell hit 26-of-28 free throws (.929) in the win over Howard.
• Cornell's 14-point margin of victory over Binghamton (68-54) was its largest in a road game under head coach Bill Courtney and the most by any Cornell team since a 79-59 victory at Yale on March 6, 2010. That mark didn't last long, as the Big Red dropped Siena by 17 (75-58) in Albany 23 days later.
• The rally from a 17-point deficit against Colgate was the largest overcome by a Big Red team this century. It is the largest overcome by a Bill Courtney-coached team, besting the 14-point first half deficit it rallied from in an 85-84 win over Yale on Feb. 10, 2012.
• When Cornell knocked off George Mason, the Big Red defeated its 35th program that has advanced to an NCAA Final Four. The Patriots reached the national semifinals in 2006.
• The Big Red hit 14 3-pointers in the win over Alfred State, the most in a game since hitting 16 in an 83-70 loss at Western Michigan on Nov. 29, 2013.
• Senior Shonn Miller leads the Ivy League in rebounding (8.3 rpg.) and is second in scoring (16.1 ppg.). He is attempting to become the seventh Ivy player to lead the circuit in both since 1961-62, but the third in the last five years.
• Miller blocked a pair of shots against George Mason to surpass the 100 career block milestone. He became the fifth player in Cornell history to reach that plateau and now has 146 to his name.
• Miller had three steals at Radford, pushing his career total to 101. He became the first player in Cornell history to post 100 career steals and 100 career blocks.
• Second-year assistant coach Jon Jaques was a starter and senior captain on the 2009-10 Cornell team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• Cornell will play 10 games against teams coming off 20-win seasons and 11 against teams who competed in postseason last year (three vs. NCAA teams, five vs. CIT teams, four vs. CBI teams).
• Dwight Tarwater '14 graduated from Cornell last spring with a degree in Applied Economics and Management and is playing an extra year at California-Berkeley.  Through 26 games (16-10), Tarwater is averaging 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds while playing 18.8 minutes per game as a key reserve and spot starter. He has made eight starts for the Bears. He hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 20 seconds to play to lift Cal over UCLA on Feb. 7,
• It is the second straight year a Big Red men's basketball player has used his fifth and final year of eligibility at a BCS school, as Errick Peck '13 spent the 2013-14 campaign at Purdue. He served as a captain and part-time starter for the Boilermakers while averaging 4.6 points and 4.4 rebounds and shooting 48 percent from the floor in 32 contests (10 starts).
• Members of the Cornell basketball team represent 13 states and one Canadian province.
• Cornell has played in 46 different states, as well as in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Australia and France. The only states the Big Red has not played in are Alaska, North Dakota, Mississippi and Wyoming.

CORNELL BEYOND THE ARC — 700 AND COUNTING:
• Cornell hit four 3-pointers at Harvard on Feb. 14, 2015 its 738th straight game with at least one made 3-point field goal.
• With six 3-pointers against Oberlin on Jan. 11, 2014, Cornell extended its streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 700.
• The last time Cornell did not hit a 3-pointer was against Denison in the 1988-89 season opener (0-for-2).
• Since the 3-point shot came into effect in NCAA play during the 1986-87 season, Cornell has hit at least one shot behind the arc in 784 of 788 games, connecting on 4,960 treys, an average of 6.3 per game.

NEXT UP:
• Cornell closes out its home season against Harvard on Friday, Feb. 27 and Dartmouth on Saturday, Feb. 28.
• The Big Red will look for the season split with the Crimson on CBS Sports Network at 6:30 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• Cornell will honor its six seniors (Galal Cancer, Devin Cherry, Deion Giddens, Dave LaMore, Shonn Miller, Ned Tomic) prior to Saturday's 6 p.m. matchup with the Big Red.