QUICK HITS
• The Cornell men's basketball team will look to post its second straight .500 non-conference campaign when it visits Howard on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium.
• The game will be streamed live for free and can be accessed by clicking here.
• Due to travel issues, the Howard game will not be heard locally on 98.7 FM The Buzzer.
• After being one of the most improved teams in the country both in the win column and by nearly all defensive metrics, the Big Red's improvement on the offensive end has been especially impressive so far in 2015-16.
• Against non-BCS opponents, Cornell is 6-4 while scoring 76.2 ppg. and shooting 43 percent from the floor and 35 percent from 3-point range.
• The Big Red is surrendering 73.3 ppg. on .411 shooting overall and .328 from 3-point range while blocking 5.3 shots and collecting 9.0 steals per contest in those 10 games.
• Among its non-BCS opponents, only Siena (.483) has shot better than 46 percent from the floor and all but Canisius (12) had at least 15 turnovers.
• The Big Red backcourt has been its strength, as junior Robert Hatter (19.3 ppg., 4.1 apg., 3.5 rpg., 1.5 spg.) and freshman Matt Morgan (14.6 ppg., 3.3 rpg., 1.8 apg., 1.7 spg.) are the team's double figure scorers.
• Hatter, the Ivy League's leading scorer, is averaging 22.7 points over his last six games entering the matchup with the Bison and also ranks among the conference's top 10 in assists (third, 4.1), steals (fourth, 1.5) and 3-pointers made (ninth, 1,9).
• Hatter has three of the top five and four of the league's top seven individual scoring games this year.
• Juniors Darryl Smith (8.8 ppg., 2.7 rpg.) and JoJo Fallas (4.3 ppg.) and freshman Troy Whiteside (4.8 ppg., 1.7 rpg.) have also made an impact in the backcourt.
• Junior center David Onuorah (5.8 ppg., 7.8 rpg., 2.0 bpg.) has been one of the most improved players in the Ivy League, while sophomores Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof (4.4 ppg., 3.0 rpg.) and Wil Bathurst (5.6 ppg., 2.8 rpg., 0.7 spg.) and freshmen Stone Gettings (2.5 ppg., 1.9 rpg.) and Joel Davis (3.0 ppg., 2.0 rpg.) have been frontcourt staples.
• Cornell and Howard feature high-scoring backcourts, as Hatter and Morgan will match up with the nation's leading scorer, James Daniel III (29.0 ppg.), as well as James Miller (15.0 ppg.) and Damon Collins (11.1 ppg.).
 • Cornell head coach Bill Courtney is in his sixth season at Cornell (56-102, .354; 24-46 Ivy, .343).
• Courtney became the fifth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on April 23, 2010.

THE SERIES
• Cornell has won the only previous meeting with Howard, topping the Bison 70-60 last season in Ithaca, N.Y.
 
ABOUT HOWARD
• Howard is 7-8 on the season and has dropped three straight (at Central Michigan, Columbia and Hawaii) entering the Big Red's final non-conference contest.
• The Bison are 4-1 at home and are averaging 95.4 points per game with two contests over 100 points.
• Howard features the nation's leading scorer in James Daniel III (29.0 ppg., 3.1 apg., 2.2 rpg., 2.9 spg.), who has six games with at least 30 points.
• James Miller (15.0 ppg., 4.4 rpg.) and Damon Collins (11.1 ppg., 4.8 rpg., 2.5 apg., 1.4 spg.) are also averaging double figures, while Marcel Boyd (8.5 ppg., 9.4 rpg., 1.2 bpg.) paces the team in rebounding.
• The Bison are allowing 78.2 ppg. on 42 percent shooting, but are forcing 14.0 turnovers with 7.5 steals.
• Head coach Kevin Nickelberry is in his sixth season at Howard and has posted a 54-118 record (.314).

A WIN OVER HOWARD WOULD ...
• close Cornell's non-conference record at 7-7.
• give Cornell a 2-0 all-time record against Howard.
• make the Big Red 3-1 all-time against current members of the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference.
• be the 1,231st in program history (1,230-1,376 in 117 seasons, .472).

CORNELL VS. THE MID EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
• The Big Red is 2-1 all-time against members of the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference, including 1-0 against Howard.
• The Big Red has faced Coppin State (0-1) and Norfolk State (1-0).
• Cornell has never met Bethune-Cookman, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Hampton, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Morgan State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Savannah State and South Carolina State in men's basketball.
• This game is the only scheduled meeting between the Big Red and a MEAC team this year.
• The Big Red topped Howard last season, 70-60, in Ithaca.
 
• Senior Shonn Miller posted his fourth double-double in six games and Cornell snapped a three-game skid with a 70-60 victory over Howard on Jan. 8 at Newman Arena.
• Miller had 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots and connected on 15-of-16 free throws, his third double-double with at least 20 points during his streak.
• Sophomore Robert Hatter had his third 20-point effort of the year with 20 points, hitting 6-of-8 field goals.
• Senior Galal Cancer had eight points and five assists, while sophomore David Onuorah posted four points, three rebounds and two blocks.
• Cornell held Howard to 38 percent shooting from the floor and 30 percent from 3-point range and hit 26-of-28 (93 percent) free throws to ice the win.
• Cornell blocked a season-high nine shots in the win.
• James Daniel (23 points, five assists) and James Carlton (22 points, nine rebounds) each had better than 20 points at Howard, while James Miller chipped in 11 points.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Albany had four double figure scorers and used a 45-28 rebounding advantage to hold off the Cornell men's basketball team 75-70 on Jan. 2, 2016 at Newman Arena.
• Cornell trailed by as many as 14 points with just over six minutes to go after a Greig Stire dunk, but Cornell came storming back, getting within three points after Robert Hatter's 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining.
• The Big Red forced a miss on the other end, but Albany, as they had all night, were able to grab the offensive rebound and were fouled.
• The two free throws proved to put the game out of reach for the home team despite two cracks beyond the arc in the final seconds.
• Freshman Matt Morgan scored 19 points, including 14 in a span of just 5:06 in the first half, to go along with four steals, two assists and two blocked shots.
• Junior Robert Hatter had 18 points with six assists and five rebounds and classmate Darryl Smith chipped in 11 points.
• David Onuorah had six points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.
• As a team, Cornell committed just eight turnovers and had 10 steals and six blocked shots while hitting 10 3-pointers.
• Ray Sanders scored 18 points with four rebounds and three assists, Joe Cremo notched 15 points, Peter Hooley had 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists and Stire had 11 points.
• The Great Danes dominated the glass, as Greg Rowley had nine to go along with four points and five assists, including the game-clinching offensive rebound and free throws.
• Six players had at least four boards in the win for the Great Danes, who limited Cornell to 38 percent shooting.
 
PLAYER NOTES TO KNOW
• Over his last six contests, junior Robert Hatter is averaging 22.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game while hitting 14 3-pointers.
• Hatter has 53 assists this season and has nearly tripled his total of 19 assists during the entire 2014-15 season when he played off the ball.
• Hatter's 11 assists against Binghamton nearly doubled up his previous career high of six set against Western Michigan as a freshman.
• The last time a Cornell player had double figure assists in a game before Hatter was when Devin Cherry had 10 against Brown in the 2013-14 campaign.
• Hatter ranked 70th nationally in free-throw percentage a year ago (.833) after making just 46 percent from the line as a freshman (19-of-41).
• David Onuorah became the eighth player in school history to reach 75 career blocks with three in the win over Colgate and is now up to 99.
• In the seven games that he has played at least 28 minutes, Onuorah is averaging 10.4 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game, while he is averaging 4.8 rebounds and has four total blocks in the other six contests.
• Onuorah is averaging 8.3 rebounds over his last 12 games, including a career-high 15 wins over Binghamton and Penn State-Harrisburg after averaging 3.6 per game entering the season.
• Onuorah is just the fourth Big Red player since 1977 to have consecutive games with at least 14 rebounds (Bernard Jackson in 1988-89; Greg Barratt in 2000-01 and Shonn Miller is 2012-13) after he had 14 at Colgate and 15 vs. Binghamton.
• Onuorah's 15-rebound games tie for 12th in a single game in school history.
• The junior center has shot at least 50 percent in 10 of his 13 games this season.
• Onuorah is averaging 2.2 blocks over his last 10 games after blocking four shots total in his first three contests of the year - and that number increases to 3.3 per game over the last three.
• After going scoreless in the opener against Georgia Tech, Darryl Smith has reached double figures in six of his 12 games and has averaged 9.7 points over that span, including hitting 10-of-19 from 3-point range (53 percent).
• Smith is shooting 53 percent from 3-point range (10-of-19) and 78 percent from the free-throw line (21-of-27) so far this season.
• Over his last seven contests, Smith has made 38-of-63 shots from the floor (60 percent).
• Smith has at least one steal in nine straight games.
• Freshman Matt Morgan scored 20 points against Georgia Tech, the most by a Cornell freshman in a season opener since Nolan Cressler put in 20 in a win over Western Michigan to kick off the 2012-13 campaign.
• Morgan was the first Big Red freshman to start a season opener since - current Big Red juniors Robert Hatter and David Onuorah were out for the tip at Syracuse in 2013-14.
• He was the first Big Red freshman to hit for double figures in each of his first five collegiate games since Adam Gore '09 during the 2005-06 campaign (most this century - Ka'Ron Barnes '04 with 7 in 2000-01).
• Morgan has 18 assists and eight turnovers over his last eight games, spanning 214 minutes of action.
• Junior JoJo Fallas competed for Team USA at the 14th European Maccabi Games in Berlin, Germany from July 27-August 5. Fallas was one of the leaders on a team that won a silver medal, going 4-0 before dropping the gold medal game to Russia 98-87 despite a game-high 28 points. The event was the largest gathering of Jewish people in Berlin since World War II, as more than 2,000 Jewish athletes from 36 countries attended.
• Senior center Braxston Bunce was a two-year member of Team Canada's Under-18 national team, including competing at the 2012 FIBA Americas Championship in Brazil. Canada went 4-1, with Bunce averaging 1.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in two contests.
• The Big Red lost 47 percent of the team's scoring, 59 percent of its rebounding, 73 percent of its assists, 51 percent of its steals and 49 percent of its blocked shots to graduation.
• Cornell's roster features eight freshmen, the most on a Big Red roster since the 2001-02 season when there were also eight rookies, including future 1,000-point scorers Eric Taylor'05 and Cody Toppert '05.
 
TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Over the team's last six contests, the Big Red is averaging 10.3 steals per contest.
• Cornell is averaging 7.0 blocks over its last three games.
• After averaging 15.8 turnovers in its first 11 contests, the Big Red is averaging 8.0 over its last two games.
• Since shooting a season-high .523 in a win over Lafayette, the Big Red has shot just .364 over its last four contests (87-of-239).
• In the last five games, Cornell is limiting opponents to 31-of-108 from 3-point range (.287).
• The Big Red is limiting foes to .412 shooting over its last five games (124-of-301) after allowing opponents to shoot .454 in the first eight games (239-of-526).
• Cornell has forced 124 turnovers (17.7 per game) over its last seven games.
• Cornell has scored at least 76 points in regulation in seven of 13 games this season, something the Big Red did just once all last year — that coming against Division III Alfred State.
• Penn State-Harrisburg's .299 field goal percentage is the lowest by an opponent since Cornell upset eventual Ivy champion Harvard by limiting the Crimson to .254 shooting on Feb. 27, 2015.
• Cornell's 51 rebounds against Colgate were the most by a Cornell team since piling up 56 in a win over Clarkson in 2010.
• The Big Red hit the 100-point mark against a Division I team for the first time since scoring 104 in a 104-98 overtime win at Bucknell during the 2009-10 season when it scored 101 in a double overtime win at Colgate.
• The Big Red had last played a multiple overtime game in a 79-76 double overtime victory at home over Dartmouth during the 2008-09 campaign.
• The Big Red made 13 3-pointers in the opener against Georgia Tech, a mark that ranks 13th in a single game in Cornell history.
• Cornell reached double figures in 3-point field goal makes in each of its first three games, the first time it had reached that mark three games in a row since it hit the mark four straight times in non-league matchups with Lehigh, Albany, Illinois and Penn State during the 2011-12 campaign.
• In all, Cornell has hit double figure 3-pointers in seven of its 13 games.
• Third-year assistant coach Jon Jaques was a starter and senior captain on the 2009-10 Cornell team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• For the third straight year a Big Red men's basketball player will use his fifth and final year of eligibility at a BCS school.
• 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).
• Dwight Tarwater '14 played his final season as a graduate student at California in 2014-15. Tarwater averaged 3.4 points and 2.9 rebounds while playing 18.8 minutes per game as a key reserve and spot starter in 33 games (13 starts). He hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 20 seconds to play to lift Cal over UCLA.
• Shonn Miller '15 is playing as a graduate student at Connecticut (10-3) in 2015-16 (12.9 ppg., 5.4 rpg., 1.0 bpg., 0.8 spg.), while Galal Cancer '15 (4.1 ppg., 2.6 rpg., 1.8 apg., 0.8 spg.) is suiting up for Kent State (9-4). Both are starting for their new teams.
• Members of the Cornell basketball team represent 11 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 EIGHTH IN IVY PRESEASON POLL
• The Cornell men's basketball team was picked to finish eighth when the 2015-16 Ivy League preseason media poll was announced during the annual conference call with the league's eight head coaches.
• Yale, which shared last season's conference title with Harvard and lost in a one-game playoff with the Crimson, took five first place votes and 117 points overall to take the preseason poll.
• Columbia (114) and Princeton (108) weren't far behind, and each actually had more first place votes than the Bulldogs with six apiece.
• Harvard rounded out the top half with 96 points.
• The Big Red received 25 points, finishing behind Brown (54), Dartmouth (50) and Penn (48).
• Two media members from each school and one national representative voted in the poll.
 
RED-WHITE GAME
• Junior Robert Hatter hit a runner in the lane just before the buzzer to cap a 25-point night as Cornell's White team topped the Red squad 75-73 at the annual Red-White Game on Oct. 24 at Newman Arena.
• Hatter added eight assists, five rebounds and five steals in the win.
• Freshman Matt Morgan chipped in 22 points, six rebounds and four assists in his first appearance as Hatter's backcourt mate, while sophomore Wil Bathurst had seven points and six rebounds.
• Four players went for double figures for the Red team, including junior David Onuorah's 20 points and 12 rebounds.
• Freshmen Donovan Wright (14 points, 10 rebounds, four steals) and Troy Whiteside (14 points) and junior Darryl Smith (10 points, six rebounds) also hit for double figures.
• The Red team led by 12 (69-57) with five minutes to play before the White team ended on a 18-4 run.
• Hatter had eight points and Morgan had six during the game-ending run, including consecutive 3-pointers to knot the score at 73-73.

HOW TO FOLLOW CORNELL
• There are numerous way to follow the Big Red through the 2015-16 basketball season.
• Men's basketball games will be broadcast on 98.7 FM The Buzzer for the 2015-16 season. Longtime voice of the Big Red Barry Leonard returns on the call with the play-by-play, while former All-Ivy center Eric Taylor '05 is on board to do color analysis.
• A half-hour pregame show and postgame analysis will enable Big Red fans to follow Coach Bill Courtney's team throughout the season.
• The audio of all games will also be available as part of the IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork subscription service.
• The Big Red's home contests will all be broadcast live with streaming video as part of the IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork subscription service. Visit www.IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com for all the latest information on Cornell broadcasts.
• Cornell will use SIDEARM Live Stats for each of the Big Red's home games in 2015-16. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for all of the official statistics.
• You can follow the team on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Highlights, interviews and features on all 37 of Cornell's varsity sports can be found at www.youtube.com/cornellathletics, www.facebook.com/cornellathletics or www.twitter.com/cornellsports.
 
CORNELL BASKETBALL HONORED BY NCAA ... AGAIN
• Cornell University ranks among the best according to the annual NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR) for 2013-14 that was released this past May.
• The APR measures semester-by-semester records for every individual team in Division I with regard to each team members' continuing eligibility, retention and progress toward graduation.
• The NCAA "commends" teams that have APR scores in the top 10 percent within their sport, with the minimum necessary score ranging from 975 to a perfect mark of 1000 depending on the range of team scores within that sport.
• Men's basketball has been recognized seven times in the 10 years since the APR began, including five consecutive years.
 
CORNELL BEYOND THE ARC - 700 AND COUNTING
• Cornell hit 10 3-pointers vs. Albany on Jan. 2, 2016, its 757th 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.
• Matt Morgan hit the program's 5,000th 3-pointer when he hit a long 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer at Georgia Tech on Nov. 13, 2015.
• 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 803 of 807 games, connecting on 5,107 treys, an average of 6.3 per game.
 
CORNELL IN OVERTIME
• Head coach Bill Courtney's record is 6-4 in overtime games during his six seasons, including 1-0 this year after its 101-98 double overtime victory at Colgate.
• Cornell went 3-1 in overtime in 2011-12, matching a school record for most overtime games in a season.
• All-time, dating back to the first overtime game against Penn way back in 1922, Cornell is 40-48 in games that go an extra period.
• Cornell is 6-9 in multiple overtime games, with the longest game for the Big Red being a five overtime contest against Princeton, won by the Tigers 66-61 on Feb. 24, 1979 at Barton Hall.
• Cornell is 29-18 in home overtime games, 2-2 in neutral contests and 10-27 in road games.
 
60TH SEASON OF IVY LEAGUE ATHLETICS
• Throughout the 2015-16 season, the Ivy League will be celebrating its 60th season with impactful content across IvyLeagueSports.com, The Ivy League Digital Network and the League's social media outlets.
• Be on the lookout for the #IvyAt60 hashtag to keep up the coverage of the League's 60th season.
 
NEXT UP
• The Big Red opens Ivy League play when it visits Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.
• That contest will be the first of the home-and-home series with the Lions.
• Cornell trails the all-time series 125-99, with the Lions going 7-3 in the last 10 matchups.
• Prior to that, the Big Red had won 14 of the previous 16 meetings, including nine in a row.