• After a lengthy five-game road swing that saw Cornell play games in three time zones, including four outside of its Eastern home, the Big Red will return home after nearly a month to meet UMass Lowell on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 6 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The game will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network and can be heard locally on 96.3 FM The Buzzer with Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor providing the play-by-play and analysis.
• Cornell is coming off an 80-56 loss at Syracuse on Tuesday, its 37th consecutive defeat at the hands of the Orange dating back to the 1968-69 campaign (0-23 at the Carrier Dome).
• The contest will be Cornell's first at home in nearly a month, since the Big Red topped Northeastern 80-77 on Nov. 30 behind 34 points by sophomore Matt Morgan.
• Morgan leads Cornell in scoring (18.5 ppg.) and 3-pointers (41), while ranking third in steals (11), rebounding (4.8 rpg.) and assists (2.1 apg.).
• Morgan was named to the all-tournament team at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational after averaging 19.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists and connecting on 18 3-pointers in four games.
• Sophomore Stone Gettings continues to emerge as one of the top post players in the Ivy League and is averaging 13.2 ppg. and 5.6 rpg. while shooting 43 percent from 3-point range.
• Gettings averaged 20.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 blocks while shooting 68 percent from 3-point range over four games in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, including scoring a career-best 23 points at Wyoming.
• Senior Robert Hatter became the 26th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau with a 20-point performance at USC and has been outstanding as of late, averaging 13.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the last four games while shooting 44 percent from the floor.
• Senior guard JoJo Fallas has started the last 11 games and ranks third on the team in 3-pointers (14), all the while posting a 2.33 assist:turnover ratio - the highest of any Cornellian who has played half the team's minutes in more than 35 years.
• Sophomore Troy Whiteside rounds out three sophomore starters and has reached double figures in scoring in five of the last eight games while shooting 69 percent (22-of-32) in his last five outings.
• Freshman Josh Warren ranks fifth on the team in scoring (5.3 ppg.) and fourth in rebounding (4.7 rpg.), while senior Darryl Smith (3.7 ppg., 2.5 rpg.) and junior Wil Bathurst (2.6 ppg., 2.8 rpg.) are also firmly in the rotation.
• First-year head coach Brian Earl, one of the greatest players in Princeton basketball history, served as assistant and associate head coach at his alma mater and helped his program to a 143-69 overall mark, a 72-26 league mark and five postseason appearances since the 2009-10 season.
• Earl, the 1999 Ivy League Player of the year and a three-time Ivy champion, graduated with an Ivy League-record 281 3-pointers, a mark that stood until Cornell's Ryan Wittman '10 surpassed him in 2010, and closed his career ranked fifth all-time at Princeton with 1,428 points.
• In all, the Big Red returns better than 97 percent of its minutes, points, rebounds and assists from last season.
• Cornell enjoyed a 10-day foreign trip to Spain in August, going 3-0 and getting a chance to bond with its new coaching staff.
• A pair of sophomores played big roles during the team's trip to Spain, with Gettings (9.3 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 3.3 apg. in Spain) and Whiteside (7.0 ppg., 5.3 rpg.) showing that they likely will play more significant roles in the lineup in 2016-17.
• Cornell played outstanding defense throughout its three-game foreign tour, holding opponents to 61.3 ppg., while shooting 30 percent from the floor and 25 percent from the 3-point arc. • UMass Lowell is 4-9 on the season and will be playing its first game since a 69-60 loss at Loyola (MD) on Dec. 23.
• The River Hawks own wins over Wagner (87-76), Mississippi Valley State (76-71), Central Connecticut State (86-69) and Boston University (77-75), though they are 0-7 in true road games.
• Jahad Thomas (16.1 ppg., 8.8 rpg., 3.8 apg., 2.5 spg.) leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals through 13 contests and is hitting on 57 percent of his shots.
• Both Matt Harris (13.0 ppg.) and Tyler Livingston (12.5 ppg., 4.5 rpg.) are also averaging double figures, while Ryan Jones (9.6 ppg., 3.2 rpg., 2.5 apg.) and Isaac White (9.4 ppg.,) are knocking on the door.
• The River Hawks are averaging 77.0 points per game on 46 percent shooting and are connecting on better than 80 percent of their free throws.
• Opponents hold a sizable 4.2 rebound margin and are shooting 45 percent overall while averaging nearly 10 steals per game - a result of UMass Lowell's 17.9 turnovers a night.
• Fourth-year head coach Pat Duquette has posted a 37-62 career record and guided the River Hawks to its first win over an ACC school (Boston College) a year ago and has reached double figure wins in each of his first three years. • The two teams have split a home-and-home series, with the River Hawks evening the record at 1-1 last season with an 80-77 victory in Lowell.
• The Big Red won the only previous meeting in Ithaca two years ago with a 71-60 victory in Newman Arena. • Cornell fell behind by as many as 15 points in the first half, made a high-energy comeback in the second and fell a last-second 3-pointer away from overtime as UMass Lowell held on for an 80-77 victory at the Costello Athletic Center on Nov. 29, 2015.
• Matt Morgan had 23 points and four assists, Robert Hatter had 14 points and five assists and rookie Troy Whiteside set a career-best with 10 points and six rebounds in the loss.
• As a team, seven different Cornell players combined hit a dozen 3-pointers, while the team's pressure defense forced 23 turnovers.
• Darryl Smith had eight points and Wil Bathurst recorded seven.
• Four different River Hawk players reached double figures, with Jahad Thomas leading the way with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Isaac White had 18 points and nine rebounds, Keith Hayes II had 13 points and Matt Harris was credited with 10.
• UMass Lowell had a dominant 46-27 edge on the backboards leading to a 14-2 edge in second chance points. • Cornell is 22-25 all-time against current members of the America East, including 1-1 against UMass Lowell.
• The Big Red has also faced Albany (2-4), Binghamton (9-3), Hartford (0-3), Maine (0-1), New Hampshire (1-3), Stony Brook (4-4) and Vermont (5-6).
• Cornell has never played UMBC.
• The Big Red will also visit Albany on Jan. 2 to kick off the 2017 portion of the schedule. • The Big Red men's basketball team used a hot start to get out to an early lead, but Syracuse responded with a 30-10 run and never looked back as it rolled to a 80-56 victory on Dec. 27 at the Carrier Dome.
• It was Syracuse's 37th consecutive over the Big Red.
• Sophomore Troy Whiteside was one of two Big Red players to reach double-digits, finishing with a team-high 13 points on a 6-of-9 performance from the floor, to go along with a career-best six assists.
• Sophomore Matt Morgan chipped in 10 points, while classmate Stone Gettings grabbed nine rebounds.
• The Big Red had 16 assists on the night and shot 42 percent from the floor.
• Syracuse was led by Tyler Lyndon's 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, as one of four Orange to reach double-figures.
• Syracuse held a 16-0 edge in fastbreak points, 18-6 on second chance points and 19-9 off turnovers.
• Taurean Thompson netted 18 points and seven rebounds and Tyus Battle had 16 points and three steals for SU. • The Big Red has a neutral assist:turnover ratio (168 assists, 168 turnovers) for the first time since posting a positive mark (380:377) in 2011-12 and is +20 over its last six games (104:84).
• Cornell will look to begin a home win streak when it meet UMass Lowell, a winning stretch that would be its first since going 4-0 to open the 2015-16 campaign with wins over Binghamton, Penn State-Harrisburg, Siena and Lafayette.
• The Big Red has had at least three double figure scorers in 10 of the season's first 12 contests.
• Sophomore Troy Whiteside is shooting .688 (22-of-32) from the floor over his last five games, averaging 9.8 points over that span.
• Sophomore Matt Morgan has hit at least one 3-pointer in 13 consecutive games (dating back to last season) and has connected on multiple shots beyond the arc in seven straight contests.
• Morgan is averaging 4.5 made 3-point field goals per game over the last six contests.
• He has reached double figures in scoring in 28 of his last 29 games.
• Senior JoJo Fallas has 21 assists and nine turnovers so far this season, and his 2.3 assist:turnover ratio would rank first all-time among players who saw half the team's minutes in a season.
• Over the last six games, sophomore Stone Gettings is averaging 14.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 blocks while shooting 61 percent from 3-point range (14-of-23).
• Gettings has already set career highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals, field goals, 3-point field goals and free throws and needs one block to match his freshman season total.
• Senior Robert Hatter is averaging 5.3 rebounds per game - a mark that if maintained would be the most by a Cornell guard over a full season since Gerry Newby '73 averaged 5.3 rpg. as a senior in 1972-73, • Cornell will begin the 2017 portion of the schedule on Monday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. when it visits Albany.
• The Great Danes lead the all-time series 4-2, including last year's 75-70 victory over the Big Red in Ithaca.
• The Big Red returns home to face Fisher College on Sunday, Jan. 8 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena.