QUICK HITS
• The Cornell men's basketball team has an opportunity to finish the season strong with a backloaded conference road schedule, and that starts when Ivy League favorite Princeton (Friday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.) and traditional conference power Penn (Saturday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m.) visits Newman Arena this weekend.
• Friday's game against Princeton will be broadcast on the American Sports Network with Carl Reuter and Blaine Taylor on the call, while Saturday's contest with Penn will be available on the Ivy League Digital Network and simulcast on ESPN3 with Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor on the call.
• Leonard and Taylor will be on the call on 98.7 FM The Buzzer on Friday, while Saturday's contest will not be on local radio.
• Cornell will be returning home after a grueling stretch that has seen the Big Red play just two home games since before Christmas, including playing five of its first six league games on the road (going 2-4).
• The Big Red now closes out the regular season with six of its final eight contests at Newman Arena, starting with this weekend.
• The backcourt has been Cornell's strength, as junior Robert Hatter (18.6 ppg., 3.7 apg., 3.1 rpg., 1.4 spg.) and freshman Matt Morgan (18.6 ppg., 3.3 rpg., 1.9 apg., 1.5 spg.) are the league's top two leading scorers.
• Hatter, the Ivy League's leading scorer, was averaging 23.3 points over his last seven games before missing the first four conference games of the season and ranks among the conference's top 10 in assists (third, 4.1) and steals (fourth, 1.4).
• Morgan, a four-time Ivy Rookie of the Week and one-time Ivy Player of the Week, is averaging 26.5 points in Ivy League play and is posting 18.6 points per night, the fourth-highest scoring freshman in the country (60th overall).
• At 18.6 ppg., Morgan is posting the highest scoring average for an Ivy rookie in history (current leader Earl Hunt of Brown at 17.0 ppg. in 1999-2000).
• Juniors Darryl Smith (9.1 ppg., 3.2 rpg.) and JoJo Fallas (4.7 ppg.) and freshman Troy Whiteside (5.3 ppg., 2.1 rpg.) have also made an impact in the backcourt.
• Smith is shooting 64 percent from the floor for the season and has hit 28-of-38 field goals over his last eight games (.737). He would rank ninth nationally in field goal percentage with enough attempts (would be only player 6-3 or shorter in the top 60).
• Junior center David Onuorah (5.8 ppg., 7.6 rpg., 1.6 bpg.) has been one of the most improved players in the Ivy League, while sophomores Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof (4.5 ppg., 3.6 rpg.) and Wil Bathurst (4.6 ppg., 2.4 rpg.) and freshmen Stone Gettings (2.2 ppg., 2.0 rpg.) and Joel Davis (2.6 ppg., 1.9 rpg.) have been frontcourt staples.
• Friday night's game features three of the Ivy League's top four scorers, as Hatter and Morgan rank 1-2, with Princeton's Henry Caruso (16.7 ppg.) ranking fourth.
• Saturday will feature the return of former Big Red head coach Steve Donahue, who guided Cornell for 10 seasons and led the program to three Ivy League titles and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance (2010).
 • Cornell head coach Bill Courtney is in his sixth season at Cornell (59-106, .358; 26-50 Ivy, .342).
• Courtney became the fifth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on April 23, 2010.

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD ...
• make Cornell 10-11 on the season, including 5-3 at Newman Arena.
• push its Ivy League record to 3-4 on the season.
• snap a three-game home losing skid.
• cut the Tigers' lead in the all-time series to 142-81.
• be the 1,234th in program history (1,233-1,380 in 117 seasons, .472).

ABOUT PRINCETON
• The Tigers are in a virtual tie for second in Ivy League play with a 14-5 overall record and a 4-1 conference mark.
• Princeton is 7-1 in its last eight contests, with its only loss coming in a four-point game at Ivy unbeaten Yale on Jan. 30.
• Henry Caruso (16.7 ppg., 6.6 rpg., 1.6 apg., 1.3 spg.) leads a balanced offense that includes four players averaging double figures and five that are at 8.7 ppg. or better.
• Devin Cannady (10.8 ppg., 2.7 rpg., 1.3 apg., 1.2 spg.), Spencer Weisz (10.7 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 3.6 apg.) and Steven Cook (10.4 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 1.7 apg., 1.1 spg., 0.7 bpg.)  are also in double figures, with Amir Bell (8.7 ppg., 2.7 rpg., 2.6 apg., 1.1 spg.) isn't far off.
• The Tigers are outscoring opponents by 11.4 ppg. and outrebounding foes by 4.4 per night.
• Princeton's only losses are to NCAA tournament caliber squads away from home — Stony Brook, Saint Joseph's, Maryland, Miami (Fla.) and Yale.
• Fifth-year head coach Mitch Henderson has an 88-51 record while guiding the Tigers, including 49-11 at home.

THE SERIES
• Princeton leads the series 142-80 dating back to the first meeting between the teams in the 1901-02 season.
• Cornell has won 12 of the last 22 meetings between the teams overall.
• The teams split the season series in 2015-16 with each team winning at home.
 • Shonn Miller scored a game high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but unlike the first meeting, it was a late Princeton run that put the game away to give the Tigers a 66-53 win on March 6, 2015 at Jadwin Gymnasium.
• Miller scored at least 24 points for the third time in his last four games and grabbed at least eight rebounds for the sixth time in the last seven, but Princeton's balanced offense (three double figure scorers, five players with at least eight points) and 47 percent shooting against arguably the league's best defense gave the home team the win.
• After a 22-0 Big Red run late in the first meeting lifted Cornell to a 68-60 victory, an 11-3 run for the home team essentially ended the contest.
• The Big Red committed just eight turnovers, but shot just 4-of-21 from 3-point range (19 percent).
• Galal Cancer had 10 points, three rebounds and two assists and JoJo Fallas notched five points, two rebounds and two assists.
• Cornell forced 16 Princeton turnovers, but the Tigers shot 56 percent after halftime to claim the win.
• The home team made 25-of-30 free throws, while Cornell attempted just 12 on the evening.



ABOUT PENN
• Penn is 8-11 (2-3 Ivy) after a home sweep of Dartmouth (71-64) and Harvard (67-57) this past weekend that snapped a four-game skid.
• The Quakers have nearly matched last season's win totals overall (nine) and in league play (four).
• Senior center Darien Nelson-Henry leads two double figure scorers at 12.3 ppg. to go along with 8.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocks per contest while shooting 58 percent from the floor.
• Matt Howard (11.8 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 1.1 apg.) is also hitting double figures, while Sam Jones isn't far behind (9.3 ppg., 4.1 rpg.,1.0 apg.).
• Penn is hitting 7.5 3-pointers per game on 30 percent shooting, but have limited opponents behind the arc, allowing just 5.9 3-pointers per night.
• The Quakers are 1-7 away from home, including 0-2 in league play.
• Former Big Red coach Steve Donahue, who won 146 games and led Cornell to three Ivy championships and the 2010 NCAA Sweet 16, brings a team to Ithaca for the first time as an opponent after taking over the Penn program this season.
• Donahue sports a 208-225 record in 15 seasons as a head coach.

THE SERIES
• Penn leads 150-74 overall in a series that dates back to the 1903-04 campaign.
• Cornell and Penn have split the last 16 meetings after the Big Red had lost 18 straight contests to the Quakers.
• Penn swept the season series last year, including a 79-72 Quaker win in last year's season finale.
 • Senior Shonn Miller was a one-man wrecking crew in his final game in a Cornell uniform, but Penn used six players in double figures on a red-hot shooting night to top the Big Red 79-72 on March 7, 2015 at The Palestra.
• Miller scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked two shots and stole two passes for the Big Red, while freshman Wil Bathurst posted career highs of 20 points and eight rebounds in just 21 minutes of action in extended playing time.
• Sparked by Bathurst, Cornell made a late run that cut a 20-point Penn lead to five in the final minute before time ran out on the Big Red.
• Miller surpassed the 500-point mark with his 23-point effort and became the first Big Red player to surpass 500 points and 250 rebounds in a single season.
• Senior Galal Cancer had 10 points and classmate Devin Cherry notched six points and three assists in their final games in a Cornell uniform.
• Antonio Woods had 15 points and 11 assists to lead six double figure scorers.
• Sam Jones had 13 points, Darien Nelson-Henry had 12 points and six rebounds, Matt Howard posted 11 points and both Tony Hicks and Darnell Foreman had 10 apiece.



LAST TIME OUT
• Yale's dominance on the glass and balanced offense kept it unbeaten, controlling Cornell throughout en route to an 83-52 victory on Feb. 6, 2016 at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.
• The Bulldogs won the rebounding battle 56-22 and nearly matched the Big Red's total rebounds with its 20 offensive boards and outscored the visitors 22-1 on second chance points.
• Four Yale players had at least seven rebounds and five reached double figures in scoring.
• The home team seemingly did everything right all night, shooting 59 percent in the first 20 minutes and connecting on 12-of-23 3-pointers in total, leading from wire-to-wire and by as many as 39 points.
• Cornell freshman Matt Morgan continued his impressive campaign with a game-high 20 points, including 5-of-10 3-pointers, but he was the lone Big Red player to reach double figures.
• David Onuorah had three points, seven rebounds, three blocks and a steal and Desmond Fleming had eight points off the bench.
• Yale was led by Jack Montague's 16 points, while reigning Ivy Player of the Year Justin Sears had 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
• Brandon Sherrod (10 points, seven rebounds, three assists), Makai Mason (10 points, three rebounds) and Sam Downey (10 points, eight rebounds) also hit double figures for the Bulldogs.
• Yale controlled the game in every phase in the first half, shooting 59 percent from the floor and connecting on 6-of-13 3-pointers.
• When it missed, it was on the offensive glass - of its 13 missed shots, the Bulldogs collected nine offensive boards.



PLAYER NOTES TO KNOW
• Freshman Matt Morgan has scored at least 19 points in each of his last eight contests.
• The four-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week is averaging 26.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks while shooting 43/39/81 in Ivy League play.
• Morgan's 29 points against Columbia were the most by a Big Red player in an Ivy opener and the most by a Cornell freshman in an Ivy League debut.
• His 33-point night at Harvard bested the school's freshman single-game scoring record.
• Over his last nine contests, Morgan is averaging 23.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.9 steals while connecting on 32-of-86 3-pointers.
• 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 29 assists and 21 turnovers over his last 13 games, spanning 385 minutes of action.
• Over his last seven contests before his injury, junior Robert Hatter was averaging 23.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game while hitting 16 3-pointers.
• Hatter has 59 assists this season and has 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).
• Darryl Smith had a span of 14 consecutive field goals to start Ivy League play and has connected on 65-of-100 shots (.650) in his last 14 games.
• After going scoreless in the opener against Georgia Tech, Smith has reached double figures in 11 of his 19 games and has averaged 9.5 points over that span, including hitting 13-of-23 from 3-point range (57 percent).
• David Onuorah became the sixth player in school history to reach 100 career blocks with one in the win at Howard and now has 105 for his career.
• In the eight games that he has played at least 28 minutes, Onuorah is averaging 10.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, while he is averaging 5.7 rebounds and has 10 total blocks in the other 12 contests.
• 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 15 of his 20 games this season.
• 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
• The sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth on the road was the first for a Big Red team since knocking off Brown and Yale during the 2012-13 campaign.
• Over the team's last 13 contests, the Big Red is averaging 8.3 steals per contest.
• Cornell is averaging 4.8 blocks over its last 10 games.
• The Big Red has forced 226 turnovers (16.1 per game) over its last 14 games.
• Cornell has scored at least 76 points in regulation in 11 of its 20 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 half of its 20 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 (17-6) in 2015-16 (13.5 ppg., 5.8 rpg., 1.0 bpg., 0.9 spg.), while Galal Cancer '15 (4.5 ppg., 2.3 rpg., 1.4 apg., 0.9 spg.) is suiting up for Kent State (15-8). Miller has started every game and is the leading scorer and second-leading rebounder for UConn, while Cancer has been in the Golden Flashes' lineup in 12 of its 23 contests.
• 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's eight freshman is the second-most of any Division I program (Bradley - 10).

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 eight 3-pointers at Yale on Feb. 6, 2016, its 764th 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 810 of 814 games, connecting on 5,162 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
• Cornell closes out a four-game homestand when Dartmouth and Harvard visit Newman Arena.
• The Big Red will look for the season sweep of the Big Green when the two teams meet on Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m., then will attempt to sweep Harvard the following night at 6 p.m. in a contest that will be simulcast on the Ivy League Digital Network and ESPN3.