HEAD COACH BRIAN EARL
• Brian Earl is in his second season as the Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Basketball (12-25, .324; 4-10 Ivy, .286).
• He became Cornell's 22nd head coach in April of 2016.
• Earl helped his alma mater, Princeton, return to national prominence during nine seasons as an assistant and associate head coach.
• The Tigers had posted a 143-69 overall record and a 72-26 record in Ancient Eight games since 2009-10, never finishing lower than third place and winning 20 or more games five times.
• His Ivy League peers voted him as the league's top assistant coach in a November 2010 FoxSports.com poll, earning the recognition prior to a 2011 season in which Princeton won the Ivy League title and returned to the NCAA Tournament.

CORNELL-LAFYATTE SERIES
Overall: Lafayette leads 11-9, first meeting in 1929-30
In Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell leads 8-4
Current Streak: Cornell, 2
Last Meeting: Cornell, 82-75 (11/20/2016 in Easton, Pa.)
Earl vs. Lafayette: Cornell leads 1-0
Series Notes: Cornell has won three consecutive meetings between the teams in Ithaca • Cornell head coach Brian Earl picked up his first collegiate victory last year against the Leopards and the Patriot League's all-time leader in wins, Fran O'Hanlon • Cornell is 146-123 all-time against current members of the Patriot League

LAST TIME OUT
• Cornell shook off the rust from a two-week layoff and a 10-hour bus trip to pull out a 69-62 victory at Longwood on Dec. 16 at Willett Hall.
• Junior Matt Morgan continued his scoring barrage, netting 25 points and adding four rebounds and three assists in his seventh consecutive 20-point outing.
• Classmate Stone Gettings added 11 points and eight rebounds and Steven Julian had eight points, seven rebounds, three steals, three blocks and two assists.
• Jack Gordon had nine points and four rebounds and freshman Terrance McBride, making his first collegiate start in place of injured senior WIl Bathurst, chipped in four points, six rebounds and two assists without a turnover.
• Josh Warren led the bench with six points and a team-high nine rebounds, freshman Bryan Knapp scored six points and had a steal in 12 minutes and junior Joel Davis had two points, a block, a rebound and an assist without a turnover.
• The Big Red had great energy from the get-go, forcing a Longwood timeout just 30 seconds in after scoring four quick points.
• Cornell led by as many as 10 early, but never more than 12 as the visitors struggled to find its rhythm offensively. Cornell shot 40 percent overall and just 25 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-24) despite getting quality looks throughout.

LAST TIME VS. LAFAYETTE
• Donovan Wright did a pretty good impersonation of his head coach, hitting eight 3-pointers in a return to his hometown to allow make sure Brian Earl left Lafayette's Kirby Sports Center with his first collegiate win.
• Cornell won its first-ever game in Easton after seven tries with an 82-75 victory over the Leopards on Nov. 20, 2016.
• Wright, who lived in Easton throughout middle school and high school, went 8-of-10 from 3-point range for a career-high 26 points, more than doubling his career total of 11 points entering the game.
• The sophomore, who missed his rookie season with a shoulder injury, ended the night with the third-most 3-point field goals made in a game in school history.
 • Wright was one of five Cornell players who scored in double figures in a high-energy performance on both ends of the floor.
• The Big Red had 19 assists and just 10 turnovers, made 14 3-pointers and was disruptive in the passing lanes.
• Fellow sophomore Stone Gettings had 12 points, eight rebounds, a career-high eight assists and two steals and classmate Matt Morgan had 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.
• Seniors Robert Hatter (12 points, three rebounds, three assists) and JoJo Fallas (11 points) each ended the night in double figures as well.
• Cornell shot 52 percent overall and didn't trail after an early 5-3 deficit 70 seconds into the game.
• Lafayette shot 48 percent overall and 56 percent (9-of-16) from beyond the arc with Matt Klinewski (23 points) and Nick Lindner (19 points) combining for 42 of the Leopards' 75 points.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Brian Earl and his brother Dan (VMI) one of five active sets of brothers directing Division I programs, joining Scott (Baylor) and Bryce (Vanderbilt) Drew; Bobby (Arizona State) and Danny (Rhode Island) Hurley; Joe (Yale) and James (Boston University) Jones; and Sean (Arizona) and Archie (Dayton) Miller.
• Fifth-year assistant coach Jon Jaques was a starter and senior captain on the 2009-10 Cornell team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• Members of the Cornell basketball team represent 10 states and the District of Columbia.
• Cornell has played in 47 different states, as well as in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Australia, France and Spain. The only states the Big Red has not played in are Alaska, North Dakota and Mississippi after crossing Wyoming off the list last year.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 809 consecutive games dating back to a contest 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, the Big Red has hit at least one shot behind the arc in 855 of 859 games (5,528 3-pointers over that span).
• The Big Red returns 72 percent of its scoring, 74 percent of its rebounding and 71 percent of its assists from last season — one of just 16 Division I teams nationwide to bring back 70 percent of its scoring, rebounding and assists from 2016-17.
• Dating back to the first overtime game against Penn way back in 1922, Cornell is 40-49 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 29-19 in home overtime games, 2-2 in neutral contests and 10-27 in road games.
• The Big Red ranks among the best according to the annual NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR) for 2015-16 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. Cornell has been recognized nine times in the 12 years since the APR began, including seven consecutive.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red will play its final game before a short holiday break when Niagara visits Newman Arena on Saturday, Dec. 23 at 1 p.m.
• Cornell leads the all-time series 27-20, though Niagara has won two straight and four of the last five meetings.
• It will be Cornell's first matchup with the Purple Eagles on the hardwood since the 1992-93 season, and Niagara's first visit to Newman Arena since Dec. 7, 1991 — a 71-70 Niagara victory.