STORYLINE
• The Cornell basketball team will close out its three-game homestand when Delaware visits Newman Arena on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena. 
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor '05 on the call.
• A win would move the Big Red to 3-1, the team's best start after four games in 11 seasons.
• The two teams played a classic last year, with Delaware escaping for a 97-96 overtime victory despite 34 points from the Big Red's Matt Morgan.
• Morgan enters this week among the national leaders at 24.0 ppg. and 9.0 rpg. while adding 3.0 apg. and 2.7 spg.
• If maintained, Morgan's scoring average would be the highest ever by a Cornell player (the late Chuck Rolles '56 averaged 23.0 points in 1955-56).
• Morgan, who has reached double figures in scoring in 54 consecutive games, is coming off a 12-point, 10-rebound, four-assist effort in the Big Red's 73-57 loss to Colgate.
• He scored 38 points with 13 rebounds and four steals in the Big Red's season-opening win at Binghamton, climbing to No. 2 on the school's career scoring list.
• Morgan is one of four returning starters for the Big Red, who went 12-16 in 2017-18 and earned the program's first-ever bid to the Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament.
• Seniors Troy Whiteside (6.0 ppg.), Steven Julian (4.3 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 3.7 apg.) and Jack Gordon (3.3 ppg., 2.7 rpg., 2.0 apg.) join junior Josh Warren (5.3 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 2.0 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (5.3 ppg., 2.0 apg.) as former starters expected to again play key roles for Cornell in 2018-19.
• Sophomore forwards Jimmy Boeheim (12.3 ppg., 5.3 rpg.) and Jake Kuhn (7.3 ppg., 2.3 rpg.) have also been significant contributors off the bench.
• Third-year head coach Brian Earl will look to continue the program's upward swing, as the Big Red made a two-game jump in conference play a year ago.
• Gordon, Julian and Morgan will serve as team tri-captains for 2018-19. 

A WIN OVER DELAWARE WOULD
• make Cornell 3-1 on the season, the Big Red's best start after four games since the 2007-08 season (3-1).
• even the all-time series with the Blue Hens at 2-2.
• be the team's third straight road win dating back to last year's regular season finale at Dartmouth (86-75).
• be the 1,257th in program history (1,256-1,425 in 118 seasons, .469).

LAST TIME VS. OUT
• For 30 minutes, Cornell and Colgate were locked in a defensive battle, a deadlock the Raiders eventually solved while pulling away for a 73-57 win over the Big Red on Nov. 11 at Newman Arena. 
• The Raiders shot 56 percent in the second half thanks to the passing of Jordan Burns and Tucker Richardson, who combined for 12 assists - most at the rim for layups. 
• Burns ended the night with 14 points, eight assists and five rebounds among four double figure scorers. 
• Will Rayman led the way with 16 points and six boards, Dana Batt chipped in 14 and Malcolm Regisford had 12. 
• Senior Matt Morgan had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to lead the Big Red on a cold shooting night for his second double-double of the season. 
• Josh Warren was also in double figures with 10 points and five boards and Jimmy Boeheim ended the afternoon with eight points. 

NOTES TO KNOW
• Overall, Cornell is 47-103 in tournament play during the regular season. 
• The program last won an in-season tournament when it dropped Davidson and St. John's to capture the 2009-10 MSG Holiday Classic. 
• Matt Morgan's 54 consecutive double figure scoring games has surpassed John Sheehy's 34 straight (1953-55) for a school record that had held for 62 years.
• Morgan became the first Cornell player to declare early for the NBA Draft during the spring of 2017 (and again in 2018), withdrawing before the early entry deadline to preserve his final two seasons of eligibility.
• The Big Red will have three junior college transfers (Steven Julian, Chaz Mack and Thurston McCarty) on its roster for the first time in program history in 2018-19.
• The trio are the first junior college transfer to suit up for the Big Red since Drew Ferry (2010-11 and 2011-12 after playing at Palm Beach State College) and first JUCOs who did not first attend a Division I school since Jason Hartford (Chemeketa CC).
• Senior Steven Julian has nine brothers and sisters.
• Sophomore Jimmy Boeheim is the eldest son of Syracuse head men's basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.
• Head coach 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 (Connecticut) Hurley; Joe (Yale) and James (Boston University) Jones; and Sean (Arizona) and Archie (Indiana) Miller.
• Sixth-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 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.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 832 consecutive games (11th-longest streak in Division I) 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 878 of 882 games (5,702 3-pointers over that span).
• Dating back to the first overtime game against Penn way back in 1922, Cornell is 41-51 in games that go an extra period. Cornell is 7-10 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 30-19 in home overtime games, 2-2 in neutral contests and 10-29 in road games.
• The Big Red ranks among the best according to the annual NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR) for 2016-17 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 10 times in the 13 years since the APR began, including eight consecutive.

NEXT UP
• Cornell will visit NJIT in the final game of the Central New York Hoops Classic on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 4 p.m.
• A win by the Big Red would guarantee at least a share of the title, as NJIT (2-0), Colgate (1-1) and Binghamton (0-2) would all have at least one loss.