STORYLINE
• The Cornell men's basketball team will head up to I-81 attempting to do something that no current member of the Big Red travel party has been alive for — a victory over Syracuse.
• Cornell will attempt to snap a 38-game skid against the Orange when the two teams meet on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. at the Carrier Dome in a game that will be broadcast on ESPNU. 
• Senior guard Matt Morgan enters the week among the national leaders at 23.6 ppg. while adding 6.4 rpg., 2.3 apg., 1.3 spg. and 0.7 bpg.
• 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 58 consecutive games, is coming off a 12-point effort in the Big Red's 61-58 overtime victory over Lafayette on Wednesday evening.
• 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 (5.1 ppg.), Steven Julian (3.0 ppg., 4.7 rpg., 2.9 apg.), Jack Gordon (5.1 ppg., 2.6 rpg., 2.3 apg.) and Joel Davis (2.3 ppg., 1.4 rpg.) join junior Josh Warren (7.9 ppg., 3.1 rpg., 2.4 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (4.6 ppg., 2.3 rpg., 1.7 apg.) as players who have spent significant time as starters and are expected to again play key roles for Cornell in 2018-19.
• Sophomore forwards Jimmy Boeheim (11.7 ppg., 4.3 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Jake Kuhn (4.9 ppg., 2.0 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. 
• The Carrier Dome is named in honor of famed Cornellian Willis Haviland Carrier '01, creator of the first modern air conditioning system in 1902. He started what became the largest heating, ventilation and air conditioning distributor in the world. The company he created purchased the naming rights to the arena in perpetuity in 1980.
• Cornell is 1-25 all-time at the Carrier Dome, picking up its lone victory with a 75-54 triumph over Saint Francis (Pa.) to open the 2005-06 season as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The Big Red is 0-24 all-time against the Orange in the Dome and has also played Kentucky, dropping the 2010 NCAA regional semifinal game to the top-seeded Wildcats.
• The Big Red will also be attempting to snap a 32-game losing skid over 67 years against teams from the ACC, with its last victory coming at Wake Forest during the 1951-52 campaign (58-51).

LAST TIME CORNELL BEAT SYRACUSE
• Things have changed mightily since the last time Cornell defeated Syracuse, a 93-81 Big Red win during the 1968-69 season in Ithaca. 
• Some of the things that have happened since Dec. 4, 1968 — man has landed on the moon (July 20, 1969); Cornell head coach Brian Earl was born (1977); 13 U.S. Presidential elections have been held; the earth's population has increased by 3.9 billion; a human being born on that day has had their heart beat approximately 1.8 billion times while taking more than 400 million breaths; Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim joined the SU staff as an assistant coach (1969), was promoted to head coach (1976), won a national title (2003) and more than 900 games on the Orange sidelines.
• Below are some highlights from 1968, when the Big Red last earned a victory over the Orange.

Category       1968                    2018    
Loaf of bread     $0.22                $2.34
Milk (Gallon)     $1.21                $3.14
New Car           $2,450               21,860
Gas (Regular)     $0.34                $2.70
New House         $26,500              $320,000
Postage Stamp     $0.06                $0.50
Household Income  $9,670               $61,372
No. 1 Song        "I Heard It Through  "Thank U Next"
                  The Grapevine"       Ariana Grande
                  Marvin Gaye                         

LAST TIME VS. OUT
• Josh Warren had a career-high 17 points and Cornell's defense held strong after a rough start, allowing the Big Red to top Lafayette 63-58 in overtime at Kirby Sports Center. 
• Warren, playing in front of a large section of family and friends, was the game's leading scorer and added a team-best seven rebounds as well as two assists and a blocked shot. 
• Senior Matt Morgan chipped in 12 points, needing overtime to extend his consecutive games streak in double figures to 58. 
• Jack Gordon had eight points, four rebounds and two assists and Terrance McBride had seven. 
• Cornell's defense, which limited the Leopards to 36 percent shooting overall and 18 percent from 3-point range, was spearheaded by seniors Joel Davis, Steven Julian and Troy Whiteside.
• Myles Cherry had 14 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Leopards.

NOTES TO KNOW
• 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.
• Matt Morgan's 58 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 seasons of eligibility.
• Senior Steven Julian has nine brothers and sisters.
• 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 836 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 882 of 886 games (5,731 3-pointers over that span).
• Dating back to the first overtime game against Penn way back in 1922, Cornell is 42-51 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 11-29 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 take two weeks off for final exams before returning to action against Niagara on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m.
• The Big Red will come back to Ithaca the following day for a 7 p.m. tip-off against Longwood on Monday, Dec. 17 at Newman Arena.