STORYLINE
• The 2018-19 Cornell men's basketball season kicks off with the Big Red's appearance in the inaugural Central New York Hoops Classic at Binghamton on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at approximately 8 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and will begin after the Binghamton women's game against Charleston.
• 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 to earn its first-ever bid to the Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament.
• After opening the Ivy season 0-3, the Big Red went 6-5 in its last 11 conference games.
• Junior
Matt Morgan earned first-team All-Ivy League honors and Lou Henson All-America accolades after averaging 22.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists last year.
• Morgan, the 11th-leading scorer in the country a year ago, has now reached double figures in scoring in a school-record 51 consecutive games — the fourth-longest streak of any player in the country.
• Morgan's 630 points were the most scored by any Ivy League player in three decades (636 by Dartmouth's Jim Barton in 1987-88).
• Morgan upped his career scoring total to 1,646 points, a total that ranks 19th all-time in Ivy history.
• He is 17 points shy of second place all-time at Cornell, currently held down by John Bajusz '87.
• Morgan is one of four returning starters for the Big Red, who went 12-16 in 2017-18.
• Seniors
Jack Gordon (7.1 ppg.),
Steven Julian (6.7 ppg., 5.8 rpg.),
Troy Whiteside (6.6 ppg. in 2016-17) and
Joel Davis (4.7 ppg.) also return to the lineup.
• In addition, sophomore
Terrance McBride (4.9 ppg.) established a single-season Cornell assist:turnover ratio mark as a rookie and both junior
Josh Warren (4.1 ppg., 3.0 rpg.) and sophomore
Jimmy Boeheim (3.2 ppg.) also played double figure minutes in 2017-18.
• Gordon, Julian and Morgan will serve as team tri-captains for 2018-19.
• Cornell has scheduled to challenge itself, as the Big Red will play 30 games, including a total of 13 contests at Newman Arena.
• Visits to Syracuse and Wake Forest of the ACC, Connecticut and SMU of the AAC and an appearance in the first Central New York Hoops Classic highlight the slate.
• Making their debuts will be seven newcomers, including junior college transfers
Chaz Mack and
Thurston McCarty.
A WIN OVER BINGHAMTON WOULD
• be the first season-opening win for the Big Red since 2014 (68-60 win at George Mason).
• make Cornell 76-44 all-time in season openers.
• extend the Big Red's lead in the all-time series to 10-4, including 3-2 in Vestal.
• get the Big Red back to within 24-28 against members of the America East Conference.
• make head coach
Brian Earl 2-1 against Binghamton.
• be the team's second straight road win dating back to last year's regular season finale at Dartmouth (86-75).
• be the 1,255th in program history (1,254-1,424 in 118 seasons, .468).
LAST TIME VS. BINGHAMTON
• The Cornell men's basketball team jumped out to a 20-point lead, staved off a Binghamton rally and then put the Bearcats away for a 94-84 victory on Nov. 13, 2017 in the home opener at Newman Arena.
• The Big Red's 94 points were the program's most against a Division I team in a regulation game since posting a 96-76 victory over Dartmouth during the 2010-11 season.
• Cornell shot 49 percent from the floor, 48 percent from the 3-point arc (10-of-21) and 88 percent (30-of-34) from the free-throw line while assisting on 19 of the team's 27 field goals.
• Four players reached double figures, led by junior
Matt Morgan's 26 points.
• Morgan added eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in the win.
• Classmate
Steven Julian had his first double-double in a Cornell uniform with 10 points and 11 rebounds,
Stone Gettings scored 16 points with six rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench and
Jack Gordon had 11 points.
• It was a full team win, as the Big Red got seven points, three rebounds and three assists from
Wil Bathurst, six points, four rebounds and four assists from freshman
Terrance McBride, six points from
Joel Davis and five more from
Jimmy Boeheim.
• Cornell all but squandered a 22-point second half lead (51-29), allowing the Bearcats to get back within two (54-52) with a 23-2 run over the span of 5:38, but the home team steadied the ship and calmly and methodically built the edge back to double figures.
• The Bearcats shot 61 percent and scored 55 points after halftime, but its 20-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome.
• Thomas Bruce scored 28 points and had 11 rebounds to lead four double figure scorers.
• Fard Muhammad chipped in 18 points, four assists and three rebounds, Timmy Rose had 11 points and six assists and J.C. Show netted 12 points and four boards.
SEASON OPENERS
• Cornell will attempt to build on its 75-44 all-time record in 119 previous season openers.
• The Big Red is 8-5 over the last 13 years, including six straight wins from 2005-2010.
• Cornell is 9-9 to open seasons in the 21st century with wins over Northwestern (2006-07), Alabama (2009-10) and George Mason (2014-15) in guarantee games.
• The Big Red is 28-34 in openers since Ivy play began in 1956-57.
• Cornell dropped its opener a season ago, falling 77-45 at Syracuse.
THE BIG RED AND IN-SEASON TOURNAMENTS
• Overall, Cornell is 45-102 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.
• The Big Red has also won tournament championships at the 1978-79 and 1967-68 Kodak Classic (both in Rochester, N.Y.) and the 1990-91 USAir-Cornell Classic.
• Cornell was a perfect 4-0 at the Legends Classic in 2009-10, but due to the tournament format, was not considered to be the tournament champion. Florida (4-0) also finished the tournament unbeaten.
• The Big Red won the 2012 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational lower bracket with wins over Presbyterian and Longwood.
NEXT UP
• The Big Red opens its home season with the first of three consecutive contests at Newman Arena when Division III opponent SUNY Canton visits on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.
• The game will be the second of four contests at part of the first-ever Central New York Classic.
• It will be the first-ever meeting between the Big Red and the Kangaroos.
