STORYLINE
• With Ivy League nearly a month away, the Cornell men's basketball team will get a chance to test itself on back-to-back days when Longwood visits Newman Arena on Monday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor '05 on the call.
• The Big Red is coming off a heartbreaking 77-74 loss at Niagara on Sunday, as the Purple Eagles' Keleaf Tate hit a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound tap-out with 1.1 seconds to play after Cornell's 15-day break for final exams.
• Cornell is off to a 4-5 start, including three true road wins (Binghamton, NJIT and Lafayette) and two competitive losses to national powers (UConn, Syracuse).
• Senior guard Matt Morgan enters the week among the national leaders at 23.7 ppg. while adding 5.1 rpg., 2.4 apg., 1.2 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 60 consecutive games, is coming off a 22-point effort in the Big Red's 77-74 loss at Niagara on Sunday.
• 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 (4.3 ppg.), Steven Julian (3.6 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 2.9 apg.), Jack Gordon (5.0 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 2.1 apg.) and Joel Davis (2.3 ppg., 1.6 rpg.) join junior Josh Warren (9.2 ppg., 3.2 rpg., 2.7 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (4.1 ppg., 2.1 rpg., 2.0 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 (11.4 ppg., 4.4 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Jake Kuhn (4.0 ppg., 1.9 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.
• Longwood is 8-4 on the season under first-year head coach Griff Aldrich, already surpassing last season's win total (7-26).
• Isaiah Walton, a 6-5 fifth-year senior guard, leads the Lancers in scoring (19.2 ppg.), but has missed the last seven contests. 
• Shabooty Phillips (13.8 ppg., 5.4 rpg., 3.7 apg., 1.3 spg.) and JaShaun Smith (11.2 ppg., 3.3 rpg) are also averaging in double figures for the Lancers, who are limiting opponents to 38 percent shooting.

THE SERIES VS. LONGWOOD
Overall: Cornell leads 2-0, first meeting in 2012-13
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 1-0
Current Streak: Cornell, 2
Last Meeting: Cornell, 69-62 (12/16/2017 in Farmville, Va.)
Earl vs. Longwood: 1-0
Series Notes: The Big Red is 2-0 against Longwood, including last season's win in Virginia • Cornell won the only previous meeting between the programs in the championship game of the lower bracket of the 2012 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational • the Big Red is 6-3 all-time against current members of the Big South with meetings against Presbyterian (1-0), Radford (0-2), UNC Asheville (2-0), Winthrop (1-1)

LAST TIME OUT
• Keleaf Tate hit a desperation 3-pointer after an offensive rebounds tap-out with 1.1 seconds remaining to give Niagara a 77-74 victory over Cornell on Dec. 16 at Gallagher Center. 
• Dominic Robb rebounded an air ball on the final possession and was able to kick it out to Tate, who quickly released the shot to give the Purple Eagles the lead. 
• Tate's late trey capped a game that featured 12 lead changes and six ties, with the home team erasing a nine-point lead with less than nine minutes to play. 
• Matt Morgan had 22 points and five assists and Josh Warren netted a career-best 20 along with five assists and four rebounds. 
• Jimmy Boeheim was the third double figure scorer with 12 points, while Steven Julian notched eight points, 10 rebounds and a career-best five blocked shots. 
• Cornell shot just 32 percent from the floor after halftime as the home team rallied. 
• The Big Red assisted on 17 of its 24 field goals, held a 39-38 edge on the backboards and blocked seven shots.
• Marvin Prochet finished with a double-double (24 points, 10 rebounds) and Robb nearly did as well (12 points, nine rebounds), but it was Tate, who entered the game averaging 9.0 points per game, whose 23 points were the difference.
• The Purple Eagles turned the ball over just four times and connected on 10-of-24 3-pointers (42 percent).

NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 60 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's nine 30-point games is tied for fifth-most among active players: 25 - Mike Daum, South Dakota State; 19 - Chris Clemons, Campbell; 14 - Tyler Hall, Montana State and Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra; 9 - Morgan, Markus Howard, Marquette and Shamorie Ponds, St. John's.
• Cornell's bench has outscored its opponents' reserves in all nine games this season and 13 straight contests dating back to last year.
• 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.
• 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 838 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 884 of 888 games (5,748 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.
• 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).

NEXT UP
• Cornell will visit Toledo on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. before closing out the pre-Christmas schedule at Southern Methodist on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.
• The Big Red earned an 80-77 victory over the Rockets last November at Newman Arena behind 24 points by Matt Morgan.
• Toledo holds a 5-2 edge in the all-time series between the programs, while it will be the first-ever meeting between the Big Red and SMU.