STORYLINE
• The Cornell men's basketball team will play its third game in four days when it visits 10-1 Toledo on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at Savage Arena.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Brent Balbinot and Jay Lehman on the broadcast.
• The Big Red is coming off a 70-64 victory over Longwood on Monday at home, the second contest of a four-game, six-day, pre-Christmas schedule. 
• Cornell is off to a 5-5 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 23.0 ppg. while adding 5.2 rpg., 2.9 apg., 1.2 spg. and 0.6 bpg.
• If maintained, Morgan's scoring average would be the highest ever by a Cornell player, matching the late Chuck Rolles '56 in 1955-56 (23.0 ppg.).
• Morgan, who has reached double figures in scoring in 61 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 (4.6 ppg.), Steven Julian (3.8 ppg., 5.5 rpg., 2.8 apg.), Jack Gordon (5.0 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 2.1 apg.) and Joel Davis (2.3 ppg., 1.4 rpg.) join junior Josh Warren (8.9 ppg., 3.2 rpg., 2.6 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (4.4 ppg., 2.2 rpg., 1.9 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 (11.5 ppg., 4.4 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Jake Kuhn (4.4 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.
• Toledo has won eight straight games and will be looking to avenge last season's 80-77 Big Red win in Ithaca, a game Cornell led by as many as 21 points.

THE SERIES VS. TOLEDO
Overall: Toledo leads 5-2, first meeting in 1939-40
In Toledo, Ohio: Toledo leads 5-0
Current Streak: Cornell, 2
Last Meeting: Cornell, 80-77 (11/24/2017 in Ithaca, N.Y.)
Earl vs. Toledo: 1-0 (0-0 on road)
Series Notes: Prior to last season's 80-77 thriller in Ithaca, the Big Red's only previous win in the series came on Nov. 27, 2009, a 78-60 victory in Philadelphia, Pa. as part of the Legends Classic • Toledo won the first five meetings between the teams, all coming in Ohio • Cornell is 37-35 all-time against current members of the Mid-American Conference, with a majority of the meetings coming against Buffalo (30-17)

LAST TIME OUT
• Cornell hit 16 3-pointers to run out to a big lead, then held off a late Longwood rally to secure a 70-64 victory on Monday evening at Newman Arena. 
• Matt Morgan scored 17 points and Jimmy Boeheim netted 12, including a career-high four 3-pointers, as the home team shot 50 percent from beyond the arc on 32 shots. 
• Seven different players hit a trey, with Morgan connecting on five and both Jake Kuhn and Troy Whiteside hitting a pair. 
• Cornell had 19 assists on its 22 baskets, but committed a season-high 20 turnovers and shot under 40 percent for the game, including 6-of-24 (25 percent) from two-point range. 
• The Big Red defense showed well, turning Longwood over 21 times and limiting them to 39 percent shooting overall and 28 percent from beyond the arc.
• Shabooty Phillips had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Jordan Cintron scored 14 points with eight rebounds off the bench and JaShaun Smith had 11 along with three blocked shots. 
• The Lancers outscored the Big Red 24-4 on second chance points and 32-10 in the paint, nearly erasing an 18-point second half deficit in the process.
 

NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 61 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 10 games this season and 14 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 839 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 885 of 889 games (5,764 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
• The Big Red will close out its pre-Christmas schedule when it visits Southern Methodist on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. CT in Dallas, Texas.
• It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.