STORYLINE
• North Carolina natives Matt Morgan and Joel Davis return to their home state for the first time in a Cornell uniform when the Big Red visits Wake Forest on Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
• The game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra with Evan Lepler and James Overstreet on the call.
• Cornell kicks off the new year looking to even it record and pick up its first win over an ACC foe since Dec. 27, 1951 — a 58-51 victory over Wake Forest in the first game of the Dixie Classic in Raleigh, N.C.
• A win would snap a 33-game losing skid against current members of the ACC.
• Morgan, who attended Cox Mill HS in Concord, approximately 60 miles from Winston-Salem, enters the matchup among the national leaders at 23.4 ppg. while adding 4.8 rpg., 2.7 apg., 1.0 spg. and 0.5 bpg.
• The senior guard is also 78 points shy and closing in on Ryan Wittman's school record of 2,028 points.
• If maintained, Morgan's current scoring average would be the highest ever by a Cornell player, surpassing the late Chuck Rolles '56 in 1955-56 (23.0 ppg.).
• Morgan, who holds the nation's third-longest double figure scoring streak at a school-record 64 games, is coming off a 27-point effort in the Big Red's 61-50 win over Navy on Dec. 30.
• 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.
• Davis, one of Cornell's top reserves, is from Goldsboro and played at Wayne Country Day School.
• Seniors Troy Whiteside (4.2 ppg.), Steven Julian (3.8 ppg., 6.3 rpg., 2.4 apg.) and Jack Gordon (5.0 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 2.1 apg.) join junior Josh Warren (9.0 ppg., 4.1 rpg., 3.0 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (4.3 ppg., 2.1 rpg., 1.7 apg.) as players who have spent significant time as starters and are expected to continue playing key roles for Cornell in 2018-19.
• Sophomore forwards Jimmy Boeheim (9.8 ppg., 3.8 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Jake Kuhn (4.8 ppg., 1.8 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.
• Wake Forest, under fifth-year head coach Danny Manning, is 6-5 on the season and on a two-game skid after Saturday's 73-69 home loss to Gardner-Webb.

THE SERIES VS. WAKE FOREST
Overall: Series tied 1-1, first meeting in 1951-52
In Winston-Salem, N.C.: Wake Forest leads 1-0
Current Streak: Wake Forest, 1
Last Meeting: Wake Forest, 80-49 (12/2/1989 in Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Earl vs. Wake Forest: First meeting
Series Notes: This will be the third all-time meeting between the teams, with both coming in North Carolina • The Big Red defeated the Demon Deacons 58-51 in the first round of the Dixie Classic on Dec. 27, 1951, the last time Cornell defeated an ACC school (it defeated Syracuse in 1965, prior to the Orange's move to the ACC) • Wake returned the favor 38 years later, defeating the Big Red 8049 on Dec. 2, 1989 • the Big Red is 38-139 all-time against current members of the ACC, including 33 consecutive losses.

A WIN VS. WAKE FOREST WOULD ...
• start the 2019 calendar year off with a victory.
• even Cornell's record on the season at 7-7.
• give the Big Red a 2-1 lead in the all-time series.
• snap a 33-game skid against ACC opponents dating back to its win over Wake Forest in December of 1951.
• be the 1,261st in program history (1,260-1,431 in 118 seasons, .468).

LAST TIME CORNELL DEFEATED AN ACC TEAM
• Things have changed mightily since the last time Cornell defeated Wake Forest, 58-51 in the first game of the Dixie Classic on Dec. 27, 1951. 
• Some of the things that have happened since Dec. 27, 1951 — the Korean War ends (July 27, 1953); the Vietnam War begins (November 1, 1955); Rosa Parks refuses to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat (December 1, 1955); Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state (January 3, 1959); Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state (August 21, 1959); the Cuban Missile Crisis begins after US spy planes spot Russian nuclear weapons in Cuba (October 14, 1962); U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas (November 22, 1963); the first Superbowl is played (January 15, 1967); man landed on the moon (July 20, 1969); Cornell head coach Brian Earl was born (1977); Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning won an NCAA championship at Kansas (1988). 
• Other interesting facts: 17 U.S. Presidential elections have been held; the earth's population has increased by 4.9 billion; a human being born on that day has had their heart beat approximately 2.4 billion times while taking more than 528 million breaths; .
• Below are some highlights from 1951, when the Big Red last earned a victory over an ACC opponent.

Category          1951                              2018    
Loaf of bread     $0.16                             $2.34
Milk (Gallon)     $0.92                             $3.14
New Car           $1,500                            $21,860
Gas (Regular)     $0.19                             $2.70
New House         $9,000                            $320,000
Postage Stamp     $0.03                             $0.50
Household Income  $3,510                            $61,372
No. 1 Song        "(It's No) Sin"                   "Thank U, Next"
                  Eddy Howard and His Orchestra     Ariana Grande

LAST TIME OUT
• Senior Matt Morgan scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half as Cornell overcame a slow start to pull away for a 61-50 victory over Navy on Dec. 30 at Newman Arena. 
• Morgan added eight rebounds, three assists and a steal in the win, hitting 11-of-12 free throws and the Big Red defense did the rest. 
• Cornell limited Navy to 29 percent shooting overall and 22 percent from 3-point range (4-of-18) and outrebounded Navy 44-42 thanks in large part to senior Steven Julian. 
• Julian grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds and added nine points, four blocks, two assists and a steal, bringing the energy that allowed Cornell to overcome a slow first half. 
• George Kiernan led three double figure scorers for Navy, with Hasan Abdullah and Cam Davis each scoring 12 apiece. 
• Kiernan added seven rebounds, while Luke Loehr had a team-best eight boards off the bench. 
• The Midshipmen had 15 offensive rebounds, allowing the visitors to outscore the Big Red 12-4 in second chance points.

RECORD WATCH
• Matt Morgan enters the Wake Forest game ...
    • 14 points shy of moving to #6 in the Ivy League's all-time list (Yale's Tony Lavelli with 1,964 points from 1945-49).
    • 50 points from 2,000 (second player at Cornell, sixth in Ivy history to hit that mark).
    • 78 points shy of the Cornell career scoring record.
    • four 3-pointers from matching Morgan's head coach Brian Earl, for third on the school's all-time 3-pointers list (281 from 1995-99 at Princeton).
    • four assists from joining Cornell's top 15 all-time.
    • three steals from 100 for his career.

PLAYER NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 64 consecutive double figure scoring games has surpassed John Sheehy's 34 straight (1953-55) for a school record that had held for 62 years.
• Over his last three contests, Morgan has hit 31-of-34 free throws (.912) and has made at least 10 in each game, averaging 24.7 ppg. over that span.
• 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 Matt Morgan is making his bid to lead the Ivy League in scoring for the fourth straight year, as his 23.4 ppg. is well ahead of Princeton's Devin Cannady (20.1 ppg.).
• Morgan is the only Cornell player ranked in the top 25 in Ivy League scoring,
• Junior Josh Warren is averaging 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 blocks over the last three contests.
• Sophomore Jimmy Boeheim is the eldest son of Syracuse head men's basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.
• Senior Steven Julian has nine brothers and sisters.
• Julian has recorded multiple blocked shots in four of his last five games after having just eight in the team's first eight contests. 
• He is averaging 8.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots over his last five games.
• 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.
• Sophomore Riley Voss has been credited with 12 assists and just one turnover on the season.

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Cornell is 4-0 this season and 11-2 in three years under head coach Brian Earl when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting and are 5-1 in 2018-19 and 23-9 overall when outshooting its foe.
• The Big Red defense will generally tell the story - teams are shooting .364 from the floor and .244 from 3-point range while scoring 60.7 ppg. in its six wins and .479 overall, .368 from 3-point range and averaging 77.7 ppg. in its seven losses.
• Cornell's bench outscored its opponents' reserves in its first 11 games this season and 15 straight contests dating back to last year before SMU held a 19-17 edge in bench scoring. That stretch is now 12-of-13 games this season and 16-of-17 overall.
• 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 842 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 888 of 892 games (5,780 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 returns home for its non-conference home finale when it hosts Division III Johnson & Wales on Friday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• It will be the first-ever meeting between the programs.
• The Big Red then hits the road for the final time before Ivy League season commences when it visits Towson on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.