STORYLINE
• The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to clinch its first 2-0 Ivy League start in nearly a decade when it visits Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.
• The contest, part of a doubleheader with the women's team tipping at 4 p.m., will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Network with Lance Medow and Blake Ralling on the call.
• Cornell has won four of its last five contests entering Saturday's Ivy road  opener, including its first four-game home win streak in three seasons.
• The Big Red held off a late Columbia charge to collect a 60-59 victory in the Ivy opener for both teams this past Saturday.
• Two-time reigning Ivy League Player of the Week
Matt Morgan enters the matchup among the national leaders at 23.4 ppg. while adding 4.8 rpg., 2.8 apg. and 1.2 spg.
• Morgan, who holds the nation's third-longest double figure scoring streak at a school and Ivy-record 68 games, is coming off a 21-point effort in the Big Red's 60-59 Ivy-opening victory over Columbia to pass
Ryan Wittman '10 as the school's all-time leading scorer and ended the night with 2,044 points - good for No. 4 all-time in conference history.
• 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 (3.7 ppg.),
Steven Julian (3.4 ppg., 6.8 rpg., 2.4 apg., 1.6 bpg.),
Jack Gordon (5.0 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 2.1 apg.) and
Joel Davis (2.6 ppg.) join junior
Josh Warren (9.4 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 3.1 apg.) and sophomore
Terrance McBride (3.8 ppg., 2.1 rpg., 2.1 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 (10.2 ppg., 3.5 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and
Jake Kuhn (5.0 ppg., 1.8 rpg.) have also been significant contributors off the bench, with Boeheim joining Davis in the starting lineup for the last three games (3-0).
• 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.
THE SERIES VS. COLUMBIA
Overall: Columbia leads 129-102
In New York, N.Y.: Columbia leads 67-35
Current Streak: Cornell, 2 games
Last Meeting: Cornell won 60-59, 1/19/19 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Earl vs. Columbia: 3-2
Series Notes: Series dates back to the 1902-03 season • Cornell leads 19-14 over the last 17 seasons • narrowing that down, the Lions are 11-5 over the last 9 years • six of the last nine meetings have been decided by five points or less
A WIN OVER COLUMBIA WOULD ...
• give Cornell a 10-8 overall mark, the latest in a season it has been two games over .500 since the 2009-10 season (29-5).
• make the Big Red 2-0 in Ivy play to start a season for the first time since that saw 2009-10 campaign.
• give Cornell an 8-5 record in its last 13 Ivy regular season contests, including 3-2 on the road.
• cut the Lions' lead the series to 129-103.
• be the 1,264th in program history (1,263-1,432 in 118 seasons, .469).
PLAYER NOTES TO KNOW
•
Matt Morgan's 2,044 points ranks 10th among all active men's college basketball players (all divisions)
• Morgan's 68 consecutive double figure scoring games has now doubled John Sheehy's 34 straight (1953-55) for a school record that had held for 62 years.
• 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 Brown's Desmond Cambridge (18.3 ppg.).
• Morgan is the only Cornell player ranked in the top 20 in Ivy League scoring.
• He is averaging 25.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals in the team's last six contests against Division I opponents.
 • Sophomore
Jimmy Boeheim has made multiple 3-pointers in each of the team's last four games.
• During Cornell's three-game win streak,
Josh Warren has shot 16-of-22 from the floor (3-of-4 from 3-point range) and has averaged 12.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 blocks.
• 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.
• He is averaging 8.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots over his last nine games.
• Julian has four double figure rebounding games in the team's last nine outings and seven contests with at least seven boards.
• 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 15 assists and just two turnovers on the season.
• Classmate
Terrance McBride has 13 assists and two turnovers in the last three contests.
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 6-1 in 2018-19 and 26-9 overall when outshooting its foe.
• Cornell has averaged 12.3 3-pointers per game in its last three contests on .416 shooting after making just 22 treys total in its previous four games (5.5 per game) while shooting .237 from beyond the arc.
• The Big Red improved to 21-42 all-time in Ivy League openers with last Saturday's win over Columbia.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 846 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 892 of 896 games (5,823 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.
• 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.
• 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 a pair of league games against perennial Ivy powers Penn (Friday, Feb. 1 at 5 p.m.) and Princeton (Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m.) at Newman Arena.
• The matchup with defending Ivy League champion Penn will be televised on ESPNU.
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