STORYLINE
• The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to close out its non-conference home schedule with a win when Division III foe Johnson & Wales visits Newman Arena on Friday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Dave Kudgus and Eric Taylor '05 on the call.
• Morgan enters the matchup among the national leaders at 23.3 ppg. while adding 4.6 rpg., 2.6 apg., 1.0 spg. and 0.4 bpg.
• The senior guard is also 56 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 65 games, is coming off a 22-point effort in the Big Red's 83-61 loss at Wake Forest on Jan .2.
• 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 (4.0 ppg.), Steven Julian (3.5 ppg., 6.4 rpg., 2.5 apg.), Jack Gordon (5.0 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 2.1 apg.) and Joel Davis (2.4 ppg.) join junior Josh Warren (8.7 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 3.1 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (4.0 ppg., 2.0 rpg., 1.6 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 (9.9 ppg., 3.7 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Jake Kuhn (5.3 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.

THE SERIES VS. JOHNSON & WALES
Overall: First-ever meeting
In Ithaca, N.Y.: N/A
Current Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A
Earl vs. Non-Division I: 3-0
Series Notes: Cornell has almost annually played and beaten a non-Division I team, going 26-0 with an average margin of victory of more than 30 points per game in the last 26 seasons • The 2010-11 season was the only one in the last 23 years where the schedule was made up completely of Division I teams • each of the team's 26 wins came by double figures except for in 2004-05, when Ithaca College made a 10-point run against Cornell reserves in the final minute in a 69-67 Big Red victory • the Big Red is 161-61 against teams that are non-Division I foes.

LAST TIME OUT
• North Carolina native and senior guard Matt Morgan moved into sixth place on the Ivy League's all-time scoring list, while classmate Joel Davis excited the crowd with a pair of thunderous dunks in a return to him home state, but Wake Forest was able to power past Cornell 83-61 on Wednesday evening at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. 
• Morgan scored 22 points to lead three double figure scorers, with Jake Kuhn adding 12 and Jimmy Boeheim added 11. 
• Steven Julian led Cornell with eight rebounds and Josh Warren dished out six assists, but the Big Red couldn't overcome Wake Forest's massive 50-25 edge on the glass, 52 percent shooting and 48-28 scoring edge in the paint. 
• Jaylen Hoard led Wake Forest with 23 points and 15 rebounds to pace four into double figures, with Brandon Childress (14 points, six rebounds, five assists), Chaundee Brown (12 points, six rebounds) and Sharone Wright Jr. (11 points) also hitting the mark.

RECORD WATCH
• Matt Morgan enters the Johnson & Wales game ...
    • 28 points from 2,000 (second player at Cornell, sixth in Ivy history to hit that mark).
    • 56 points shy of the Cornell career scoring record and moving into the top five in Ivy League history.
    • two 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).
    • two assists from joining Cornell's top 15 all-time.
    • three steals from 100 for his career.
    • one free throw from owning the Cornell record (currently tied with Louis Jordan '59 with 435).

PLAYER NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 65 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 four contests, Morgan has hit 39-of-44 free throws (.886) and has made at least eight in each game, averaging 24.0 ppg. over that span.
• Senior Matt Morgan is making his bid to lead the Ivy League in scoring for the fourth straight year, as his 23.3 ppg. is well ahead of Princeton's Devin Cannady (20.1 ppg.).
• Morgan is the only Cornell player ranked in the top 20 in Ivy League scoring,
• 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 six games after having just eight in the team's first eight contests. 
• He is averaging 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots over his last sxix 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 two turnovers 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.
• 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 13-of-14 games this season and 17-of-18 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 843 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 889 of 893 games (5,786 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 closes out non-conference season when it visits Towson on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in Towson, Md.
• It will be the first-ever meeting on the hardwood between the Big Red and the Tigers.