2019-20 Men's Hoops Season Kicks Off Tuesday vs. Binghamton

The Cornell Big Red men's basketball team competes against Dartmouth in Newman Arena in Ithaca, NY on Saturday, March 9, 2019.
The Big Red opens the 2019 season with a matchup against Central New York rival Binghamton.
The 2019-20 Cornell probable lineup for the Big Red's game against Binghamton on Nov. 5, 2019 at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• Coming off its first postseason appearance since 2010, the Cornell men’s basketball team opens the 2019-20 season at home against Binghamton on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. 
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor ‘05 on the call. 
• The Big Red are coming off a 15-16 campaign and a trip to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). 
• Cornell finished tied for fourth in the Ivy League standings, missing out on earning a bid to the conference tournament for the second consecutive season because of tiebreakers. 
• Fourth-year head coach Brian Earl and the Big Red will attempt to increase its win total overall for the third straight year and better its Ivy League mark for the fourth consecutive season. 
• The Big Red will face that challenge without Matt Morgan, the Ivy League second all-time leading scorer and Toronto Raptors’ signee, defensive stalwart Steven Julian and fellow graduating seniors Joel Davis, Jack Gordon and Troy Whiteside. 
• Juniors Jimmy Boeheim (11.8 ppg., 3.4 rpg.) and Terrance McBride (4.3 ppg., 1.7 apg.) and senior Josh Warren (9.7 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 2.6 apg.) headline the returners and will serve as team tri-captains. 
• Earl decided to challenge his young group with a schedule that features more than a third of its contests against 2019 postseason teams.


SEASON OPENERS 
• Cornell will attempt to build on its 76-44 all-time record in 120 previous season openers. 
• The Big Red is 9-5 over the last 14 years, including six straight wins from 2005-2010. 
• Cornell is 10-9 to open seasons in the 21st century with wins over Northwestern (2006-07), Alabama (2009-10) and George Mason (2014-15) in guarantee games. 
• The Big Red is 29-34 in openers since Ivy play began in 1956-57. 
• Cornell defeated Binghamton last season on the road, 86-75, to kick off the 2018-19 campaign. 

Brian Earl 

The Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Men's Basketball

• Brian Earl is in his fourth season as the Robert E. Gallagher ‘44 Head Coach of Cornell Men’s Basketball. 
• Became Cornell’s 22nd head coach in April of 2016. 
• Earl helped his alma mater, Princeton, return to national prominence during nine seasons as an assistant and associate head coach. 
• The Tigers had posted a 143-69 overall record and a 72-26 record in Ancient Eight games since 2009-10, never finishing lower than third place and winning 20 or more games five times. 
• His Ivy League peers voted him as the league’s top assistant coach in a November 2010 FoxSports.com poll, earning the recognition prior to a 2011 season in which Princeton won the Ivy League title and returned to the NCAA Tournament.

Brian Earl
Head coach Brian Earl

THE SERIES 
Overall: Cornell leads 10-4, first meeting in 1988-89 
In Ithaca: 7-1 
Current Streak: Cornell, 2 
Last Meeting: Cornell, 86-75 (11/6/2018 in Vestal, N.Y.) 
Earl vs. Binghamton: 2-1 (1-0 at home) 
Series Notes: The two teams first met in 1988 and have squared off every season since 2010-11 • Cornell is 7-1 in games played in Ithaca and 3-2 on the road, including consecutive wins (2012, 2014) at the Events Center • the Big Red has won six of the last eight meetings between the programs • Cornell is 24-28 all-time against current members of the America East 

A WIN OVER BINGHAMTON WOULD ... 
• make Cornell 77-44 all-time in season openers. 
• extend the Big Red’s lead in the all-time series to 11-4, including 8-1 in Ithaca. 
• get the Big Red back to within 25-28 against members of the America East Conference. 
• make head coach Brian Earl 3-1 against Binghamton. 
• give Cornell consecutive wins in season openers for the first time since the 2009 and 2010 seasons. 
• be the 1,270th in program history (1,269-1,440 in 119 seasons, .468).

Head-to-head statistics for Cornell and Binghamton prior to their Nov. 5, 2019 meeting at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.

LAST TIME THEY MET: Cornell 86, Binghamton 75
Nov. 6, 2018 I Vestal, N.Y.
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE

• Senior Matt Morgan had career highs of 38 points and 13 rebounds and Cornell won its 2018-19 season opener with an 86-75 win at Binghamton on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at the Events Center. 
• In the process, Morgan became the school’s second all-time leading scorer as the Big Red won the first game of the Central New York Hoops Classic. 
• Morgan’s 38 points tied for the fourth-highest single-game total in school history and added four steals and three assists while shooting 10-of-15 from the floor, 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and 13-of-14 from the free-throw line. 
• He moved past John Bajusz ‘87 (1,663 points) to climb into second on Cornell’s career scoring list and ended the night with 1,684 points. 
• Morgan wasn’t alone in having a career day for the Big Red - sophomore Jimmy Boeheim had 20 points and seven rebounds as the visitors controlled the backboards (42-32) and outscored the Bearcats 20-6 down the stretch to pull away for the win. 
• Terrance McBride and Troy Whiteside scored seven points apiece, while Steven Julian had six points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in the win. 
• Jake Kuhn also chipped in six points and four rebounds. 
• Sam Sessoms had 27 points, five rebounds and four assists for Binghamton, but was also hounded into six turnovers. 
• Richard Caldwell, Jr. notched 12 points and J.C. Show scored 11 with four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Joel Davis drives to the basket for a layup against Binghamton.
Joel Davis and the Big Red defeated Binghamton to open the 2018-19 season.
2009-10 Men's Basketball Ivy Champions
The 2009-10 Cornell men's basketball team celebrates its third consecutive Ivy League title after a win over Brown on March 5, 2010 in Providence, R.I.

10th Anniversary of the 2009-10 Sweet 16 Team
Results I Roster I Statistics

The Big Red reached new heights in 2009-10, winning the program’s third straight Ivy League title en route to an Ivy League-record 29 wins and recording not only the program’s first NCAA win, but a trip to the Sweet 16. 

Cornell closed the season ranked No. 17 in the national rankings, a first in 59 years, and set an Ivy record for 3-pointers in a season (326). The team also set single-season school records in points (2,545), field goals (913), assists (543) and blocked shots (127).  

The Big Red won the MSG Holiday Festival with a victory over St. John’s, Cornell’s first win over a Big East school since 1969 and captured a season-opening win at Alabama, the team’s first win over a school from the Southeastern Conference since 1972.  

Cornell shocked the college basketball world as a No. 12 seed, knocking out both fifth-seeded Temple and fourth-seeded Wisconsin by double figures to advance before losing to No. 1 seed Kentucky.

For his efforts, Steve Donahue was named the Clair Bee Coach of the Year and the NABC District Coach of the Year. Senior Ryan Wittman graduated as the school’s all-time scoring leader and was named the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year and an AP honorable mention All-American, while Jeff Foote was a first-team All-Ivy pick and the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Louis Dale rounded out three Big Red players on the All-Ivy first team. 

CORNELL, IVY LEAGUE BASKETBALL FEATURED ON ESPN+ 
• ESPN+ is ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer offering.
• Similar to Netflix and Hulu, fans are able to buy a subscription to ESPN+, which will be completely separate from their cable/satellite bill.
• The cost for ESPN+ is $4.99/month and $49.95/year.
• ESPN+ is available on all of ESPN’s existing platforms: Website, mobile app, OTT (Apple TV/Roku) app.

ESPN+ Ad Sidearm 2019

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 
• This year marks the 10th anniversary of Cornell’s 2009-10 NCAA Sweet 16 team with a reunion planned the weekend of February 7-8. 
• The 1987-88 squad that won an Ivy title will also return to campus that weekend to be honored for their achievements. 
• 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 (Dayton) Miller. 
• Seventh-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. 
• Junior Jimmy Boeheim is the oldest son of Syracuse head men’s basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim. 
• The Big Red ranks among the best according to the annual NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR) for 2017-18 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 14 years since the APR began, including seven consecutive. 
• Are Cornell Student-Athletes on Scholarship? The easy answer is no. Cornell student-athletes are awarded need-based financial aid, just as any other student who applies to the school. That package can come in the form of student loans and grants. The basic intent of the original Ivy League agreement of 1954 was to improve and foster intercollegiate athletics while keeping the emphasis on such competition in harmony with the educational purpose of the institutions. The Ivy League is nationally recognized for its level of success — absent of athletic scholarships — while rigorously maintaining its self-imposed high academic standards. The Ivy League has demonstrated a rare willingness and ability, given the current national pressures on intercollegiate success, to abide by these rules and still compete successfully in Division I athletics. 
• Cornell was 6-0 last season and 13-2 in four years under head coach Brian Earl when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting and were 10-2 in 2018-19 and 30-10 overall when outshooting its foe. 
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 860 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 906 of 910 games (5,921 3-pointers over that span). 

NEXT UP 
• Cornell returns to action when it heads to Bryant for its first road game of the 2019-20 season, tipping off on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. in Smithfield, R.I. 
• The Big Red then returns home for a single game against NJIT on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall.

Photos by Dave Burbank, Madison Epperson, Eldon Lindsay, Patrick Shanahan and Darl Zehr

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