LAST TIME OUT: Coppin State 68, Cornell 66 (OT)
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Cornell dug itself a hole it couldn’t quite climb out of falling behind by 14 points, rallying to take a late lead and eventually falling 68-66 in overtime at Coppin State.
• Jimmy Boeheim had a game-high 25 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, but the Big Red offense couldn’t overcome a 23-of-79 shooting effort (29 percent) and its fourth consecutive game shooting under 30 percent from 3-point range (7-of-34, 21 percent).
• Thurston McCarty had 10 points as the only other double figure scorer for Cornell. Josh Warren chased becoming the first Cornell player to record a triple-double in school history with nine points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
• Both Terrance McBride and Dean Noll had four of the team’s 14 steals.
• Kamar McKnight scored 22 points to lead Coppin State, while Andrew Robinson scored 15 points, including a 3-pointer late in overtime that turned out to be the game-winning basket.
NOTES TO KNOW
• Over the last three seasons, Cornell is 17-9 at home (.654).
• Cornell was 6-0 last season and 13-3 in four years under head coach Brian Earl when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting and were 10-2 in 2018-19 and 31-11 overall when outshooting its foe.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 866 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 912 of 916 games (5,964 3-pointers over that span).
• The November 5 date vs. Binghamton was the earliest start to a Cornell men’s basketball season in the school’s 121 seasons.
• Cornell had 20 assists and just six turnovers in the win over Binghamton, just the 13th time since 1976 that Cornell had 20 or more assists and single-digit turnovers in a game.
• Cornell dropped consecutive one-point games to Bryant (82-81) and NJIT (59-58), the first time since December 1942 when the Big Red dropped games on the road to Rochester (36-35) and Seton Hall (29-28) on December 19-21.
• The Big Red has posted a positive assist:turnover ratio in four of its six games this season.
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.
• The Big Red’s 17-man roster represents 11 states and the District of Columbia.
• Freshman Jordan Jones’ father Max played in the NFL (Buffalo Bills) and the USFL (Birmingham Stallions), while his uncle Sean Jones played in the NFL with the Los Angeles Raiders, Houston Oilers and Green Bay Packers, winning a Super Bowl title in 1997 with the Packers and twice capturing All-Pro honors.
• Sophomore Dean Noll helped guide Shawnee HS (N.J.), the alma mater of Cornell head coach Brian Earl, to a state title as a senior, earning MVP honors for the championship game. He broke the school’s single-season scoring record with 737 points - besting the previous mark of 675 set by Dan Earl, Brian’s older brother.
• Junior Sarju Patel will sit out the 2019-20 season as a transfer after averaging 10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.9 steals per game at VMI under head coach Dan Earl.
CAPTAINS
• A trio of first-year captains will lead the Big Red into the 2019-20 campaign.
• Senior Josh Warren and juniors Jimmy Boeheim and Terrance McBride will take the leadership mantle.
NEXT UP
• Cornell returns home after a four-game road swing with a contest against Towson on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m.
• The contest will be the second of a doubleheader with the women’s team, who meet Lafayette at 1 p.m.
• The two contests will serve as the Sixth Annual Fred Geise Memorial KIDS DAY.
• The Big Red won the first-ever meeting between the schools this past January, 86-74 at Towson.
