Looking To Get Back In Win Column, Men's Hoops Welcomes Lafayette

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• Coming off a forced 11-day break , the Cornell men’s basketball team will attempt to get back in the win column when it meets Lafayette on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. at Newman Arena. 
• Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor ‘05 will be on the call for the ESPN+ broadcast. 
• Cornell will celebrate the Sixth Annual Fred Geise Memorial KIDS DAY, with kids receiving FREE admission. 
• Free activities, including face painting (Cami from Festive Faces), inflatable bounce house/slide, sand art, photo booth and other games (CNY Attractions) begin at noon and continue throughout the men’s game. 
• A scheduled game against Towson last Sunday was scuttled due to a winter storm that blew through the Northeast.  
• The Big Red has dropped six consecutive games, including three by two points or less, as well as losses at DePaul and Syracuse. 
• Junior Jimmy Boeheim has posted consecutive double-doubles and is averaging team bests of 18.4 points and 6.6 rebounds. 
• Classmate Terrance McBride is second in both points (10.7 ppg.) and assists (2.9 apg.). 
• Lafayette is off to a hot 5-2 start and is shooting 51 percent from the floor after Tuesday’s 94-71 win at Saint Joseph’s. 

ABOUT LAFAYETTE
• Lafayette is 5-2 on the season and has won three straight, including a 94-71 win at Atlantic 10 foe Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday. 
• The Leopards are 3-0 against Ivy League foes this season with wins over Columbia (65-63), at Princeton (72-65) and vs. Penn (86-75).  
• Junior Justin Jaworski ranks among the nation’s leading scorers (21.1 ppg.) and is shooting an impressive 52 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range. 
• Myles Cherry, a 6-8 senior forward, is hitting on 70 percent of his field goals while averaging 13.1 ppg., 6.9 rpg. and 3.3 apg., with sophomore EJ Stephens averaging 11.3 ppg. to round out the team’s three double figure scorers. 
• Sophomore Sean Good is posting 2.0 blocks per game in seven starts in the middle. 
• Head coach Fran O’Hanlon, the all-time winningest coach in Patriot League history, is in his 25th season on the sidelines at Lafayette and has won 328 games, four conference titles and claimed three NCAA Tournament appearances. 

THE SERIES 
Overall: Series tied 11-11, first meeting in 1929-30 
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 9-4 
Current Streak: Cornell, 4 
Last Meeting: Cornell, 53-48 (OT) (11/28/2018 in Easton, Pa.) 
Earl vs. Lafayette: Cornell leads 3-0 
Series Notes: Cornell has won four straight against the Leopards in Ithaca • Cornell head coach Brian Earl picked up his first collegiate victory in 2016 against the Leopards and the Patriot League’s all-time leader in wins, Fran O’Hanlon • the Big Red is 149-125 all-time against current members of the Patriot League 

LAST TIME VS. LAFAYETTE
• Josh Warren had a career-high 17 points and Cornell’s defense held strong after a rough start, allowing the Big Red to top Lafayette 63-58 in overtime at Kirby Sports Center.  
• Warren, playing in front of a large section of family and friends, was the game’s leading scorer and added a team-best seven rebounds as well as two assists and a blocked shot.  
• Senior Matt Morgan chipped in 12 points, needing overtime to extend his consecutive games streak in double figures to 58.  
• Jack Gordon had eight points, four rebounds and two assists and Terrance McBride had seven.  
• Cornell’s defense, which limited the Leopards to 36 percent shooting overall and 18 percent from 3-point range, was spearheaded by seniors Joel Davis, Steven Julian and Troy Whiteside. 
• Myles Cherry had 14 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Leopards.

A WIN OVER LAFAYETTE WOULD ... 
• make the Big Red’s record stand at 2-6 on the season. 
• end a six-game losing streak. 
• make Cornell 2-1 at home this season and 18-9 over the last three years. 
• improve to 12-11 all-time against the Leopards. 
• be the fifth consecutive victory over Lafayette in Ithaca. 
• improve Cornell’s record to 150-125 all-time against current members of the Patriot League. 
• be the 1,271st in program history (1,270-1,446 in 119 seasons, .468).

MORGAN JOINS THE RAPTORS 
• Senior Matt Morgan ‘19 signed a contract with defending NBA Champion Toronto Raptors on Oct. 17. 
• He has been assigned to the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. 
• Cornell’s all-time leading scorer who ranks No. 2 in Ivy League history, Morgan graduated with career records for points scored (2,333), scoring average (20.5 ppg.), field goals made (743), field goals attempted (1,580) and free throws made (513), season records for points scored (687 in 2018-19) and 3-pointers made per game (3.32 in 2018-19), and game records for 3-pointers in a game (9, twice).  
• In addition, he ranks in the top 10 in career 3-pointers made (second, 334), games started (second, 112), minutes played (third, 3,705), games played (third, 113), free-throw percentage (fourth, .834) and assists (eighth, 296) and just outside the top 10 in steals (12th, 126). 
• Morgan is attempting to become the first Cornellian to play in the NBA since Jeff Foote ‘10 for the New Orleans Hornets in March 2012.  
• In his first game with the 905 on Nov. 10, Morgan had 11 points (4-of-10 shooting, 2-of-7 from 3-point range) to go along with six assists, three rebounds, a block and a steal in 29 minutes during a 109-94 loss to the Grand Rapids Drive. 
• He is averaging 7.7 points, 2.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in six contests. 

LAST TIME OUT: Navy 68, Cornell 61
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Jimmy Boeheim recorded his second consecutive double-double, but a couple of quick first half runs put the Big Red in a hole it couldn’t climb out of in a 72-61 loss at Navy at Alumni Hall.  
• Boeheim had 18 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, all teams highs, while Terrance McBride chipped in 12 points and five rebounds to lead the Big Red.  
• Cornell fell behind by as many as 20 points early in the second half, made a run by its bench to get within eight with 6:30 to play, but couldn’t get any closer.  
• Freshman Greg Dolan had eight points, three rebounds and two assists and Kobe Dickson notched six points and seven rebounds.  
• Freshman Jordan Jones, making his first collegiate start, had seven points. 
• The Navy backcourt of John Carter Jr. amd Cam Davis each scored 24 points and Greg Summers added 12 points and 12 rebounds as the starting backcourt had 60 of the Midshipmen’s 72 points. 

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 867 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 913 of 917 games (5,971 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. 

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 will visit reigning Patriot League champion Colgate when the Central New York rivals meet on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y. 
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 73-57 in 130 previous meetings. 
• The Raiders have won three straight, including a 73-57 victory last November in Ithaca. 
• Colgate has a 30-27 lead in games played in Hamilton.

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