STORYLINE
• A share of first place will be on the line in Newman Arena when the Big Red welcomes conference leader Yale on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. as part of Cornell Employee Day.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor '05 on the call.
• The Big Red is 8-3 since the eight-day holiday break with its losses coming at Wake Forest, by one possession at Columbia (73-70) and in overtime to Princeton (70-61).
• Cornell is 7-3 at Newman Arena this season and will attempt to match last season's win total at home when it meets the Bulldogs (8-4).
• The Big Red surpassed last season's win total overall in last night's win over the Bears (12-16) and will attempt to post its most wins in a season since 2009-10 with a victory over the Bulldogs.
• Senior guard Matt Morgan, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week, enters the matchup among the national leaders at 23.1 ppg. while adding 4.5 rpg., 2.8 apg. and 1.4 spg.
• Morgan, who holds the nation's third-longest double figure scoring streak at a school and Ivy-record 74 games, is coming off a 15-point effort in the overtime win over Brown, including a dagger 3-pointer in the extra session.
• 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 (3.3 ppg.), Steven Julian (4.1 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 2.3 apg., 1.7 bpg., 1.1 spg.), Jack Gordon (4.1 ppg., 2.1 rpg., 1.7 apg.) and Joel Davis (2.6 ppg., 1.9 rpg.) join junior Josh Warren (10.9 ppg., 4.8 rpg., 3.0 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (4.3 ppg., 2.0 rpg., 1.8 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 (11.0 ppg., 3.0 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Jake Kuhn (4.3 ppg., 1.7 rpg.) have also been significant contributors off the bench, with Boeheim joining Davis in the starting lineup for the last nine games (7-2).
• 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. YALE
Overall: Yale leads 114-110
In Ithaca, N.Y.:  Cornell leads 64-46
Current Streak:  Yale, 11 games
Last Meeting: Yale won 82-80, 2/23/18 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Earl vs. Yale:  0-4
Series Notes: Yale was Cornell's first intercollegiate opponent when  the  two  teams  met  on  Feb.  25,  1899  in  Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (Yale won 49-7) • the two teams have played the last 13 seasons much the way they have the entire series - nearly right down the middle, with Yale holding a slim 15-11 lead • Yale has had the better of it recently, winning 12 of the last 13 meetings between the squads, including 11 straight

A WIN OVER YALE WOULD ...
• give Cornell a 14-10 overall mark and a 6-2 start in Ivy League play.
• make Cornell 8-2 in its last 10 games overall and 7-1 in its last eight home contests.
• give Cornell a 12-7 record in its last 19 Ivy regular season contests.
• be the 1,268th in program history (1,267-1,434 in 118 seasons, .469).

LAST TIME VS. YALE
• Noah Yates hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 20 seconds left and Yale held off an improbable Cornell rally in the final four seconds to close out an 82-80 victory over the Big Red on Feb. 23, 2018 at Newman Arena. 
• Matt Morgan led four double figure scorers for Cornell with 23 points, including a pair of free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt with 2.8 seconds remaining. 
• He missed the third attempt on purpose and it went out of bounds off a Yale player. 
• With one last chance trailing by two, the Big Red got the ball into Steven Julian, who missed a 16-footer on the baseline at the buzzer. 
• Junior Stone Gettings chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, freshman Terrance McBride hit all five of his shots en route to 13 points, five rebounds and four assists and Joel Davis added 11 points. 
• The Big Red shot 50 percent from the floor, matched Yale on the backboards (31-31) and turned it over just 11 times, but could not overcome Yale's reserves and a second half offensive explosion.
• The Bulldogs shot 67 percent from the floor after halftime and rang up 52 points in the final 20 minutes. 
• Yale overcame a nine-point second half deficit thanks in large part to Trey Phills (17 second half points) and Yates (12 points). 
• In a game that featured 20 lead changes, including 13 after halftime, Phills may have made the biggest play of the night with a steal and score seconds after Yates canned the go-ahead shot, turning it into a four-point Bulldog lead. 
 

NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 2,177 points ranks 13th among all active men's college basketball players (all divisions) and is eighth in Division I.
• Morgan's 74 consecutive double figure scoring games has now more than 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 23.1 ppg. is well ahead of Princeton's Devin Cannady (18.7 ppg.).
• He is averaging 24.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals in the team's last 11 contests against Division I opponents.
• Morgan's 1,001 points in Ivy League play over four years has already surpassed the previous mark of 899 by John Bajusz '87.
• During Cornell's last nine games (7-2), junior Josh Warren has shot 46-of-76 (61 percent) from the floor (10-of-15 from 3-point range) and has averaged 14.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
• Warren became the 18th player in school history to reach 500 points, 300 rebounds and 150 assists in a career last night thanks to his five boards.
• Warren has seven double scoring figure games in the team's last eight contests, including five straight.
• Senior Steven Julian is averaging 7.5 rebounds (1.9 offensive), 2.1 blocked shots and 1.3 steals over his last 15 games.
• Counting his two seasons in junior college, Julian has registered 804 career rebounds.
• Julian and Brown's Tamenang Choh are the only players in the Ivy League to rank in the league's top 10 in rebounding, blocked shots and steals.
• Over his last 10 contests, sophomore Jimmy Boeheim is shooting 39 percent (16-of-41) from 3-point range and has hit multiple treys in six games. 
• Sophomore Jake Kuhn is 9-of-10 from the field (2-of-2 from 3-point range) and averages 11.5 points in two career games against Yale with 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest (6:1 assist: turnover ratio).
• 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 8-1 in 2018-19 and 28-9 overall when outshooting its foe.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 852 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 898 of 902 games (5,862 3-pointers over that span).
• Dating back to the first overtime game against Penn way back in 1922, Cornell is 43-52 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 31-20 in home overtime games, 2-2 in neutral contests and 11-29 in road games.

NEXT UP
• Cornell will hit the road for the treacherous Princeton-Penn road trip beginning with a matchup against the Tigers on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.
• The last two meetings between the teams have gone to overtime, with Princeton claiming a 70-61 contest in Ithaca on Feb. 2.