STORYLINE
• With three regular season weekends remaining, the Cornell men's basketball team will have a challenge to build on its postseason resume and it begins with Friday's matchup at Princeton at 8 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Derek Jones and Noah Savage on the call.
• Though coming off a loss to first-place Yale in its last contest (98-92), the Big Red brings significant momentum into one of the traditional challenges of the 14-game Ivy schedule.
• Cornell enters the weekend at 5-3 in conference action and tied with the Tigers for third place — game games ahead of fifth-place Penn, the defending Ancient Eight champion.
• Since the beginning of Ivy League travel partners in 1962, Cornell has only swept the Princeton-Penn weekend once (2007-08) in 57 opportunities, and never after starting the weekend in New Jersey. 
• The Big Red is 7-4 since the eight-day holiday break with its losses coming at Wake Forest, by one possession at Columbia (73-70), in overtime to Princeton (70-61) and by six in a shootout against Ivy leader Yale (98-92).
• Senior guard Matt Morgan, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week, enters the matchup among the national leaders at 23.6 ppg. while adding 4.6 rpg., 2.8 apg. and 1.5 spg.
• Morgan, who holds the nation's third-longest double figure scoring streak at a school and Ivy-record 75 games, is coming off a 35-point effort against Yale on Feb. 16.
• 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 (3.1 ppg.), Steven Julian (4.0 ppg., 6.4 rpg., 2.3 apg., 1.8 bpg., 1.1 spg.), Jack Gordon (4.9 ppg., 2.1 rpg., 1.6 apg.) and Joel Davis (2.7 ppg., 1.8 rpg.) join junior Josh Warren (10.8 ppg., 4.8 rpg., 3.1 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 (11.6 ppg., 3.0 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Jake Kuhn (4.1 ppg., 1.6 rpg.) have also been significant contributors off the bench, with Boeheim joining Davis in the starting lineup for the last 10 games (7-3).
• 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. PRINCETON
Overall: Princeton leads 148-81
In Princeton, N.J.: Princeton leads 85-28
Current Streak: Princeton, 1 game
Last Meeting: Princeton won 70-61 (OT), 2/2/19 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Earl vs. Princeton: 1-4
Series Notes: Series dates back to the 1901-02 season • the two teams have nearly split the meetings down the middle over the last 15 seasons (Princeton leads 15-14) • the Tigers have the better of the recent meetings, claiming 14 of the last 17 after the Big Red had gone 7-1 in the previous eight matchups • Cornell snapped a six-game Princeton win streak last year, a three overtime thriller won by the Big Red at Newman Arena • the two teams have played overtime games in both of the last two contests

A WIN OVER PRINCETON WOULD ...
• give Cornell a 14-11 overall mark and a 6-3 start in Ivy League play.
• move the Big Red into sole possession of third place in the Ivy League, and a second-place tie coupled with a Harvard loss at Brown.
• make Cornell 8-3 in its last 11 games overall.
• give Cornell a 12-8 record in its last 20 Ivy regular season contests.
• cut the Tigers'  lead all-time to 148-82 and give Cornell consecutive wins over Princeton for the first time since sweeping the 2009-10 season series.
• be the 1,268th in program history (1,267-1,435 in 118 seasons, .469).

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON
• Cornell's offense couldn't get it going in overtime after rallying to send the game to an extra session and Princeton held on for a 70-61 victory on Feb. 2 at Newman Arena in a battle for first place in the Ivy League. 
• Josh Warren and Matt Morgan each scored 16 points and Steven Julian added a season-best 12, but late turnovers and 37 percent shooting on the evening sunk Cornell in the second straight overtime games between the teams in Ithaca. 
• Warren added six boards and Julian notched eight boards, three blocks, two assists and two steals in the loss.
• Richmond Aririguzoh had 20 points, five rebounds and three assists for Princeton, connecting on all six of his field goals. 
• Myles Stephens had 15 points and eight boards while playing tremendous defense on Morgan. 
• Ryan Schwieger notched 14 points and five rebounds, Jerome Derosiers had eight points and nine boards and Jose Morales netted nine points in the win. 
• The Tigers shot 51 percent from the floor and overcame 18 turnovers by controlling the overtime.

LAST TIME OUT
• Senior Matt Morgan set a Cornell Newman Arena record with 35 points, but Yale controlled the backboards and had three players surpass 20 points to hold off the Big Red 98-92 this past Saturday. 
• Morgan was sensational all evening, hitting 10-of-18 shots from the floor with five 3-pointers and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. 
• He added six rebounds, three steals and two assists. The 35 points is tied for the 17th-most in a game in Cornell history and his five 3-pointers give him 87 on the season - a career high and the fourth-most in a season in school history.
• Sophomore Jimmy Boeheim had a career-best 24 points and senior Jack Gordon just missed his career best with 15 as Cornell shot 53 percent from the floor and 46 percent from beyond the arc with 10 treys made. 
• Paul Atkinson came off the bench for Yale to scored 23 points with 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, while Jordan Bruner chipped in 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. 
• Miye Oni rounded out the three 20-point scorers with 20 to go along with seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks in the victory. 

PLAYER NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 2,212 points ranks ninth among all active men's college basketball players (all divisions) and is sixth in Division I.
• Morgan's 75 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, is an Ivy record and ranks 18th in NCAA history.
• Morgan is making his bid to lead the Ivy League in scoring for the fourth straight year, as his 23.7 ppg. is well ahead of Yale's Miye Oni (18.3 ppg.).
• He is averaging 25.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals in the team's last 12 contests against Division I opponents.
• Morgan's 1,036 points in Ivy League play over four years has already surpassed the previous mark of 899 by John Bajusz '87.
• During Cornell's last 10 games (7-3), junior Josh Warren has shot 49-of-86 (57 percent) from the floor (11-of-20 from 3-point range) and has averaged 13.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
• Senior Steven Julian has nine brothers and sisters.
• He is averaging 7.4 rebounds (1.9 offensive), 2.3 blocked shots and 1.3 steals over his last 16 games.
• Sophomore Jimmy Boeheim is the eldest son of Syracuse head men's basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.
• Over his last 11 contests, Boeheim is shooting 40 percent (19-of-47) from 3-point range and has hit multiple treys in seven 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.
• Junior Josh Warren is just the 18th player in school history to reach 500 points, 300 rebounds and 150 assists in a career.
• Warren has seven double scoring figure games in the team's last nine contests.

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 8-1 in 2018-19 and 28-9 overall when outshooting its foe.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 853 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 899 of 903 games (5,872 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.
• 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.
• 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
• The Big Red will visit defending Ivy champion Penn at the Palestra on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
• Cornell won the first meeting of the season between the teams, 80-71, on Feb. 1 at Newman Arena to snap an 11-game Quaker win streak in the series.