STORYLINE
• The Big Red will enter the regular season's final four games looking to secure the coveted fourth and final spot in the Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament, and it will have an opportunity to get a leg up on the tiebreaker when it visits first-place Yale on Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with John Ryan and Josh Hess on the call.
• At 5-5 in Ivy League play, Cornell is tied with Saturday's opponent, Brown, and a game ahead of Penn.
• Cornell has split the season series with the Quakers and will do no worse than a split with Brown after topping the Bears 70-66 in overtime on Feb. 16.
• With a win over Harvard in its pocket, the Big Red would hold the second tiebreaker over both teams if it could end a 12-game skid against the Bulldogs.
• Senior guard Matt Morgan, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week, enters the matchup among the national leaders at 23.0 ppg. while adding 4.6 rpg., 2.8 apg. and 1.5 spg.
• He scored a Cornell record 35 games at Newman Arena in the first meeting between the teams, a 98-92 Yale triumph on Feb. 16 in Ithaca.
• Morgan, who holds the nation's third-longest double figure scoring streak at a school and Ivy-record 77 games, is coming off a 21-point effort at Penn on Feb. 23.
• 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 (3.0 ppg.), Steven Julian (4.0 ppg., 6.4 rpg., 2.3 apg., 1.7 bpg., 1.1 spg.), Jack Gordon (4.5 ppg., 2.1 rpg., 1.5 apg.) and Joel Davis (2.9 ppg., 1.8 rpg.) join junior Josh Warren (10.4 ppg., 4.8 rpg., 2.9 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (4.2 ppg., 2.0 rpg., 1.7 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 (11.3 ppg., 3.1 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, Jake Kuhn (4.0 ppg., 1.7 rpg.) and Riley Voss (2.2 ppg., 1.3 rpg.) have also been significant contributors off the bench, with Boeheim joining Davis in the starting lineup for the last 12 games (7-5).
• 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 115-110
In New Haven, Conn.:  Yale leads 65-45
Current Streak:  Yale, 12 games
Last Meeting: Yale won 98-92, 2/22/19 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Earl vs. Yale:  0-5
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 14 seasons much the way they have the entire series, with Yale holding a slim 16-11 lead • Yale has had the better of it recently, winning 13 of the last 14 meetings between the squads, including 12 straight

A WIN OVER YALE  WOULD ...
• give Cornell a 14-13 overall mark and a 6-5 start in Ivy League play.
• end Yale's 12-game win streak in the series and hand the Big Red its first win in New Haven since Feb. 15, 2013.
• cut the Bulldogs' lead in the all-time series to 115-111.
• make Cornell 8-5 in its last 13 games overall.
• give Cornell a 12-10 record in its last 22 Ivy regular season contests.
• snap a three-game losing streak.
• be the 1,268th in program history (1,267-1,437 in 118 seasons, .469).

LAST TIME VS. YALE
• 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 on Feb. 16.
• 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. 
• 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. 
• The Big Red erased a seven-point halftime deficit to go up as many as six after the break, but Yale's 54-37 scoring edge in the paint and 38-27 edge on the backboards allowed the Bulldogs to wear down the Big Red.
• 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. 

LAST TIME OUT
• Matt Morgan scored 21 points, but Penn controlled the second half and salvaged a season split with Cornell on Feb. 23 at the Palestra, winning 68-50. 
• Penn rallied from a 32-30 halftime deficit by limiting the Big red to 18 second half points on 30 percent shooting, including just 1-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. 
• The Quakers, meanwhile, had four double figure scorers and hit 11-of-29 3-pointers to even the season series. 
• Morgan scored 14 of his points in the first half, hitting double figures for the 77th consecutive game, extending his own school and Ivy record and moving to No. 14 in NCAA history. 
He hit on 6-of-12 shots from the floor, including five 3-pointers, and chipped in with three rebounds, three assists and three steals. 
• AJ Brodeur had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Devon Goodman scored 16, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, to lead Penn. 
• Penn shot 45 percent from the floor after the break and gradually pulled away in what was a six-point game with under five minutes remaining.

PLAYER NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 2,245 points ranks 12th among all active men's college basketball players (all divisions) and is seventh in Division I.
• Morgan's 77 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 23.0 ppg. is well ahead of Harvard's Bryce Aiken (21.8 ppg.).
• He is averaging 23.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals in the team's last 15 contests against Division I opponents.
• Morgan's 1,069 points in Ivy League play over four years has already surpassed the previous mark of 899 by John Bajusz '87.
• Morgan is averaging 2.6 steals in his last seven contests, registering multiple steals in each game.
• Senior Steven Julian has nine brothers and sisters.
• He is averaging 7.1 rebounds (1.8 offensive), 1.9 blocked shots and 1.2 steals over his last 18 games.
• Sophomore Jimmy Boeheim is the eldest son of Syracuse head men's basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.
• 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.
• During Cornell's last 12 games (7-5), junior Josh Warren has shot 54-of-100 (54 percent) from the floor (12-of-24 from 3-point range) and has averaged 12.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
• Warren is just the 18th player in school history to reach 500 points, 300 rebounds and 150 assists in a career.

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 855 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 901 of 905 games (5,886 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
• Cornell will look for the season sweep of Brown and a leg up in the race for the fourth and final Ivy League playoff spot when it heads to Providence, R.I. on Saturday, March 2 at 6 p.m.
• The Big Red topped the Bears 70-66 in overtime on Feb. 15 at Newman Arena behind 21 points from Jimmy Boeheim.