STORYLINE
• The chase for the fourth and final Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament berth is nearing the finish line, and to stay in contention the Big Red will need to complete a season sweep of Ivy leader Harvard when the two teams meet on Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dave Kudgus and Eric Taylor '05 on the call.
• To have a chance at making its second consecutive Ivy Tournament appearance, Cornell will need a sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth in its final home weekend, along with getting some help.
• In addition to wins in both games, Cornell also needs Penn (Yale) and Brown (at Princeton) to lose on Friday, and for the Quakers to knock off the Bears at home on Saturday.
• The Big Red can also be in the mix in a number of tiebreaker scenarios, but all involve a weekend sweep.
• Senior guard Matt Morgan, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week, enters the matchup among the national leaders at 22.3 ppg. while adding 4.6 rpg., 2.8 apg. and 1.5 spg.
• Morgan holds the nation's third-longest double figure scoring streak at a school and Ivy-record 79 games, a mark that is the 12th-longest in NCAA history.
• 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 (2.7 ppg.), Steven Julian (4.0 ppg., 6.2 rpg., 2.3 apg., 1.6 bpg., 1.0 spg.), Jack Gordon (4.7 ppg., 2.0 rpg., 1.4 apg.) and Joel Davis (3.1 ppg., 1.9 rpg.) join junior Josh Warren (10.3 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 2.7 apg.) and sophomore Terrance McBride (4.1 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 (11.0 ppg., 3.2 rpg.), the son of Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, Jake Kuhn (4.0 ppg., 1.8 rpg.) and Riley Voss (2.1 ppg., 1.2 rpg.) have also been significant contributors off the bench, with Boeheim joining Davis in the starting lineup for the last 14 games (7-7).
• 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. HARVARD
Overall: Cornell leads 94-82
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 49-37
Current Streak: Cornell, 1 game
Last Meeting: Cornell won 67-61, 3/10/18 in Cambridge, Mass.
Earl vs. Harvard: 1-5
Series Notes: Series dates back to the 1901-02 season • Harvard had won six straight meetings before the Big Red's road win last month • Cornell won two consecutive prior to that stretch, but that came on the heels of nine consecutive Crimson wins

A WIN OVER HARVARD WOULD ...
• give Cornell a 14-15 overall mark and a 6-7 record in Ivy League play.
• boost the Big Red's lead in the all-time series to 95-82.
• complete its first sweep of the Crimson since the 2009-10 campaign.
• make Cornell 8-7 in its last 15 games overall.
• give Cornell a 12-12 record in its last 24 Ivy regular season contests.
• snap a five-game losing streak.
• be the 1,268th in program history (1,267-1,439 in 118 seasons, .468).

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD
• Cornell rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit and took advantage of 24 Harvard turnovers to complete a rare weekend Ivy road sweep with a 67-61 victory over Harvard on Feb. 9 at Lavietes Pavilion. 
• The Big Red outscored the Crimson 31-12 off turnovers, taking advantage of tired Harvard legs after their triple overtime win over Columbia the previous night. 
• Jimmy Boeheim scored a team-high 16 points, including a career-best four 3-pointers, to lead three double figure scorers. 
• Matt Morgan chipped in 15 points, moving into second place on the Ivy League's all-time scoring list and surpassing Dartmouth's Jim Barton (2,158 points). 
• He ended the night with 2,162 points and now only trails Princeton's Bill Bradley (2,503 points). 
• Josh Warren netted 14 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists, while Steven Julian had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with four points, three steals, two blocks and his usual lockdown defense. 
• Terrance McBride scored nine points, including a dagger 3-pointer in the game's final minute. 
• Cornell won despite shooting 40 percent from the floor and allowing the Crimson to shoot 51 percent.
• Harvard's Bryce Aiken had 24 points to lead the home team, while Christian Juzang notched 12 and Chris Lewis had 10.  
• Harvard held a 29-24 edge on the glass, but grabbed just four on the offensive end and were out-shot 25-13 at the free throw line.

LAST TIME OUT
• Brown's defense proved to be the difference as the Bears closed the first half and opened the second half on an extended 29-8 run that turned the game around and led the home team to a 75-51 victory over Cornell on March 2 at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
• A 12-2 Brown run to end the first half set the table for the Bears' 17-6 spurt to start the second and resulted in the Big Red dropping a game behind Brown for the fourth and final playoff slot for the Ivy League Tournament. 
• Senior Matt Morgan extended his streak of consecutive games in double figures for 79, but for the second straight night it was a struggle. 
• Morgan, already No. 2 on the Ivy League's career scoring list, scored all 14 of his points in the second half and added nine rebounds and five assists. 
• Classmate Joel Davis was also in double figures with a season-high 11, while Jimmy Boeheim chipped in seven points and four boards. 
• Brown, meanwhile, had five double figure scorers with Josh Howard leading the way with 16 off the bench and Obi Okolie adding 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals, including his 1,000th career point. 

PLAYER NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 2,270 points ranks 13th among all active men's college basketball players (all divisions) and is eighth in Division I.
• Morgan's 79 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 12th in NCAA history.
• Morgan is making his bid to lead the Ivy League in scoring for the fourth straight year, as his 22.3 ppg. is ahead of Harvard's Bryce Aiken (21.0 ppg.).
• Morgan's 1,094 points in Ivy League play over four years has already surpassed the previous school mark of 899 by John Bajusz '87.
• Morgan is averaging 2.1 steals in his last eight contests.
• Senior Steven Julian has nine brothers and sisters.
• 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 14 games (7-7), junior Josh Warren has shot 62-of-114 (54 percent) from the floor (13-of-28 from 3-point range) and has averaged 11.9 points and 5.4 rebounds.
• 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 857 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 903 of 907 games (5,899 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.

DALE '10 NAMED A LEGEND OF IVY BASKETBALL
• For the third consecutive year, the Ivy League Legends of Basketball will recognize a distinguished class of 16 individuals who embraced the pursuit of excellence in academics and athletics to make a lasting impact on their respective basketball programs, schools, communities and professions.
• Among the class is Cornell great Louis Dale '10.
• A four-time All-Ivy League pick, including a three-time first team selection, Dale was exceptional throughout his career in helping lead Cornell to three conference titles and NCAA appearances. 
• The two-time Bob Cousy Award nominee as the nation's top point guard, he set the school's career assist record with 470 and became one of five Ivy League players to post 1,300 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 100 steals in their career. 
• He was selected Ivy League Player of the Year and Associated Press honorable mention All-American as a sophomore in 2008. 
• Dale graduated ranked among the school's top 10 all-time in scoring (third, 1,452), assists (first, 470), three-pointers (fifth, 164), three-point percentage (fifth, .401), free throws made (third, 332) and free-throw percentage (third, .838), among other categories.
• Each Ivy League institution is represented by one male and one female honoree, as selected by their university athletic department. 
• They will all be honored during the semifinals of the 2019 Ivy League Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments, Saturday, March 16, in New Haven, Conn. 
• Previous Cornell inductees were Garry Munson '66 in 2017 and Ryan Wittman '10 in 2018.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red will close out the regular season and celebrate Senior Day when it welcomes Dartmouth to Newman Arena on Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m. in Newman Arena.
• Prior to the game, Cornell will honor seniors Joel Davis, Jack Gordon, Steven Julian, Matt Morgan and Troy Whiteside.