Skip To Main Content

Cornell University Athletics

The Cornell Big Red men's basketball team competes against Harvard in Newman Arena in Ithaca, NY on Friday, March 8, 2019.
Eldon Lindsay/Cornell Athletics

Men's Basketball

Big Red Closes Out Regular Season, Home Careers of 5 Seniors

Dartmouth (11-18, 2-11 Ivy) at Cornell (14-15, 6-7 Ivy)
March 9, 2019 • 7:00 pm
ESPN+ (Dave Kudgus, Eric Taylor)
Ithaca, N.Y. • Newman Arena (4,473)
STORYLINE
• Cornell will close out the regular season and honor its five accomplished seniors when the Big Red welcomes Dartmouth to Newman Arena on Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Dave Kudgus and Eric Taylor '05 on the call.
• Cornell has a chance to finish the regular season at .500 for the first time in nine seasons after opening the weekend by completing a sweep of first-place Harvard with a 72-59 victory.
• Senior Matt Morgan had 31 points, Steven Julian ripped down 14 rebounds and the Big Red defense held Harvard to .294 shooting in the victory.
• Despite the win, Cornell was eliminated from a berth in the Ivy League Championship when both Brown (at Princeton) and Penn (vs. Yale) earned Friday victories.
• Morgan, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week, will play his final regular season home game along with four teammates.
• He ranks among the national leaders at 22.6 ppg. while adding 4.6 rpg., 2.8 apg. and 1.4 spg. and has moved to second on the Ivy League's all-time scoring list (2,301 points).
• Morgan holds the nation's third-longest double figure scoring streak at a school and Ivy-record 80 games, a mark that is the 12th-longest in NCAA history.
• Morgan will be honored alongside of his classmates Joel Davis (3.2 ppg., 2.0 rpg.), Jack Gordon (4.7 ppg., 1.9 rpg., 1.5 apg.), Steven Julian (4.2 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 2.3 apg., 1.6 bpg., 1.1 spg.) and Troy Whiteside (2.6 ppg.).
• 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 and has already surpassed last season's victory total overall and has a chance to finish at .500 overall for the first time in nine years with a win in tonight's matchup with Dartmouth.

THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH
Overall: Cornell leads 111-106
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 65-43
Current Streak: Cornell, 5 games
Last Meeting: Cornell won 83-80, 2/8/19 in Hanover, N.H.
Earl vs. Dartmouth: 5-0
Series Notes: Cornell holds a narrow 111-106 lead in a series that dates back to the 1900-01 campaign • Cornell has had the best of the series recently, having won 25 of the last 31 meetings • Cornell head coach Brian Earl is 5-0 all-time against the Big Green, including this season's three-point win in Hanover, N.H. (83-80)

A WIN OVER DARTMOUTH WOULD ...
• send Cornell's five seniors out with a victory in their final regular season home game.
• close the regular season by evening the Big Red's record at 15-15 (7-7 Ivy).
• make the Big Red .500 or better in a season overall and in league play for the first time since 2010.
• extend Cornell's lead in the all-time series to 112-106.
• give the Big Red a six-game win streak over the Big Green.
• make Cornell 9-7 in its final 16 games.
• give Cornell a 13-12 record in its last 25 Ivy regular season contests.
• be the 1,269th in program history (1,268-1,439 in 118 seasons, .468).

LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH
• Senior Matt Morgan became the first Cornell player in nearly 60 years to score 40 points in a game as the Big Red stole an Ivy League road win with an 83-80 victory over Dartmouth at Leede Arena. 
• His 41 points set a career high and an arena record.
• Morgan not only reached the 40-point mark for the first time in his career, but also became the first Cornell player to hit that plateau since George Farley hit for a school-record 47 points against Princeton on March 5, 1960 - nearly 59 years ago. 
• The nine 3-pointers matched the school record for the second time in the last month on the road. 
• He scored more than 20 points in both halves and shot 13-of-18 overall and 9-of-11 from beyond the arc while adding four rebounds and three steals.
• Morgan was sensational, but Josh Warren's 4-of-4 shooting from the line in the final 20 seconds allowed the Big Red to escape with the win. 
• He netted 15 points with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. 
• Jimmy Boeheim had nine points and four rebounds, and Steven Julian notched four points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. 
• Cornell shot 54 percent from the floor overall, connected on 10-of-16 3-pointers and was 15-of-16 from the free-throw line.
• Chris Knight had a career-high 27 points and added five assists, four rebounds and four blocks in the loss. 
• Brendan Barry (12), Aaryn Rai (11), Ian Sistare (10) and Taurus Samuels (10) rounded out five double figure scorers. 
• The Big Green shot 54 percent overall.

LAST TIME OUT
• Senior Matt Morgan had 31 points and the Cornell defense, spearheaded by seniors Steven Julian and Joel David among others, held Harvard to below 30 percent shooting to top the Crimson 72-59 last night at Newman Arena.
• Despite the Big Red's first season sweep of the Crimson since the 2009-10 season, the Big Red was eliminated from contention for the fourth seed in the Ivy Tournament due to wins by Brown and Penn on the day. 
• Morgan's 31-point night, including 22 after halftime, pushed him over 2,300 career points.
• He reached double figures for the 70th consecutive game, the 12th-longest streak in NCAA history.
• In the process, he became the seventh Ivy League player to surpass 500 career free throws with his 8-of-9 night.
• Morgan also broke his own single-season Cornell scoring record and enters the regular season finale with 654 points (630 points in 2017-180.
• He was the lone Cornell player in double figures, but far from the only key contributor.
• Julian, Davis and sophomore Terrance McBride keyed a defensive effort that held Harvard to 23 percent shooting after the break and to 29 percent from the 3-point arc.
• Julian had eight points, 14 rebounds, three steals, two assists and a blocked shot, while McBride chipped in nine points, four rebounds and three assists. 
• Josh Warren had eight points and Davis and Jimmy Boeheim scored six to go along with five rebounds each.
• Bryce Aiken had 17 points, Christian Juzang notched 15 and Noah Kirkwood scored 12 with nine rebounds in the loss from the Crimson.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Matt Morgan's 2,301 points ranks 12th among all active men's college basketball players (all divisions) and is eighth in Division I.
• Morgan's 80 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 22.6 ppg. is ahead of Harvard's Bryce Aiken (20.7 ppg.).
• Morgan's 1,125 points in Ivy League play over four years has already surpassed the previous school mark of 899 by John Bajusz '87.
• During Cornell's last 15 games (8-7), junior Josh Warren has shot 65-of-120 (54 percent) from the floor (13-of-28 from 3-point range) and has averaged 11.7 points and 5.2 rebounds.
• Cornell is 5-0 this season and 12-2 in three years under head coach Brian Earl when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting and are 9-1 in 2018-19 and 29-9 overall when outshooting its foe.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 858 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 904 of 908 games (5,907 3-pointers over that span).

NEXT UP
• The regular season is complete

 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jimmy Boeheim

#3 Jimmy Boeheim

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Joel Davis

#23 Joel Davis

G
6' 2"
Senior
Jack Gordon

#32 Jack Gordon

G
6' 5"
Senior
Steven  Julian

#33 Steven Julian

F
6' 6"
Senior
Terrance McBride

#11 Terrance McBride

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Matt Morgan

#10 Matt Morgan

G
6' 2"
Senior
Josh Warren

#22 Josh Warren

F
6' 8"
Junior
Troy Whiteside

#4 Troy Whiteside

G
6' 4"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Jimmy Boeheim

#3 Jimmy Boeheim

6' 8"
Sophomore
F
Joel Davis

#23 Joel Davis

6' 2"
Senior
G
Jack Gordon

#32 Jack Gordon

6' 5"
Senior
G
Steven  Julian

#33 Steven Julian

6' 6"
Senior
F
Terrance McBride

#11 Terrance McBride

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Matt Morgan

#10 Matt Morgan

6' 2"
Senior
G
Josh Warren

#22 Josh Warren

6' 8"
Junior
F
Troy Whiteside

#4 Troy Whiteside

6' 4"
Senior
G