LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 100, Purchase 68
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Trailing at the half against Division III Purchase College and without the services of leading scorer Jimmy Boeheim, Cornell needed a spark.
• The Big Red’s young backcourt provided just that.
• Cornell scored 63 second half points to turn a one-point deficit into a 100-68 win.
• Cornell hit a blazing 8-of-12 from beyond the arc after halftime, with freshmen Greg Dolan and Jordan Jones and sophomore Dean Noll leading the way.
• Noll posted a team-high 21 points and added five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Dolan added 18 points, four assists and three rebounds.
• Jones hit four 3-pointers, including three in the decisive second half.
• Junior Riley Voss, making his first collegiate start, added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists and senior tri-captain Terrance McBride rounded out the five double figure scorers with 12 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
• The Big Red shot 54 percent overall, including 75 percent (21-of-28) after halftime.
• Jordan Means was credited with 14 points and Elijah Lott and Jorge Perdomo chipped in 10.
NOTES TO KNOW
• Over the last three seasons, Cornell is 18-10 at home (.643).
• Cornell was 6-0 last season and 13-3 in four years under head coach Brian Earl when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting and were 10-2 in 2018-19 and 32-13 overall when outshooting its foe.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 872 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 918 of 922 games (6,004 3-pointers over that span).
• The November 5 date vs. Binghamton was the earliest start to a Cornell men’s basketball season in the school’s 121 seasons.
• Cornell had 20 assists and just six turnovers in the win over Binghamton, just the 13th time since 1976 that Cornell had 20 or more assists and single-digit turnovers in a game.
• Cornell dropped consecutive one-point games to Bryant (82-81) and NJIT (59-58), the first time since December 1942 when the Big Red dropped games on the road to Rochester (36-35) and Seton Hall (29-28) on December 19-21.
• The Big Red played just seven players against Hartford on Dec. 22, the fewest in a game by a Cornell team since prior to 2000.
• Cornell had just three turnovers against Lafayette, matching a Cornell record for fewest in a single game (SMU on Dec. 30, 1980 and Penn on March 5, 1983) and establishing a Newman Arena mark.
• The Big Red’s 54 rebounds vs. Coppin State were the most in a single game since grabbing 56 against Clarkson in 2010 and the highest total against a Division I opponent since hauling in 59 in a 69-45 triumph over Dartmouth on Feb. 20, 2004, while the squad’s 26 offensive rebounds are tied for the second-most in a single game in school history behind only 31 against Hobart on Dec. 11, 1994.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
• This year marks the 10th anniversary of Cornell’s 2009-10 NCAA Sweet 16 team with a reunion planned the weekend of February 7-8.
• The 1987-88 squad that won an Ivy title will also return to campus that weekend to be honored for their achievements.
• Brian Earl and his brother Dan (VMI) one of four active sets of brothers directing Division I programs, joining Bobby (Arizona State) and Danny (Connecticut) Hurley; Joe (Yale) and James (Boston University) Jones; and Sean (Arizona) and Archie (Indiana) Miller.
• Seventh-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.
• Junior Jimmy Boeheim is the oldest son of Syracuse head men’s basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.
• The Big Red ranks among the best according to the annual NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR) for 2017-18 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 14 years since the APR began, including seven consecutive.
• The Big Red’s 17-man roster represents 11 states and the District of Columbia.
• Freshman Jordan Jones’ father Max played in the NFL (Buffalo Bills) and the USFL (Birmingham Stallions), while his uncle Sean Jones played in the NFL with the Los Angeles Raiders, Houston Oilers and Green Bay Packers, winning a Super Bowl title in 1997 with the Packers and twice capturing All-Pro honors.
• Sophomore Dean Noll helped guide Shawnee HS (N.J.), the alma mater of Cornell head coach Brian Earl, to a state title as a senior, earning MVP honors for the championship game. He broke the school’s single-season scoring record with 737 points - besting the previous mark of 675 set by Dan Earl, Brian’s older brother.
• Junior Sarju Patel will sit out the 2019-20 season as a transfer after averaging 10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.9 steals per game at VMI under head coach Dan Earl.
CAPTAINS
• A trio of first-year captains will lead the Big Red into the 2019-20 campaign.
• Senior Josh Warren and juniors Jimmy Boeheim and Terrance McBride will take the leadership mantle.
NEXT UP
• New York Ivy League rivals Cornell and Columbia begin their annual home-and-home series when the teams meet on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium to kick off conference play.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• The Lions lead the all-time series 130-102 dating back to the first meeting between the programs in January 1903.
• Dating back to 2010, the Lions lead the series 12-8, though Cornell has gone 8-6 in New York City over the last 14 years.
