LAST TIME OUT: Columbia 75, Cornell 61
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Columbia shot 61 percent from the field in the first half to build a big lead and never looked back, knocking off Cornell 75-61 at Levien Gymnasium.
• Junior Terrance McBride tied a career high with 17 points and added seven rebounds and three assists and classmate Jimmy Boeheim scored 14 to go along with four boards and two blocked shots to lead the Big Red, but a pair of double-digit runs by the Lions and a cold shooting night doomed the visitors.
• Josh Warren added eight points, four rebounds and three assists in the loss.
• Jack Forrest scored a career-best 23 points and Mike Smith, the Ivy League’s leading scorer, netted 15 to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in the victory.
• Tai Bibbs was the third double figure scorer for the Lions with 12 points.
• The home team shot 51 percent overall, including 7-of-16 from 3-point range, and outscored Cornell 18-3 off turnovers and 34-22 in the paint to capture the win.
NOTES TO KNOW
• Over the last three seasons, Cornell is 19-10 at home (.655).
• Cornell was 6-0 last season and 14-3 in four years under head coach Brian Earl when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting and were 10-2 in 2018-19 and 33-13 overall when outshooting its foe.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 874 consecutive games (12th-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 920 of 924 games (6,016 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 (Boston University) and James (Yale) 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
• The Big Red hits the road for its first full Ivy road weekend when it visits Brown on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• Cornell leads the all-time series 80-53, with the teams tied 33-33 in games played in Providence.
• The Big Red has won two of its last three contests vs. Brown on the road and 10 of the last 14.
