Shootout Expected As Men's Hoops Meets High-Scoring Keuka On Sunday

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• The Cornell basketball team will look to remain unbeaten at home when it meets high-scoring Division III foe Keuka on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor’05 will be on the call on the ESPN+ broadcast.
• Fireworks are expected for a matchup between the Big Red (seventh in Division I at 87.4 ppg.) and the Wolves (92.0 ppg., 15th in Division III).
• Cornell improved to 4-0 at home on the season with a 92-77 victory over Coppin State on Friday evening behind 17 3-pointers, 51 percent shooting and 26 assists.
• Sophomore Keller Boothby had 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc, making him 22-of-36 from the circle over the last seven games (.611).
• Cornell has been exceptional in its 4-0 home start, averaging 92.5 points on 50 percent shooting, 41 percent from beyond the 3-point arc while outrebounding foes by 15.2 and dishing out 24.5 assists per outing.
• Cornell has scored at least 90 points in four games this season — the most in a single year since 2017-18. The last time it did that five times was in 1987-88.

THE SERIES 
Overall: Cornell leads 1-0, first meeting in 2005-06
In Ithaca, N.Y.: 1-0
Current Streak: Cornell, 1
Last Meeting: Cornell, 78-52 (1/6/2006 in Ithaca, N.Y.)
Earl vs. Keuka: 0-0 (0-0 at home)
Series Notes: Cornell has almost annually played and beaten a non-Division I team, going 29-0 with an average margin of victory of more than 30 points per game in the past 27 seasons • the 2010-11 season was the only one in the last 24 years where the schedule was made up completely of Division I teams • each of the team’s 29 wins have come by double figures except for in 2004-05, when Ithaca College made a 10-point run against Cornell reserves in the final minute in a 69-67 Big Red victory • this is the last of two games scheduled against non-Division I teams, as the Big Red defeated Wells College 107-48 on Nov. 19 at Newman Arena.

A WIN OVER KEUKA WOULD ... 
• make Cornell 8-1 to start a season for the first time since 1967.
• improve the Big Red to 2-0 all-time against Keuka.
• up Cornell’s non-conference record to 10-1 over its last 11 contests. 
• keep the Big Red unbeaten at home this season (currently 4-0), marking its first 5-0 start since 2008 when it finished unbeaten at 13-0.
• surpass Cornell’s 2019-20 season win total (7-20).
• be the 1,285th in program history (1,284-1,461 in 120 seasons, .467). 

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 92, Coppin State 77
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I GALLERY I HIGHLIGHTS
• The Big Red won its record sixth game in November behind five double figure scorers in n 89-75 victory over Canisius at the Koessler Athletic Center. 
• Cornell surpassed its previous best total of five wins in November set by the 2009-10 Ivy League champs with its third road victory of the young season. 
• The Big Red shot .618 from the floor, the 14th-best shooting game in school history.
• Kobe Dickson led the double figure scorers with a career high 17 and Jordan Jones had 14, but it was hometown hero Greg Dolan who made the biggest impact. 
• The junior guard had 12 points ojn 5-of-5 shooting with eight assists, six rebounds and a blocked shot without committing a turnover in 27 minutes of action.
• Sarju Patel chipped in 13 points, Sean Hansen had 10 off the bench and Keller Boothby notched eight points and five rebounds in the win. 
• Cornell connected on 67 percent of its shots after halftime, was credited with 23 assists.
• The Golden Griffins sliced a 27-point second half deficit to 12, but never got within single digits despite 19 points and seven rebound off the bench by Malek Green and 16 from Scott Hitchon.

NOTES TO KNOW
• With a victory, Brian Earl will secure his 50th win as a collegiate head coach.
• After starting out his career 0-for-3 from 3-point range, sophomore Keller Boothby has made 20-of-33 treys over his last six games (.606), and his seven 3-pointers vs. Coppin State ranks eighth in a single game in school history. His .564 3-point percentage is third nationally.
• Senior Kobe Dickson became the first player in school history to record nine assists and nine rebounds in the same game when he did so vs. Coppin State.
• Junior Greg Dolan has registered career highs in assists (eight at Canisius) and rebounding (eight vs. Coppin State) and now sports a 3:1 assist:turnover ratio (24:8) for the season.
• Over its last six contests, Cornell is averaging 21.0 assists.
• The Big Red has shot better than 50 percent from the floor for three consecutive games, a first it has done so in the same season since 2017-18.
• Cornell is averaging 13.2 3-pointers made per game over its last five.
• Cornell is very prominent in the DIvision I national rankings, sitting third in total assists (159), fourth nationally in assists (19.9) and defensive rebounds (31.8) per game, sixth in rebounds per game (44.1), seventh in scoring offense (87.4), 15th in 3-point field goals made (11.0) and total rebounds (353), 21st in 3-point attempts (233), 27th in assist:turnover ratio (1.50), 32nd in field goal percentage (.488) and 45th in rebounding margin (7.4) among 350 teams.

CAPTAINS 
• A trio of first-year captains will lead the Big Red into the 2021-22 campaign.
• Seniors Kobe Dickson and Sarju Patel and junior Greg Dolan will take primary leadership roles.

Photos by Dave Burbank, Madison Epperson, Eldon Lindsay, Patrick Shanahan and Darl Zehr