Men's Basketball Welcomes Crosstown Rival Ithaca College Friday Night At Newman

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 
• For the first time in nearly 16 years, the Cornell men’s basketball team will face crosstown rival Ithaca College on the hardwood when the teams meet on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor '05 will be on the call on ESPN+.
• This will be the sixth meeting between the programs, with the Big Red winning the first five by an average of 23.2 points.
• The teams last met during the 2006-07 campaign, an 80-47 Big Red victory. 
• The Big Red brings a modest two-game win streak into the matchup after topping SUNY-Delhi 114-57 in its home opener last week and holding off Saint Francis (Pa.) 80-77 on Monday evening in Loretto, Pa.
• Junior Sean Hansen set a school record by hitting all eight field goals in the win over the Red Flash, doubling his previous scoring high with 26 points.
• Cornell have seven players averaging at least 8.0 points per game and 10 posting at least 5.0 per contest.
• The Big Red is averaging 90.3 points on 52 percent shooting and are dishing 22.3 assists per outing.
• Ithaca is coming off a 95-80 win over Keystone College on Tuesday evening behind 40 points and seven rebounds from Luke Radovich.
• Radovich leads the team at 21.5 ppg. for second-year head coach Waleed Farid.

THE SERIES 
Overall: Cornell leads 5-0
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 5-0
Current Streak: Cornell, 5 games
Last Meeting: Cornell won 80-47, 1/5/07 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Earl vs. Ithaca College: 0-0
Series Notes: Cornell sports a perfect 5-0 record in the all-time series, with all five meetings occurring at Newman Arena • the Big Red has won the contests by an average of 23.2 points • Cornell has won four of the games by at least 17 points, excepting a 69-67 victory during the 2004-05 season • This is the second contest against a non-Division I team this season after a 114-57 victory over SUNY-Delhi. 

A WIN OVER ITHACA COLLEGE WOULD ... 
• push Cornell's record to 3-1 on the season.
• make the Big Red 6-0 all-time against the Bombers.
• extend its non-conference home win streak to nine games.
• up Cornell’s non-conference record to 13-4 over its past 17 contests.
• be the 1,295th in program history (1,294-1,472-2 in 121 seasons, .468).

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 80, Saint Francis (Pa.) 77
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior Sean Hansen tied a school record by hitting all eight field goal attempts en route to a career high 26 points and Cornell escaped with an 80-77 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) at DeGol Arena.
• Hansen doubled his previous career mark of 13 and added five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a blocked shot to lead the Big Red to the win. 
• He made all eight field goals, including two 3-pointers, and hit 8-of-10 free throws in the win. He matched the existing record of shots without a miss in a game by a Big Red player, matching Jeff Foote's 2008 performance against Boston University and Errick Peck's 2013 effort at Penn.
• Greg Dolan chipped in 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, with Isaiah Gray scoring 14 to go along with four boards. 
• Max Watson was the fourth Big Red in double figures with 10.
• Cornell held double figure leads in both halves, but trailed by one at the break and allowed the Red Flash to take a game-tying attempt at the buzzer in the second half, escaping with the victory.
• Cornell shot 53 percent from the floor, including hitting 68 percent from inside the free-throw line. 
• After entering the game averaging 17.5 3-pointers per game, the Big Red made just 5-of-20 from beyond the arc. 
• The visitors had 18 assists to just 11 turnovers in the win.
• Josh Cohen led Saint Francis with 24 points and added eight rebounds and four assists to lead four double figure scorers. 
• Landon Moore had 15, Maxwell Land had 13 points and 11 boards and Marlon Hargis scored 12.

NOTES FROM THE SAINT FRANCIS (PA.) GAME
• Junior Sean Hansen tied a school record by hitting all eight of his field goal attempts without a miss, a mark set three times previously.
• He is the first player with at least 26 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in a game in school history.
• Senior Greg Dolan tied his career high with 18 points and Max Watson set a new mark with his 10.
• The Big Red's five 3-pointers made were the fewest in a game since going 4-for-24 in a last-second 74-72 win at Brown on Jan. 30, 2022.
• Keller Boothby had two assists and zero turnovers, giving him six assists and zero turnovers in 71 minutes of action this season.
• Excluding its two leading 3-point percentage shooters from a year ago, Boothby and Guy Ragland Jr., the rest of the Big Red are shooting 50 percent from 3-point range (32-of-64) this season.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 915 consecutive games 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 961 of 965 games (6,398 3-pointers over that span).
• The Big Red’s five-game win streak to start the 2021-22 was its longest since walking off the floor victorious in nine consecutive contests late in 2009-10.
• Its six-game non-conference roll was its longest since winning 10 consecutive during the 2009-10 season when it advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• Brian Earl and his brother Dan (Chattanooga) one of three active sets of brothers directing Division I programs, joining Bobby (Arizona State) and Danny (Connecticut) Hurley and Joe (Boston University) and James (Yale) Jones.
• Tenth-year assistant coach Jon Jaques was a starter and senior captain on the 2009-10 Cornell team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• After the Ivy League didn’t compete during the 2019-20 season, Cornell’s first game of the 2021-22 season against Binghamton, a 76-67 Big Red victory, was its first in 612 days.
• The Big Red’s home win over Colgate on Nov. 16, 2021 was its first contest at Newman Arena since a 67-58 defeat at the hand of Harvard on Feb. 29, 2020 - a span of 627 days.
• 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 continues to be ranked among the best according to the annual NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR). 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 since the APR began in 2005, including seven consecutive (2009-16).
• Dating back to the first overtime game against Penn way back in 1922, Cornell is 41-51 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 30-19 in home overtime games, 2-2 in neutral contests and 10-29 in road games.
• Are Cornell Student-Athletes on Scholarship? The easy answer is no. Cornell student-athletes are awarded need-based financial aid, just as any other student who applies to the school. That package can come in the form of student loans and grants. The basic intent of the original Ivy League agreement of 1954 was to improve and foster intercollegiate athletics while keeping the emphasis on such competition in harmony with the educational purpose of the institutions. The Ivy League is nationally recognized for its level of success — absent of athletic scholarships — while rigorously maintaining its self-imposed high academic standards. The Ivy League has demonstrated a rare willingness and ability, given the current national pressures on intercollegiate success, to abide by these rules and still compete successfully in Division I athletics.

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