GAME 20: Brown (11-13, 3-6 Ivy) at Cornell (13-7, 5-4 Ivy)

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 12 - 2:00 p.m.
Venue: Newman Arena (3,500) - Ithaca, N.Y.
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @CUBigRedHoops
 

STORY LINES

• The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to close a successful home stand when it looks for a season sweep of Brown when the two teams meet on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor '05 will call all the action on ESPN+.
• The Big Red enters the weekend in fourth place in the Ancient Eight standings at 5-4 after a midweek win over Columbia, 88-75 on Wednesday at home
• The top four teams in the conference compete in the Ivy tournament, making the last five regular season games all critical.
• Cornell, which ranks 10th in the nation in scoring entering the weekend, ranked No. 1 in the country in adjusted pace in terms of shortest average possession time in Division I during the non-conference season.
• The Big Red leads the conference in points per game despite not having a player ranked in the top 15 in scoring.
• Cornell has been especially dominant in its 9-1 start at home, averaging 89.1 points and outscoring opponents by 19.1 points, outrebounding foes by 10.1 boards per outing and assisting on 21.6 baskets per contest and shooting at a 51-38-74 clip. 
• The Big Red has shared the ball all season long, ranking sixth nationally in assists per game (18.1).
• Senior Dean Noll has played at an All-Ivy League level in conference play, averaging 14.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks per game while shooting 48 percent from the floor and 86 percent from the free-throw line.
• Three different players have earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors this season — Keller Boothby (Dec. 6), Chris Manon (Feb. 7), Nazir Williams (Nov. 29).
• First-year Big Red players (freshmen and sophomores as well as senior transfer Sarju Patel) are accounting for 62 percent of the team's points, 54 percent of its rebounds, 48 percent of its assists and 68 percent of its steals.
• Cornell hasn't swept the season series from Brown since the 2017-18 campaign.
• Senior Kobe Dickson was the hero of the first meeting for the Big Red, as his putback with 0.1 seconds left lifted Cornell to a 74-72 win over the Bears on Jan. 30 at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
• Cornell held a 21-point second half lead before the Bears tied it up in the final seconds.
 

SERIES HISTORY VS. BROWN

Overall: Cornell leads 82-54
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 48-20
Current Streak: Cornell, 2 games
Last Meeting: Cornell won 74-72, 1/30/2022 in Providence, R.I.
Earl vs. Brown: 6-3
Cornell holds an 82-54 lead in a series that dates back to the 1949-50 campaign • Cornell has had the best of the series recently, having won 24 of the last 33 meetings • the Bears ended Cornell's 13-game win streak in the series in March 2013 and the series is split right down the middle since (series tied 8-8)

NEXT UP

• The Big Red will attempt to sweep the season series with Dartmouth when the two teams meet on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H.
• Cornell earned a 79-71 win over the Big Green on Jan. 2 in the Ivy opener for both teams at Newman Arena.
• Dean Noll had 20 points, 15 in the second half, and Chris Manon scored 16 as the Big Red shot 60 percent after halftime to pick up the victory.