GAME 24: Yale (16-10, 10-2 Ivy) at Cornell (13-10, 5-7 Ivy)

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 26 - 2:00 p.m.
Venue: Newman Arena (3,500) - Ithaca, N.Y.
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @CUBigRedHoops
 

STORY LINES

• The Cornell men's basketball team will honor its seniors while attempting to get closer to an Ivy League Tournament bid when it faces Ivy League leader Yale on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor '05 will have the call on ESPN+.
• Prior to the game, the Big Red will honor its four seniors — Kobe Dickson, Dean Noll, Sarju Patel and Max Samberg.
• Cornell has a lot of history to overcome, as well as a talented Yale team, having lost 16 in a row against the Bulldogs dating back to the 2012-13 season.
• Yale is the only Ivy League team Cornell head coach Brian Earl has yet to defeat.
• The top four teams in the conference compete in the Ivy tournament, making the last two regular season games suspenseful.
• The Big Red enters the weekend a half-game behind Harvard and a game clear of Dartmouth, though it currently has the individual tiebreaker over both teams.
• A win over Yale would put Cornell in even better position to clinch  the fourth spot, as it would be the only team in race with a win over a top three team — and it would have two of them (also won vs. Princeton).
• Cornell, which ranks 18th 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 ranks second in the conference in points per game despite not having a player ranked in the top 15 in scoring.
• The Big Red has shared the ball all season long, ranking eighth nationally in assists per game (17.5).
• Senior Dean Noll has played at an All-Ivy League level in conference play, averaging 13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 45 percent from the floor and 83 percent from the free-throw line.
• Sophomore Chris Manon, one of three different Big Red players to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Week accolades this season, is posting 12.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.6 blocks in just 18.8 minutes per game on 53-44-61 shooting. 
• Keller Boothby (Dec. 6), Manon (Feb. 7) and Nazir Williams (Nov. 29) are the three Cornellians to earn weekly Ivy rookie honors.
 

SERIES HISTORY VS. YALE

Overall: Yale leads 119-110
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 64-48
Current Streak: Yale, 16 games
Last Meeting: Yale won 96-69, 1/15/22 in New Haven, Conn.
Earl vs. Yale: 0-9
Series Notes: Yale was Cornell's first intercollegiate opponent when  the  two  teams  met  on  Feb.  25, 1899  in  Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (Yale won 49-7) • Yale has had the better of it recently, winning 17 of the last 18 meetings between the squads, including 16 straight  • prior to that, the Big Red had gone 10-4 over a seven-year stretch (2005-13)
 

NEXT UP

• Cornell closes the regular season when it travels to Columbia on Saturday, March 5 at 4 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.
• The Big Red will attempt to complete a season sweep of the Lions after topping Columbia 88-75 on Feb. 9 in Ithaca.
• Dean Noll had a career-high 23 points and Keller Boothby added 17 in the win.
• The Lions lead the all-time series 131-104, though Cornell has won four of the last six.