GAME 20: Columbia (4-16, 1-7 Ivy) at Cornell (12-7, 4-4 Ivy)

Date & Time: Wednesday, Feb. 9 - 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Newman Arena (3,500) - Ithaca, N.Y.
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @CUBigRedHoops
 

STORY LINES

• The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to continue its quest for a berth in the Ivy League Tournament with a rare Wednesday afternoon conference contest.
• The Big Red will welcome New York state rival Columbia on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor '05 will call all the action on ESPN+.
• The Big Red enters the week in fourth place in the Ancient Eight standings at 4-4 after a weekend split with Princeton and Penn.
• The top four teams in the conference compete in the Ivy tournament, making the last six games all critical.
• Cornell knocked off the Tigers 88-83 in a shootout behind career highs of 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists from sophomore Chris Manon.
• The Big Red nearly overcame a 21-point deficit with under nine minutes to play in Saturday's 73-68 defeat to Penn, cutting the deficit to three in the final minute.
• Cornell, which ranked 13th in the nation in scoring entering the week, 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 and just one in the top 20.
• Cornell has been especially dominant in its 8-1 start at home, averaging 89.2 points and outscoring opponents by 19.8 points while assisting on 21.7 baskets per contest and shooting at a 51-38-73 clip. 
• The Big Red has shared the ball all season long, ranking seventh nationally in assists per game (18.0).
• Senior Dean Noll has played at an All-Ivy League level in conference play, averaging 13.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 47 percent from the floor and 84 percent from the free-throw line.
• The Columbia home game was originally slated for Martin Luther King Jr. Day but was wiped out due to the snowstorm.
• The last time the Big Red played an Ivy game on a day other than Friday or Saturday was when Yale knocked off Cornell 78-71 in a resumed game on Sunday morning, Feb. 5, 2017 after a power outage suspended a contest 89 seconds in the previous night.
 

SERIES HISTORY VS. COLUMBIA

Overall: Columbia leads 131-103
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 66-51
Current Streak: Cornell, 1 game
Last Meeting: Cornell won 62-50, 1/25/20 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Earl vs. Columbia: 4-4
Series dates back to the 1902-03 season • Cornell leads 20-16 over the last 18 seasons • narrowing that down, the Lions have a 13-7 lead over the last 10 seasons • seven of the last 12 meetings have been decided by five points or less

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.