ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to keep its early momentum going when it hits the road for the first time in the 2024-25 season to face La Salle on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at John Glaser Arena. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• Cornell is coming off a thrilling win over defending Southern Conference champion Samford, 88-86, on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by sophomore Jake Fiegen to extend its non-conference home win streak to 19 games.
• The Big Red has picked up right where it left off a season ago when it went 22-8, finished tied for second in the Ivy League and made its first-ever NIT appearance.
• Cornell unveiled its 2024 NIT banner prior to its win over Samford.
• The Big Red returns two starters and eight letter winners from last season, with former Big Red captain and longtime assistant and associate head coach Jon Jaques '10 taking over the program.
• Picked fourth in the Ivy League Preseason media poll, Cornell will be in search of its fourth consecutive appearance in the four-team conference tournament. 
• The Explorers are also 2-0 on the season under a familiar face in head coach Fran Dunphy.
• The longtime Penn and Temple head coach is a familiar foil, winning 10 Ivy titles for the Quakers and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament eight times with the Owls..

GAME INFORMATION
Cornell at La Salle
DATE & TIME: Tuesday, November 12 at 6:30 p.m.
SITE: John Glaser Arena – Philadelphia, Pa.
RECORDS: Cornell (2-0, 0-0 Ivy League), La Salle (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 3-2
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: GoExplorers.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
55 Years • 223 Miles • 5 Meetings
Overall: Cornell leads 3-2
In Philadelphia, Pa.: La Salle leads 2-1
Current Streak: Cornell, 2 games
Last Meeting: Cornell won 78-75 on Dec. 29, 2009 in 
Philadelphia, Pa.
Jaques vs. La Salle: First-ever meeting

SERIES NOTES
The Big Red leads the all-time series 3-2 and has won two straight against the Explorers • the teams first met in 1969, a 68-56 La Salle victory in Philadelphia • ast time the teams met, the Big Red won 78-75 on the road on Dec. 29, 2009 en route to an Ivy title and NCAA Sweet 16 appearance • Cornell is 22-25 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10 Conference and has won three straight • this is the only scheduled contest vs. an A-10 opponent.
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A WIN OVER LA SALLE WOULD
• give Jon Jaques '10 a 3-0 record as a collegiate head coach, making him the first Cornell men's basketball coach to start 3-0 since Scott Thompson in the 1996-97 season.
• give Cornell a 3-0 start for the second year in a row and the third time in the past four seasons.
• extend its win streak over the Explorers to three games and make the all-time series lead 4-2.
• make the Big Red 23-25 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
• make Cornell 57-30 overall (.655) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• up the Big Red's non-conference record to 34-11 over its past 45 contests.
• be the 1,334th in program history (1,333-1,490-2 in 125th season, .472).

LAST TIME VS. LA SALLE
• Senior Ryan Wittman scored a career-high 34 points to establish a brand new Cornell scoring record as the Big Red shook off the loss of two starters to knock off La Salle 78-75 at Tom Gola Arena.
• Wittman surpassed former Big Red great John Bajusz and ended the night with 1,667 points after connecting on 11-of-21 shots overall and 4-of-9 from 3-point range. 
• He added six rebounds, three assists and two steals in the victory. 
• Senior Jeff Foote and sophomore Chris Wroblewski added 11 points each, with Wroblewski adding six assists. 
• Junior Adam Wire had four points and nine rebounds in the victory, while Mark Coury chipped in five points, three rebounds, a block and a steal in the victory. 
• The team shot 60 percent in the second half and 51 percent for the game.
• La Salle had five players hit for double figures with Rodney Green leading the way with 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, but also was credited with seven turnovers. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
•  Sophomore Jake Fiegen drilled a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left on the clock to rally the Big Red to an 88-86 victory in a wild early season non-conference matchup at Newman Arena. 
• Trailing 86-85 after AK Okereke hit a pair of free throws on the offensive end, Cornell got a defensive stop and the junior grabbed the rebound. 
• After a missed shot, Okereke corralled the long rebound, took a dribble and dished to Fiegen whose shot was pure. 
• Fiegen ended the night with a career-high 21 points and added seven rebounds and three steals to lead five double-figure scorers. 
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. posted his fifth career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, Okereke scored 16 points with seven rebounds and four assists, Noard chipped in 12 points and four rebounds and senior Nazir Williams posted 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. 
• The Big Red held a 44-38 edge on the backboards and overcame 18 turnovers and 43 percent shooting to claim the win.
• Collin Hollway scored 21 points with six assists to pace four in double figures for Samford.



TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Cornell earned two votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll on Jan. 29, 2023 after its victory over Princeton, the first time the Big Red earned recognition in the poll since ranking No. 17 in the final poll in 2010 (April 6, 2010).
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 56-30 record (.651), a mark that is 56-21 when removing regular season guarantee games (.727).
• Cornell is 33-5 at home over the past three seasons, including a perfect 17-0 against non-conference opponents over that span.
• The team's 22 wins last season were tied for second-most by a Big Red, matching the 2007-08 Ivy League champion squad and trailing the 29 wins from the 2009-10 squad.
• Seven of Cornell's eight losses came away from home against top 100 NET teams — nationally-ranked Baylor (No. 15 in NET, 24-11), Ohio State (No. 49 in NET, 22-14), Princeton (No. 55 in NET, 24-5), Yale twice (No. 83 in NET, 23-10),  Syracuse (No. 84 in NET, 20-12) and George Mason (No. 93 in NET, 20-12), six teams that each reached 20 wins and combined to go 133-64 (.675). 
• Over the past four seasons, the Big Red is averaging 17.8 assists per game and hitting 10.3 3-pointers per game while averaging 81.3 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .592 from two-point range.
• A year ago, the Big Red led Division I in bench scoring (36.0 ppg.) and ranked in the top 20 in effective field goal percentage (sixth, .572), assists per game (sixth, 18.1 apg.), 3-pointers (10th, 10.3), field goal percentage (14th, .487) and scoring offense (16th, 82.1).
• In 14 Ivy games last season, Cornell assisted on 241 baskets with 153 turnovers (1.58 assist-turnover ratio).  
• The Big Red was 18-2 last season when leading at halftime, with the two losses on the road at Ivy leaders Yale (46-38) and Princeton (35-33).
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 974 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 1,023 of 1,027 games (7,010 3-pointers over that span).

NOTES FROM THE SAMFORD WIN
• For the second consecutive game, Jake Fiegen recorded a career scoring high, this time with 21 points.
• His buzzer-beating 3-pointer was the first game-winning shot by the Big Red in the final seconds since Kobe Dickson's putback of a missed shot with 0.1 seconds left at Brown led Cornell to a 74-72 win on Jan. 30, 2022 in Providence, R.I.
• Senior Ryan Kiachian tied his career high with five rebounds for the second consecutive game.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. was credited with his first career double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) and his first as a member of the starting lineup.
• Cornell had a 29-19 edge in fastbreak points.
• Samford's main edge in the contest was a 25-10 edge in points off turnovers, with the Big Red committing 18 miscues.
• With its 15 offensive rebounds, Cornell now has 31 through two games.
• A total of 50 fouls were called with the two teams combining for 68 free throw attempts.

MISCELLANEOUS TEAM NOTES
• Head coach Jon Jaques was a starter and senior captain on the 2009-10 Cornell team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• 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).

THE BIG RED IN OVERTIME
• Dating back to the first overtime game against Penn way back in 1922, Cornell is 42-51 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 31-19 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.

UP NEXT
• Cornell returns home to face Patriot League rival Lafayette on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 14-12 and has won three straight contests between the teams, including a 79-71 victory on Dec. 2, 2023 in Easton, Pa.
• Cornell is riding a seven-game win streak over Patriot League opponents.