ITHACA, N.Y. -- After suffering its first loss of the season on Tuesday, the Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to right the ship when it welcomes Lafayette to Newman Arena on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• The Big Red will put its 19-game non-conference home win streak on the line against the Leopards and will try to avoid consecutive non-conference losses for the first time since falling to Miami (Fla) (107-105) and Syracuse (78-63) in back-to-back games during the 2022-23 campaign.
• Cornell dropped a 93-77 decision at La Salle on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, shooting just 5-of-27 from 3-point range (19 percent).
• Sophomore Jacob Beccles had a breakout game with 13 points, four assists and three rebounds, while junior AK Okereke scored 15.
• 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.
• 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. 

GAME INFORMATION
Lafayette at Cornell
DATE & TIME: Saturday, November 16 at 12 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Lafayette (1-2, 0-0 Patriot League), Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 14-12
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
66 Years • 261 Miles • 26 Meetings
Overall: Cornell leads 14-12
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 10-5
Current Streak: Cornell, 3 games
Last Meeting: Cornell won 73-68,12/4/22 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Jaques vs. Lafayette: 0-0

SERIES NOTES
Cornell has won seven of the past eight meetings, including last season's 79-71 win in Easton, Pa. • the Big Red is 157-126 all-time against current members of the Patriot League • Cornell holds series advantages against Army West Point (20-13), Colgate (76-58), Lehigh (15-9) and Navy (3-2) and trails Bucknell (25-23), Holy Cross (3-2) and Loyola (MD) (2-1) • the series with American (1-1) and Boston University (2-2) are tied.

A WIN OVER LAFAYETTE WOULD
• push Cornell's record to 3-1 on the season.
• make the Big Red 3-0 at home and up its home record to 34-5 (.872) over the past four seasons.
• increase its lead in the all-time series to 15-12.
• make Cornell 57-31 overall (.648) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• give Cornell a 158-126 record all-time against current members of the Patriot League and increase its win streak over Patriot foes to nine contests.
• up the Big Red's non-conference record to 34-12 (.739) over its past 46 contests.
• be the 1,334th in program history (1,333-1,491-2 in 125th season, .472).

LAST TIME VS. LAFAYETTE
• On an afternoon that saw the Big Red struggle from beyond the arc and with turnovers, Cornell controlled the boards and made its free throws en route to a 79-71 win over Lafayette at the Kirby Sports Center. 
• Sean Hansen paced three Big Red double figure scorers with 19 points, while Isaiah Gray notched 13 points and five rebounds and Nazir Williams chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and three assists. 
• Guy Ragland Jr. posted nine points and eight boards and Chris Manon was the fifth regular with at least nine points, scoring nine with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. 
• Cornell held a 40-32 edge on the glass to overcome an 8-of-32 shooting night beyond the arc and a season-high 20 turnovers.
• Kyle Jenkins scored 16 points with five rebounds and three steals to lead a Lafayette team that shot 43 percent overall and connected on nine 3-pointers, though players other than Jenkins made just 5-of-24 (21 percent).
• The Big Red connected on 18-of-23 field goals inside the 3-point arc (78 percent).
 
LAST TIME OUT
•  La Salle took advantage of an uncharacteristically poor Cornell shooting night and raced to 3-0 on the season with a 93-77 victory at John Glaser Arena.
• Cornell made just 5-of-27 shots from beyond the 3-point arc, including 3-of-17 in the decisive first half, and coughed the ball up 14 times - a number that La Salle took advantage with a 24-9 edge in points off turnovers. 
• AK Okereke scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Jacob Beccles scored 13 points with four assists and three rebounds while connecting on 6-of-7 shots. 
• Cooper Noard rounded out the double figure scorers with 10. 
• Nazir Williams and DJ Nix each scored eight points and Guy Ragland Jr. posted a game-high eight rebounds. 
• Five La Salle players reached double figures with Corey McKeithan pacing the squad with 25 points. 
• Demetrius Lilley added 16 points and seven rebounds, Deuce Jones scored 15 with eight boards and four assists, Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi netted 11 and Daeshon Shepherd scored 10 points.

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 56-31 record (.644), 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 10.2 3-pointers per game while averaging 81.2 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .594 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 975 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 1,024 of 1,028 games (7,015 3-pointers over that span).

NOTES FROM THE LA SALLE GAME
• The 16-point defeat was the Big Red's worst loss since a 19-point defeat (98-79) at Baylor on Jan. 2, 2024 in Waco, Texas.
• Sophomore Jacob Beccles' four assists and three rebounds were both career highs, while his 13 points were two off a personal best.
• Cornell has now hit a 3-pointer in 975 consecutive games dating back to a contest against Denison in the 1988-89 season opener (0-for-2). 
• Junior Cooper Noard is the lone player to score in double figures in all three games this season after scoring 10 points vs. the Explorers.
• Cornell shot 24-of-35 from inside the 3-point arc (.686), its fourth consecutive game over 60 percent dating back to last year.

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
• The Big Red remains at home to face Robert Morris on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• Cornell leads the all-time series between the programs 3-1, including last season's 90-85 victory last December in Moon Township, Pa. 
• Chris Manon scored 20 points with six rebounds, five steals and four assists in the win.