ITHACA, N.Y. -- After a week away from competition, the Cornell men's basketball team returns to the court to kick off its December schedule when it makes the short trip to Central New York rival Colgate on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Cotterell Court. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• Cornell will look to continue its recent success against the five-time defending Patriot League champion and will be out to extend its three-game win streak in the series.
• The Big Red is most recently coming off an 82-72 loss at Syracuse on Nov. 27 despite four double figure scorers and 12 3-point field goals made.
• 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.
• All five starters are in double figures and nine players are seeing double-digit minutes.
• 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
Cornell at Colgate
DATE & TIME: Wednesday, December 4 at 7 p.m.
SITE: Cotterell Court – Hamilton, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell (4-3, 0-0 Ivy League), Colgate (2-6, 0-0 Patriot League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 76-58
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: ColgateAthletics.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
121 Years • 64 Miles • 134 Meetings
Overall: Cornell leads 76-58
In Hamilton, N.Y.: Colgate leads 31-28
Current Streak: Cornell, 3 games
Last Meeting: Cornell won 77-64,12/30/23 in 
Ithaca, N.Y.
Jaques vs. Colgate: 0-0

SERIES NOTES
The two teams first met in March of 1902 and have squared off every season since 2012-13, excepting the 2020-21 season when the Ivy League did not compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic • Cornell holds a narrow lead over the last 14 meetings (8-6) thanks to its current three-game win streak •  the Big Red is 157-126 all-time against current members of the Patriot League and has won eight in a row.

A WIN OVER COLGATE WOULD
• push Cornell's record to 5-3 on the season.
• extend its win streak over Central New York rival Colgate to four games.
• make it nine consecutive wins by the Big Red over Patriot League opponents.
• be the second straight over the Raiders in Hamilton and make Cornell 4-3 since 2007.
• even Cornell's record at 2-2 in road contests this season.
• make Cornell 59-33 overall (.641) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• up the Big Red's non-conference record to 36-14 (.720) over its past 50 contests.
• be the 1,336th in program history (1,335-1,493-2 in 125th season, .472).

LAST TIME VS. COLGATE
• The Big Red scored the game's first 19 points and led wire-to-wire against four-time defending Patriot League champion Colgate, knocking off its Central New York rival 77-64 at Newman Arena. 
• Cornell shot 54 percent from the floor overall and assisted on 19 baskets while collecting 12 steals in the victory. 
• The Big Red held big advantages in paint points (46-28), points off turnovers (25-12), bench points (33-24) and fastbreak points (21-12). 
• Sean Hansen's 15 points led four double figure scorers, with Chris Manon adding 14 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds. 
• Guy Ragland Jr. (12 points, four rebounds) and Nazir Williams (11 points, four rebounds, three assists) also reached double figures. 
• Isaiah Gray set the tone early and finished with six points, eight assists, five steals, three rebounds and a blocked shot before fouling out in the second half. 
• Braden Smith led Colgate with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Ryan Moffatt netted 11 points and four boards. 
 


LAST TIME OUT
• Cornell started and finished strong, but Syracuse used a decided edge in the paint to pull out an 82-72 victory over the Big Red at the JMA Wireless Dome. 
• Guy Ragland Jr. scored 17 points to lead four double-figure scorers, with the backcourt of Cooper Noard and Nazir Williams chipping in 16 points apiece. 
• Williams added six rebounds and four assists. 
• AK Okereke netted 10 points and dished off three assists to go with four boards. 
• The Big Red shot 40 percent overall, including 30 percent from beyond the arc on 12-of-40 3-point attempts. 
• The 40 attempts rank as the sixth-most in a single game in school history. 
• Donnie Freeman scored a game-high 23 points and added 12 rebounds for a double-double, while Elijah Moore hit all five of the team's 3-pointers en route to 17 points and five rebounds. 
• The Orange held a 40-24 edge in points in the paint and outscored the Big Red bench 32-10 with a commanding 48-35 edge on the backboards in the victory.
 

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 58-33 record (.637), a mark that is 58-22 when removing regular season guarantee games (.725).
• Cornell is 34-6 at home over the past three seasons, including 18-1 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 .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 979 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 1,028 of 1,032 games (7,059 3-pointers over that span).

NOTES FROM THE SYRACUSE GAME
• Cornell's 40 3-point attempts ranks sixth in a single game in school history.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. connected on a career-high five 3-pointers and moved into the top 20 list in school history with 123 makes.
• He also blocked his 38th career shot, good for No. 20 all-time at Cornell.
• Senior Ryan Kiachian had three assists, giving him at least three assists in five of his past six contests.
• Senior Nazir Williams was a +9 in his 26:39 of action for the Big Red.
• The Big Red scored 23 fastbreak points.
• The Cornell defense hounded SU's leading scorer JJ Starling into 3-of-17 shooting from the floor.

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 remains on the road when it visits Army West Point on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• The two teams last met in the 2007-08 season, a 93-78 Big Red victory at Newman Arena behind five double figure scorers and 21 points from Brian Kreefer '08.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 20-13 and has won nine straight meetings.