ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will close out its first semester of play and head into final exam periods, but not before testing California on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. The contest will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and ESPN+.

• Cornell will be looking for is first victory over an ACC school in more than 70 years when it meets the Bears, who are enjoying their first season in the conference.
• The Big Red improved to 6-3 on the year with a dominant 103-84 win at Army West Point, four days after knocking off five-time defending Patriot League champion Colgate 84-57 on the road.
• 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 Cal
DATE & TIME: Tuesday, December 10 at 7 p.m. PT
SITE: Haas Pavilion – Berkeley, Calif.
RECORDS: Cornell (6-3, 0-0 Ivy League), California (6-3, 0-1 ACC)
SERIES RECORD: Series tied 1-1
BROADCAST: ACCNX/ESPN+
STATS: CalBears.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
35 Years • 2,784 Miles • 2 Meetings
Overall: Series tied 1-1
In Berkeley, Calif.: California leads 1-0
Current Streak: Cornell, 1 game
Last Meeting: Cornell won 74-54,12/30/92 in 
East Rutherford, N.J.
Jaques vs. California: 0-0

SERIES NOTES
This will be the third meeting between the schools, though the first in nearly 32 years • the squads first met during the 1989-90 season, an 82-49 Cal victory in Berkeley • this will be the program's 10th game in the Sunshine State, with the Big Red posting a 1-8 record • its only win came in a 92-89 OT win over Norfolk State in the opening round of the 1999 Trend Homes Classic in Fresno • the Big Red is 38-147 against current members of the ACC • Cornell's last win over a team in the conference at the time of the game came vs. Wake Forest the 1951-52 season, a 58-51 victory on the road • since then, the Big Red has lost 42 consecutive games to current members of the ACC.

A WIN OVER CAL WOULD
• push Cornell's record to 7-3 on the season.
• end a 42-game losing streak against ACC foes, securing its first win against a team from the conference since topping Wake Forest 58-51 during the 1951-52 campaign.
• make Cornell 4-2 in road contests this season and run its win streak away from home to three games.
• make Cornell 61-33 overall (.649) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• up the Big Red's non-conference record to 38-14 (.731) over its past 52 contests.
• be the 1,338th in program history (1,337-1,493-2 in 125th season, .472).

LAST TIME VS. CAL
• Jeff Gaca scored 24 points and the Big Red defense dominated in the second half as the Big Red claimed a 74-54 win over No. 22 California in the consolation game of the Seton Hall/Meadowlands Tournament on Dec. 30, 1992. 
• Gaca scored seven points during a decisive 10-0 second half run that turned a 34-32 halftime deficit into a double-digit lead.
• Cornell shot 59 percent in the second half as a team while limiting the Bears to 20 points after the intermission on 28 percent shooting.
• Zeke Marshall added 15 points and seven rebounds and Justin Treadwell notched 14 points and eight boards, with Brian Kopf (nine points, eight rebounds) also adding key contributions.
• Cal did not make a 3-pointer in the game, shooting 0-for-8 from beyond the arc.
• The Big Red defeated a nationally-ranked team for the first time in 26 seasons, since it beat No. 3 Princeton during the 1966-67 season.
• The Bears played without injured future Basketball Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, but with 11-year NBA veteran Lamond Murray, who scored a game-high 27 points in the loss.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Cornell men's basketball team put on an offensive clinic in its first visit to Army West Point in nearly two decades, shooting 56 percent from the floor overall and connecting on 19 3-pointers in a wild 103-84 victory at Christl Arena. 
• Cornell assisted on 27 baskets, tied for the 11th-most in a single game in Cornell history, with a majority of those passes leading to 3-pointers. 
• The team had 19 and made 10-of-11 to start the second half, ending the night 19-of-35. 
• Four Big Red players reached double figures and three more had at least eight points as everyone contributed to the victory. 
• Nazir Williams scored a game-high 20 points, while Cooper Noard chipped in 17, Jake Fiegen notched 16 and Guy Ragland Jr. had 13 to go along with six rebounds and five assists.
• Four Army West Point players reached double figures, with Josh Scovens and Jalen Rucker tallying 17 each, with the home team shooting 48 percent overall and making 11-of-27 shots from beyond the arc.

NOTES FROM THE ARMY WEST POINT GAME
• The Big Red's 19 3-pointers are the third-most in a game in school history and the second-most against a Division I team (20 at Brown in 2010).
• The team's 27 assists are a school record in road contests, surpassing the previous mark of 26 set — last Wednesday at Colgate. It had also been reached in a 107-105 loss at Miami (Fla.) on Dec. 7, 2022 and matched in the first round of the NIT at Ohio State on March 19, 2024.
• The 27 assists is tied for the 11th-most in a game in school history.
• The team's 103 points are the sixth-most in a road game.
• The Big Red posted consecutive road victories of 19+ points for the first time since the 2009-10 NCAA Sweet 16 squad topped Brown (95-76) and Yale (79-59) to close the regular season. Prior to that, it had only occurred once in 1954. In both of those seasons, the Big Red went onto win conference titles (1954 - EIBL, 2010 - Ivy League).
• The Big Red's 5.40 assist:turnover ratio is its best with at least 20 assists since posting a school record 7.33 (22 assists:3 turnovers) against Lehigh in 2022.

TRENDING UP
• Cornell ranks first in the nation in fastest tempo according the KenPom, just ahead of Cal Poly (who also played Cal earlier this season — the Bears won 91-73).
• The Big Red leads the nation in assists (20.9 per game) and ranks in the top 10 in both 3-pointers made (ninth, 11.3) and attempted (ninth, 31.1).
• The Big Red has hit at least 12 3-pointers in four consecutive games, averaging 14.3 over that span on .425 shooting from beyond the arc.
• While known for its offense, the Big Red also paces the Ivy League in 3-point defense (allowing just .309 shooting).
• All five starters are averaging double figures in scoring, and no player in averaging more than Cooper Noard's 26.1 minutes per game.
• In its past two road wins, the backcourt combo of Nazir Williams (7-of-10, .700) and Cooper Noard (10-of-14, .714) are shooting 17-of-24 (.708) from beyond the arc, while the Big Red has made 32-of-62 as a team (.516).
• Over the last two games, junior AK Okereke has posted a triple-double (11 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) in less than 39 minutes of playing time combined.

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 60-33 record (.645), a mark that is 60-22 when removing regular season guarantee games (.732).
• Over the past four seasons, the Big Red is averaging 18.0 assists per game and hitting 10.4 3-pointers per game while averaging 81.4 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .593 from two-point range.
• Cornell is 34-6 at home over the past three seasons, including 18-1 against non-conference opponents over that span.
• 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).
• 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). 
• 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 981 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 1,030 of 1,034 games (7,091 3-pointers over that span).

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 returns home after a month away from home when it welcomes Illinois State to Newman Arena on Sunday, Dec. 22 at 12 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the teams and the first game for a Big Red team against a current member of the Missouri Valley Conference since it dropped a 72-69 decision to Bradley in the consolation game of the 2000 Michigan State Tournament on Nov. 25, 2000.