ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to kick off its Ivy League home slate with a win when it welcomes Brown to Newman Arena on Monday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• Cornell is fresh off Saturday's 86-76 triumph over Penn that saw the Big Red dominate the Quakers on the glass (43-24), particularly on the offensive boards (13-0 edge in second chance points).
• Cornell closed the first half on a 17-4 run, making nine consecutive shots as it erased a six-point deficit before eventually pushing the lead to 20 early in the second half.
• The Big Red has gone 2-0 to start Ivy League play with both wins coming on the road for the first time since the 1981-82 season after double-digit victories over Columbia (94-83) and Penn (86-76).
• Cornell entered the weekend leading Division I in assists (21.0 per game and ranks fifth at all levels. That's little surprise, as the Big Red has ranked in the top 10 in each of the past three seasons (sixth in 2023 and 2024, seventh in 2022). Ironically, the first assist credited in an NBA game was by a Cornellian, Nat Militzok, for the New York Knicks against the Toronto Huskies in Canada on Nov. 1, 1946
• 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
Brown at Cornell
DATE & TIME: Monday, January 20 at 2 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Brown 8-7 (0-2 Ivy); Cornell (10-5, 2-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 84-57
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Cornell leads 84-57
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 49-22    
In Ivy League play: Cornell leads 77-57
On neutral courts: N/A
Streak: Brown, 1
Last 5: Brown leads 3-2
Last 10: Tied 5-5
Last meeting: Brown 78, Cornell 74 (2/24/2024 at Cornell)
Last Cornell win: Cornell 84, Brown 83 (1/20/2024 at Brown)
First meeting: Cornell 39, Brown 32 (1/2/1950 at Cornell)

A WIN OVER BROWN WOULD ...
• push Cornell's record to 11-5 on the season and extend its win streak to four games.
• give the Big Red a 3-0 Ivy League record for the second straight season.
• push its Ivy record to 15-3 over its past 18 league contests.
• increase its lead in the all-time series against Brown to 85-57.
• up its all-time record in Ivy League play to 410-530 (.436).
• make Cornell 65-35 overall (.650) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• be the 1,342nd in program history (1,341-1,495-2 in 125th season, .473).

LAST TIME VS. BROWN
•  Brown led by as many as 15 points in the second half and held on late despite a furious rally to capture a 78-74 at Newman Arena. 
• The loss ruined Cornell's perfect home record this season and snapped an 11-game home win streak for the Big Red on Senior Night. 
• Seniors Sean Hansen (16 points, four rebounds) and Chris Manon (10 points, five rebounds, three assists) led four double figure scorers in their final game at Newman, with Isaiah Gray adding nine points, five rebounds and three assists. 
• Guy Ragland Jr. (11 points) and Nazir Williams (10 points) also hit double figures for the home team. 
• Cornell shot 44 percent from the floor and outscored the Bears 52-18 from its bench, but couldn't overcome a huge disparity on the backboards.
• Kalu Anya posted 23 points and 17 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass, for a Brown team that held a 19-8 edge in second chance points. 
• Adding a second double-double was Nana Owusu-Anane with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
 

LAST TIME OUT
• The Cornell men's basketball team used a late first half run and a dominant effort on the glass to improve to 2-0 in Ivy League play with an 86-76 victory over Penn at the Palestra. 
• Cornell held a 43-24 edge on the glass and outscored the Quakers 13-0 in second chance points to control the game once it took the lead with a late first half run. 
• The Big Red connected on nine consecutive shots as part of a game-changing 17-4 spurt to close the half and send the visitors into the locker room with a 42-31 edge,
• Cooper Noard's 19 points led four Big Red players in double figures, with AK Okereke (15 points, three rebounds, four assists) joining him. 
• Senior Nazir Williams scored 14 points, Jake Fiegen added 12 more and both players chipped in four rebounds. 
• Senior Ryan Kiachian notched six points and a game-high eight rebounds and Jacob Beccles added eight points, five rebounds and a pair of assists in the win. 
• Ethan Roberts scored a game-high 26 points for Penn, who turned the ball over just eight times in the loss. 
• Sam Brown scored 15, AJ Levine netted 13 and Nick Spinoso scored 12 with seven assists and six boards.
 

NOTES FROM THE PENN GAME
• Cornell's victory over Penn at the Palestra for the second straight year gave the Big Red its first road win streak over the Quakers since the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
• The Big Red's 19-rebound advantage (43-24) was its largest over a Division I opponent since outrebounding Harvard 39-20 on Jan. 22, 2022 in a 76-61 Big Red win.
• Cornell connected on 17-of-18 free throws, with its .944 free-throw percentage tied for 15th in school history in a single game.
• Both Ryan Kiachian (eight) and Jacob Beccles (five) posted career highs in rebounds.
• The BIg Red allowed Penn a single offensive rebound, just the third time in school history to give up one or fewer (0 vs. Princeton on Feb. 7, 1987; 1 vs. Colgate on Nov. 18, 2014).
• Cornell has earned leads of 20 or more points in each of its past five road games (Colgate, Army West Point, Cal, Columbia and Penn).
• In two games in Philadelphia this season (La Salle, Penn), Cornell has a 0.79 assist:turnover ratio (22:28). In the team's other 13 contests, that number is1.75 (282:161).

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Cooper Noard is four points shy of reaching 500 for his career and four rebounds shy of 150.
• Junior AK Okereke enters the Brown game needing three points to hit the 400-point milestone.

TRENDING UP
• The Big Red entered the weekend leading the nation in assists (21.0 per game) and ranks in the top 10 in effective field goal percentage (second, .601), field goal percentage (fifth, .512), scoring offense (sixth, 86.9) and 3-point field goals made (eighth, 111.1). Additionally, it stands in the top 10 in fastbreak points (13th, 16.2), assist:turnover ratio (15th, 1.68) and 3-point field goal attempts (16th, 30.1). 
• Entering the weekend, the Big Red ranked as the Ivy League leader in scoring offense (86.9), bench points per game (26.4), 3-point field goals made per game (11.1), assists per game (21.0), assist:turnover ratio (1.68), field goal percentage (.512), effective field goal percentage (.601) and fastbreak points (16.2).
• In Ivy League play so far, Cornell is shooting .557 from the field, .451 from beyond the 3-point arc and .955 from the free-throw line while averaging 90.0 points per game.  
• All five starters are averaging double figures in scoring, and no player in averaging more than junior Cooper Noard's 26.5 minutes per game.
• Senior Nazir Williams is averaging 17.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.9 steals over his past eight games against Division I teams, shooting 59 percent from the floor overall (55-of-93) and 43 percent from 3-point range (13-of-30).
• Over his past nine games against Division I teams, junior Cooper Noard is averaging 16.9 points and 3.1 rebounds while connecting on 32-of-66 shots from 3-point range (.485). He is 18-for-22 from inside the arc over that span (.828) and is 25-for-34 (.735) from two-point range for the year.
• Junior AK Okereke is posting 16.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.2 steals in his past five contests against Division I teams.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. is shooting .621 (41-of-66) from the floor in his last 10 games, including 52 percent from 3-point range (16-of-31).
• After shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc in his first two seasons, Ragland Jr. is connecting on a .413 clip over the past two (64-155).

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 64-35 record (.646), a mark that is 63-24 when removing regular season guarantee games (.724).
• Over the past four seasons, the Big Red is averaging 18.1 assists per game and hitting 10.4 3-pointers per game while averaging 81.9 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .598 from two-point range.
• Cornell is 35-8 at home over the past three seasons, including 19-3 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 987 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 1,036 of 1,040 games (7,153 3-pointers over that span).

MISCELLANEOUS 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 was picked fourth in the Ivy League Preseason Media Poll after being chosen third a season ago.
• In the past two seasons, the Big Red has led the Ivy League in scoring offense (81.7 and 82.1 ppg.), assists (17.5 and 18.1 apg.), steals (9.7 and 8.3 spg.) and effective field goal percentage (.556 and .572) both years.
• The Big Red had its streak of 23 consecutive non-conference wins against opponents from conferences other than the ACC or Big Ten dating back to an 80-76 loss at Hartford on Dec. 22, 2019 snapped at George Mason— a streak that spanned 1,424 days.
• At the same time, Cornell won 33 straight regular season non-guarantee non-conference games dating back to that same loss to Hartford prior to its defeat against Robert Morris.
• Cornell's non-conference home win streak of 20 games, its longest since the 1920s, was snapped with the Robert Morris loss.

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.

BIG RED GRAD TRANSFERS
• Graduated seniors Keller Boothby '24 (William & Mary), Isaiah Gray '24 (Akron), Sean Hansen '24 (George Washington), Chris Manon '24 (Vanderbilt), and Evan Williams (Prairie View A&M) have moved on to play as graduate transfers at other Division I institutions (Ivy League does not allow graduate student eligibility).
• Over the past four seasons, 13 grad transfers have gone on to play Division I basketball elsewhere — Jimmy Boeheim '21 (Syracuse), Kobe Dickson '22 (Howard), Bryan Knapp '21 (George Washington), Terrance McBride '21 (Rice), Dean Noll '22 (Stony Brook), Sarju Patel '22 (UAlbany), Riley Voss '21 (Wright State), Greg Dolan '23 (Loyola Chicago) and Marcus Filien '23 (UAlbany).
• Dating back even further, Big Red student-athletes have gone on to graduate transfer success at UConn (Shonn Miller '15 and David Onuorah '17), Purdue (Errick Peck '13), California (Dwight Tarwater '14) and Kent State (Galal Cancer '15).

UP NEXT
• Cornell returns to the road to face reigning Ivy League champion Princeton on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• Princeton holds a commanding 154-85 edge in the all-time series, though the Big Red is 4-5 in the last nine matchups.
• Five of the past eight meetings have been decided by five points or fewer, with three of the last four at Jadwin decided by a single possession.