ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will prepare for its first Ivy back-to-back weekend when Dartmouth visits Newman Arena on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+..

• The Big Red will attempt to close out January with a 5-1 record for the second straight season and improve to 4-1 in league play when it meets the Big Green, while trying to keep pace at the top of the conference standings with Yale (4-0) and Princeton (3-1), who play each other on Friday.
• Cornell enters the weekend on a high after knocking off defending Ivy champion Princeton 85-76 last weekend in Jadwin Gymnasium, ending the Tigers' 11-game home win streak against conference opponents.
• Cornell shot 68 percent in the second half and scored 49 points to run past the Tigers in the final minutes with seniors Nazir Williams (28 points) and Guy Ragland Jr. (22 points) each posting career scoring highs to ensure they would graduate with a win at Jadwin after three previous losses.
• The Big Red will attempt to capture some of its road magic and bring it to Newman, as Cornell has dropped four of its past five contests at home after going 34-5 in its previous 39 in Ithaca. 
• Cornell entering the weekend second in Division I in assists (19.7 per game) is 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
Dartmouth at Cornell
DATE & TIME: Friday, January 31 at 7 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Dartmouth 8-9 (2-2 Ivy); Cornell 11-6 (3-1 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 117-109
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Cornell leads 117-109
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 69-44    
In Ivy League play: Cornell leads 71-63
Streak: Cornell, 4
Last 5: Cornell leads 4-1
Last 10: Cornell leads 7-3
Last meeting: Cornell 89, Dartmouth 80 (2/17/2024 at Cornell)
Last Dartmouth win: Dartmouth 71, Cornell 59 (2/18/2022 at Dartmouth)
First meeting: Dartmouth 26, Cornell 12 (1/18/1901 at Dartmouth)

A WIN OVER DARTMOUTH WOULD ...
• push Cornell's record to 12-6 on the season.
• give the Big Red a 4-1 Ivy League record.
• improve the Big Red's lead in the all-time series to 118-109 and extend its win streak over the Big Green to five games.
• push its Ivy record to 16-4 over its past 20 league contests.
• up its all-time record in Ivy League play to 411-531 (.436).
• make Cornell 66-36 overall (.647) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• be the 1,343rd in program history (1,342-1,496-2 in 125th season, .473).

LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH
• Senior Chris Manon (25) and freshman Jake Fiegen (14) each tallied career highs and the Cornell men's basketball team rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to top Dartmouth 89-80 at Newman Arena. 
• Manon connected on 9-of-16 from the floor and hit three 3-pointers while adding four steals, besting his previous career best of 23 points along the way. 
Fiegen, meanwhile, set a new standard for the second straight game with 14 points and four rebounds. 
Nazir Williams notched 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds and AK Okereke rounded out the four double figure scorers with 12. 
Cooper Noard had eight points and Guy Ragland Jr. posted a team-best eight rebounds. 
• The Big Red gritted out the win after shooting 47 percent overall and making 12 3-pointers. 
• Dusan Neskovic had 23 points, while Jayden Williams added 13, Brandon Mitchell-Day scored 12 with seven boards and Jackson Munro scored 12 with nine rebounds and seven assists. 
 

LAST TIME OUT
• Seniors Nazir Williams (28) and Guy Ragland Jr. (22) both scored career highs and Cornell's big second half allowed men's basketball to earn an 85-76 victory over the Tigers at Jadwin Gymnasium. 
• After struggling offensively in the first half, the Big Red shot 68 percent from the field after halftime and scored 49 points, but it was the late defense that made the difference.
• Cornell forced the Tigers to miss 9-of-10 shots to end the game, with junior AK Okereke blocking consecutive Xaivian Lee shots in the final two minutes to allow the Big Red to extend the lead and put the game out of reach. 
• Williams hit 8-of-12 shots overall and chipped in five rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block while connecting ion 4-of-6 3-pointers on the night. 
• Ragland Jr. hit on 5-of-10 3-pointers, including four straight in the second half, to go along with eight rebounds in the win. 
• AK Okereke was the third double figure scorer with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks. 
• Princeton's Caden Pierce scored 20 points and ripped down 10 rebounds along with five assists.
 

NOTES FROM THE PRINCETON GAME
• Cornell snapped Princeton's seven-game win streak overall and its 11-game home win streak against conference foes.
Seniors Nazir Williams (28 points) and Guy Ragland Jr. (22 points) both posted career scoring highs.
Sophomore Jake Fiegen ripped down a career-best eight rebounds.
The Big Red shot 68 percent in the second half, the fourth time in four games that the team shot at least 60 percent in a half.
Cornell's six team blocks matches a season-best, including consecutive blocks by AK Okereke on Xaivian Lee in the game's final two minutes.
Princeton was 1-for-10 from the floor to close the game.
The team's 28 free throws made and 34 attempts were both season highs.
The Big Red's 10 assists as a team were a season low.

TRENDING UP
• The Big Red entered the weekend leading the nation in field goal percentage (.515) and effective field goal percentage (.604) and is second in assists assists (19.7 per game). The Big Red also ranks in the top 10 in scoring offense (fourth, 86.5) and 3-point field goals made (seventh, 10.8). Additionally, it stands in the top 25 in 3-point field goal attempts (21st, 28.9), assist:turnover ratio (23rd, 1.56) and fastbreak points (24th, 14.7). 
• Entering the weekend, the Big Red ranked as the Ivy League leader in scoring offense (86.5), 3-point field goals made per game (10.8), assists per game (19.7), field goal percentage (.515), effective field goal percentage (.604) and fastbreak points (14.7).
• In Ivy League play so far, Cornell is shooting .559 from the field, .443 from beyond the 3-point arc and .778 from the free-throw line while averaging 86.8 points per game.  
• All five starters are averaging double figures in scoring, and no player in averaging more than 26.9 minutes per game (senior Nazir Williams).
• Senior Nazir Williams is averaging 18.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 0.8 steals over his past 10 games against Division I teams, shooting 59 percent from the floor overall (71-of-120) and 43 percent from 3-point range (17-of-40).
• Over his past 11 games against Division I teams, junior Cooper Noard is averaging 14.5 points and 3.0 rebounds while connecting on 32-of-39 shots from 3-point range (.464). He is 20-for-25 from inside the arc over that span (.800) and is 27-for-37 (.730) from two-point range for the year.
• Junior AK Okereke is posting 16.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals in his past seven contests against Division I teams.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. is shooting .607 (51-of-84) from the floor in his last 12 games, including 52 percent from 3-point range (24-of-46).
• After shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc in his first two seasons, Ragland Jr. is connecting on a .424 clip over the past two (72-170).

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Nazir Williams enters the contest with 1,069 points to rank 21st all-time at Cornell in scoring. He is 45 points from reaching the top 20(Jerry Szachara '63 with 1,114 points).
• At 15th all-time in assists with 263, Williams is five away from reaching 14th all-time, seven from getting to 13th and eight from 12th.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. ranks 18th all-time at Cornell with 140 3-pointers and needed two to reach 17th all-time, three to hit 13th and five to jump to 12th place.
• Junior Cooper Noard is two rebounds shy of 150 for his career.

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 65-36 record (.644), a mark that is 64-25 when removing regular season guarantee games (.719).
• 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 82.0 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .599 from two-point range.
• Cornell is 35-9 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 989 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 1,038 of 1,042 games (7,173 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 will complete its first Ivy League back-to-back weekend of the season when it welcomes Harvard to Newman Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 98-87 after sweeping last season's home-and-home.
• The teams have split the past 10 meetings after the Crimson had won six consecutive matchups.