ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to regain momentum heading into Ivy League play when it closes out the non-league season against Division III foe Penn State Schuylkill on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• Cornell will be in search of its 250th all-time men's basketball win at Newman Arena, bringing in a 249-171 mark (.593) since opening in January 1990.
• A win over the Lions would give Cornell an eight-win non-conference season, its fourth straight winning season out of Ivy play after going 10 consecutive years without one.
• Cornell will try to shake off consecutive home losses to close out 2024, giving the team three straight defeats at Newman Arena for the first time since 2017.
• The Big Red topped Division III Marywood 93-52 on Nov. 4 for Jon Jaques '10 first collegiate head coaching victory in its other non-Division I outing this year.
• 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
Penn State Schuylkill at Cornell
DATE & TIME: Sunday, January 5 at 2 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Penn State Schuylkill (8-6, 6-1 PSUAC), Cornell (7-5, 0-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
1 Year • 166 Miles • 0 Meetings
Overall: First meeting
In Ithaca, N.Y.: First Meeting
Current Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A
Jaques vs. Penn State Schuylkill: 0-0

SERIES NOTES
Cornell has almost annually played and beaten a non-Division I team, going 35-0 with an average margin of victory of more than 30 points per game in the past 31 seasons • the 2010-11 season was the only one in the last 25 years where the schedule was made up completely of Division I teams • each of the team's 35 wins have come by double figures except for one • this is the second of two games scheduled against non-Division I teams this season.

A WIN OVER PENN STATE SCHUYLKILL WOULD
• push Cornell's record to 8-5 on the season.
• make the Big Red 4-3 at home this season and up its home record to 35-8 (.814) over the past four years.
• snap a three-game home losing streak, the first at Newman Arena since dropping the final four home games during the 2016-17 campaign.
• make Cornell 62-35 overall (.639) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• up the Big Red's non-conference record to 39-16 (.709) over its past 55 contests.
• be the 1,339th in program history (1,338-1,495-2 in 125th season, .472).

LAST TIME VS. NON-DIVISION I OPPONENT
•  Three double figure scorers and 53 percent shooting handed Jon Jaques '10 his first victory as a head coach in front of Newman Nation as the Cornell men's basketball team ran past Marywood 93-52 at Newman Arena. 
• None of Cornell's 19 players saw more than 18 minutes of action and everyone had a hand in its 18th consecutive non-conference home win. 
• Sophomore Jake Fiegen, making his first collegiate start, made 7-of-8 shots from the floor en route to 16 points and added three rebounds and two assists. 
• Junior Cooper Noard added 12 points and classmate Josh Baldwin, also making his first collegiate start in his return to Newman Arena after missing 2023-24 with an injury, had 10 to go along with three boards. 
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. was dominant in his 13 minutes, scoring two points with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
• Cornell had 16 assists on 20 baskets, made 67 percent of its shots and held a 48-22 edge at the break.
 

LAST TIME OUT
• Senior guard Nazir Williams scored a game-high 20 points to lead four scorers in double figures, but 17 Cornell turnovers doomed the Big Red in an 83-77 loss to Siena.
• Williams made 8-of-13 field goals and added five rebounds and five assists to up his career scoring to 988 points - just 12 shy of becoming the 28th 1,000-point scorer in school history. 
• Guy Ragland Jr. added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, Cooper Noard added 12 and AK Okereke netted 11 points.
• The Big Red shot 54 percent from the floor overall but were limited to 4-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc after entering the contest making 10.6 per game and attempting just under 31.
• Siena placed five in double figures, shooting 54 percent from the floor and turning the tables on the 3-point shooting by hitting 8-of-19. 
• Justice Shoats scored 16 points with 10 assists to lead to the Saints, while Brendan Coyle added 16 and Gavin Doty netted 16 with eight boards off the bench. 
• Peter Carey (13) and Major Freeman (13) rounded out the double-figure scorers.
• In a game that featured 45 fouls, 54 free throws and 31 turnovers, the Big Red never got into the flow of the game.



NOTES FROM THE SIENA GAME
• After 20 consecutive non-conference wins at home, the Big Red has now suffered three consecutive defeats in Ithaca for the first time since 2017.
• Senior Nazir Williams posted his third 20-point game in the team's past five contests.
• After consecutive 5-for-5 shooting games, senior Guy Ragland Jr. has now made 12 consecutive field goals, tied with Terrance McBride '18 for second all-time and two behind record-holder Darryl Smith '16 with 14 straight.
• The Big Red shot better than 50 percent from the floor for the fourth time in the past five contests. 
• The four 3-point field goals made were the fewest since also making four at Brown on Jan. 30, 2022 and its fewest at home since connecting on three against Lafayette on Dec. 7, 2019.
• The 12 attempts were the fewest since making 6-of-9 from beyond the arc at home against Brown on Feb. 22, 2020.
• The four makes extends the Big Red's streak of consecutive contests with a made 3-pointer to 984 dating back to the 1988-89 campaign.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Nazir Williams enters the contest 12 points shy of becoming the school's 28th 1,000-point scorer.
• With 242 assists, Williams needs eight to become the 17th player in school history to reach 250.
• He'd become the 10th player at Cornell to reach 1,000 points and 250 assists in a career.
• Junior Cooper Noard needs to make one 3-pointer to reach 100 for his career, becoming the 24th player in school history to reach the century mark.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. needs one blocked shot to reach 40, (No. 16 all-time).

TRENDING UP
• The Big Red is fifth in the nation in assists (19.3 per game) and ranks in the top 30 in effective field goal percentage (19th, .578), 3-point attempts (24th, 29.3) fastbreak points (29th, 15.5), field goal percentage (29th, .494) and 3-point field goals (30th, 10.1)
• All five starters are averaging double figures in scoring, and no player in averaging more than junior Cooper Noard's 27.4 minutes per game.
• The Big Red ranks as the Ivy League leader in scoring offense (83.3) and is second in field goal percentage (.494).
• Senior Nazir Williams is averaging 19.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 0.7 steals over his past six games, shooting 61 percent from the floor overall (45-of-74) and 46 percent from 3-point range (12-of-26).
• Over his past seven games, junior Cooper Noard is averaging 16.1 points and 2.9 rebounds while connecting on 22-of-52 shots from 3-point range (.423). He is 15-for-18 from inside the arc over that span (.833) and is 22-for-30 (.733) from two-point range for the year.
• Junior AK Okereke is posting 18.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.7 steals in his past three contests.
• Sophomore Jake Fiegen has 14 assists and one turnover in his past six contests (156 minutes).
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. has eight or more points in nine consecutive contests.
• Ragland has made 12 consecutive field goals over the Big Red's last three games, two shy of Darryl Smith's school record of 14.

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 61-35 record (.635), a mark that is 60-24 when removing regular season guarantee games (.714).
• Over the past four seasons, the Big Red is averaging 17.9 assists per game and hitting 10.2 3-pointers per game while averaging 81.3 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .596 from two-point range.
• Cornell is 34-8 at home over the past three seasons, including 18-3 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 984 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 1,033 of 1,037 games (7,110 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 will commence Ivy League play when it visits red-hot Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• Cornell holds a seven-game win streak in the series, including a 98-76 victory in New York City to close out the regular season last year.
• The Lions lead the all-time series 131-109.