ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team's 250th all-time win at Newman Arena was memorable in more ways than one as the Big Red capped off non-league play by blitzing Penn State Schuylkill 123-71 on Sunday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Big Red thoroughly rewrote the record book in improving to 8-5 on the season.

Cornell set school records for points in a half (67 in the first half) and a game (123) and captured second place on the charts in field goals (48), 3-pointers (20) and assists (37) in a game in a contest that saw none of its regulars play more than 20 minutes. In the definition of a team win, a couple of individual accomplishments stood out. Senior Nazir Williams became the 28th player in Cornell history to reach 1,000 career points, while classmate Guy Ragland Jr. hit all three field goals to give him 15 consecutive makes over his last four games - also a record for a Cornell player.

All 15 Cornell players that dressed found the scoring column and grabbed at least one rebound, 12 dished out an assist and 11 had at least a steal in the balanced victory. Freshman Anthony NImani had a career-best 15 points and four rebounds to lead the way, with both Nazir Williams and AK Okereke also hitting double figures with 12 apiece and rookie Gio Panzini adding a career-high with 10. Okereke added four rebounds and three assists while going +32 in his 14 minutes of action, while Williams chipped in five boards and four helpers while going +28 in 18 minutes. Ten additional players scored at least six points in the victory. Sophomore Jacob Beccles was credited with six points and eight assists, one more than the entire Nittany Lions squad. Chris Cain notched seven points, a team-best even boards and four assists in the win. 

Everywhere you looked you found positives, as the Big Red bench outscored Schuylkill 77-27, posted 32 fastbreak points and scored 54 points in the paint. It held a 47-29 edge on the backboards, including posting 21 offensive boards. Its 57 percent shooting included 47 percent beyond the 3-point arc, as 11 different Big Red players drained at least one trey.

For the visitors, Issac Lane netted 17 points and eight rebounds, with Amir Gray scoring 11 and Antwuean Byrd added 10 points. Penn State Schuylkill had 10 steals and shot 44 percent from the floor overall.
 

Cornell scored the game's first 12 points, and though the visitors rallied with a 7-0 run of its own, the Big Red was never threatened. The offense was on point in the first 20 minutes, assisting on the team's first 17 baskets and 22 in all in taking a 67-30 edge at the break. Cornell shot 58 percent from the floor and connected on 12-of-24 3-pointers heading into the locker room and outrebounded the Nittany Lions 26-9, with its 12 offensive rebounds more than the visitors pulled down in the half. Ragland Jr. made his first three, and only, attempts for the game with a 3-pointer 2:38 in matching the record for consecutive field goals made at 14, matching Darryl Smith's total from the 2015-16 season. He broke the record with his 15th five minutes later as part of a three-point play. Junior Cooper Noard also drilled a 3-pointer a little more than five minutes into the game for the 100th of his career - the 24th player to reach the century mark.

The second half was much of the same, but with the focus on the Big Red bench. Williams reached the 100-point mark with a putback of his own miss four minutes in, and moments later the starters headed to the bench for good. Both Nimani and Panzini reached double figures in the second 20 minutes with Beccles facilitating with five assists. Rookie AJ Rodriguez scored his first collegiate points with 6:37 remaining and finished with six points, while Panzini hit his first field goal three minutes before, a 3-pointer. Panzini's free throw with 8:31 left put Cornell over 100 points for the second time this season and the 33rd time in school history. Cornell surpassed the previous record of 122 set Dec. 5, 2021 vs. Keuka on Corbin Zentner's driving layup with 43 seconds remaining.

The victory snapped a three-game home losing skid, the program's longest since 2017. It will enter Ivy play with a winning record for the fourth consecutive season after going 10 straight years without one. 

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.