ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will attempt to sweep its first Ivy back-to-back series of the season when it invites Harvard to Newman Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• The Big Red moved into sole possession of second place in the Ivy League standings following its 76-64 victory over Dartmouth on Friday.
• Cornell's defense took center stage in the win, allowing Dartmouth to shoot just 37 percent overall and 21 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (6-of-28) while blocking eight shots, collecting eight steals and holding a 40-36 edge on the backboards.
• Junior AK Okereke scored 19 points with seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks in the win.
• Cornell snapped its four-game home skid against Division I opponents with the victory, improving to 36-9 at home overall in the past three seasons.
• Saturday's matchup between Cornell and Harvard will feature a matchup of brothers — Big Red junior senior guard Adam Hinton and Harvard's freshman guard Robert Hinton.
• 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
Harvard at Cornell
DATE & TIME: Saturday, February 1 at 6 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Harvard 7-11 (2-3 Ivy); Cornell 12-6 (4-1 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 98-87
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Cornell leads 98-87
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 52-39    
In Ivy League play: Harvard leads 72-63
Streak: Cornell, 2
Last 5: Harvard leads 3-2
Last 10: Tied 5-5
Last meeting: Cornell 75, Harvard 62 (2/16/2024 at Cornell)
Last Harvard win: Harvard 73, Cornell 56 (2/18/2023 at Cornell)
First meeting: Cornell 34, Harvard 26 (1/18/1902 at Harvard)    



A WIN OVER HARVARD WOULD ...
• push Cornell's record to 13-6 on the season.
• give the Big Red a 5-1 Ivy League record.
• push its Ivy record to 17-4 over its past 21 league contests.
• up its all-time record in Ivy League play to 412-531 (.437).
• make Cornell 67-36 overall (.650) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• be the 1,344th in program history (1,343-1,496-2 in 125th season, .473).

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD
• The Cornell men's basketball team held Harvard to 22 percent shooting in the second half to complete a season sweep of Harvard, topping the Crimson 75-62 at Newman Arena.
• Nazir Williams led four Big Red players in double figures with 14 points, with Chris Manon, Cooper Noard and Jake Fiegen adding 11 points each. 
• Fiegen's double-figure game was the first of his career, with his eight rebounds off the bench also a career high for the rookie. 
• Manon added three rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks, while Sean Hansen had eight points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks of his own. 
• Guy Ragland Jr. chipped in eight points and seven boards for a Big Red team that shot 46 percent overall, made 11 3-pointers and outrebounded the Crimson 41-35.
• Chisom Okpara notched 15 points to lead the Crimson, who shot just 32 percent overall and were 5-of-18 from beyond the arc. 
• Malik Mack added 12 points and Justice Ajogbor notched 11 points with seven boards. 
 

LAST TIME OUT
• Junior AK Okereke's monster floor game and the Big Red's first half effort on the offensive glass was the difference as Cornell topped Dartmouth 76-64 at Newman Arena. 
• Okereke scored 19 points with seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots to lead three double-figure scorers for the home team. 
• Senior Nazir Williams, who was honored pregame for becoming the school's 28th 1,000-point scorer, netted 14 points with four rebounds and four assists, while junior Cooper Noard scored 12, including hitting three of the team's 10 3-pointers on the evening. 
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. had seven points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks in an active performance. 
• Cornell connected on eight of its final nine shots on the day to end the day at 44 percent shooting, assisting on 17 baskets and collecting a season-best eight blocked shots.
• Ryan Cornish scored 28 points to go along with six rebounds to lead the Big Green, with Romeo Myrthil adding 12 with a game-best eight rebounds. 
• The Big Green was limited to 37 percent shooting and connected on just 6-of-28 3-pointers (21 percent).
 

NOTES FROM THE DARTMOUTH GAME
• Prior to the game, senior Nazir Williams was honored as the 28th player in Cornell history to score 1,000 career points.
• Junior AK Okereke recorded his second career game with at least three steals and three blocks, becoming just the fourth Big Red player in school history to do that multiple times — Shonn Miller (5 times), Steven Julian (three times) and Jeffrion Aubry (two times) are the others.
• The Big Red reached double figures in 3-point field goals made for the 11th time this season.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. was a team-best +16 in his 24 minutes of action, posting a team-best seven rebounds.
• Cornell's eight blocked shots as a team were a season high and the most in a single game since also posting eight at home against Penn during the 2021-22 season.
• The Big Red has held its opponent to under 40 percent shooting in three straight halves (.344 over that stretch, 33-of-96).

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 .531 from the field, .421 from beyond the 3-point arc and .776 from the free-throw line while averaging 84.6 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).
• Over the past two contests, Cornell's defense has limited Princeton and Dartmouth to 70.0 points on .367 shooting from the floor (47-of-128).
• Senior Nazir Williams is averaging 18.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 0.7 steals over his past 11 games against Division I teams, shooting 58 percent from the floor overall (76-of-132) and 43 percent from 3-point range (19-of-44).
• Over his past 11 games against Division I teams, junior Cooper Noard is averaging 14.3 points and 2.9 rebounds while connecting on 35-of-74 shots from 3-point range (.473). He is 20-for-26 from inside the arc over that span (.769) and is 27-for-38 (.710) from two-point range for the year.
• Junior AK Okereke is posting 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.5 steals in his past eight contests against Division I teams.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. is shooting 60 percent (54-of-90) from the floor in his last 13 games, including 50 percent from 3-point range (25-of-50).
• After shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc in his first two seasons, Ragland Jr. is connecting on a .420 clip over the past two (73-174).

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Nazir Williams enters the contest with 1,083 points to rank 21st all-time at Cornell in scoring. He is 31 points from reaching the top 20 (Jerry Szachara '63 with 1,114 points).
• At 15th all-time in assists with 267, Williams is one away from reaching 14th all-time, three from getting to 13th and four from 12th.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. ranks 18th all-time at Cornell with 141 3-pointers and needs one to reach 17th all-time, two to hit 13th and four to jump to 12th place.

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 66-36 record (.647), a mark that is 65-25 when removing regular season guarantee games (.722).
• Over the past four seasons, the Big Red is averaging 18.0 assists per game and hitting 10.3 3-pointers per game while averaging 81.9 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .598 from two-point range.
• Cornell is 36-9 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 990 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 1,039 of 1,043 games (7,183 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
• The Big Red will close out its three-game homestand when it welcomes reigning Ivy League Tournament champ Yale on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 123-113 after the teams split the season series in 2023-24, before the Bulldogs captured a 69-57 win in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals en route to earning the NCAA bid.