ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will take its shot at Ivy unbeaten Yale when it visits the conference leader on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• The Big Red enters the contest looking to snap the Bulldogs' 10-game win streak, including Yale's 9-0 start in Ivy play.
• To do so, it will have to reverse its own recent fortunes, as its current three-game losing streak (its longest since the 2022-23 season) began with a 103-88 defeat to Yale on Feb. 8.
• Cornell will be in search of its first win in New Haven since 2013, dropping 10 consecutive contests at Yale in the meantime.
• Cornell entering the weekend third in Division I in assists (18.7 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.
• Cornell also has a direct connection to one of its biggest weapons — the 3-point shot. Cornell has finished in the top 20 in Division I in 3-pointers made and attempted in each of the past three seasons, and Big Red alum Ed Steitz '43, a member of the Basketball and FIBA Basketball Halls of Fame, was the original founder and president of Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America (ABAUSA). He was instrumental in the reinstatement of the dunk in 1976 and was an advocate of the 45-second shot clock and 3-point shot. 
• 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.
• Four starters are in double figures (a fifth averages 9.9 points) 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
Cornell at Yale
DATE & TIME: Friday, February 21 at 7 p.m.
SITE: John J. Lee Amphitheater – New Haven, Conn.
RECORDS: Cornell 13-9 (5-4 Ivy); Yale 16-6 (9-0 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Yale leads 124-113
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Yale leads 124-113
In New Haven, Conn.: Yale leads 70-45    
In Ivy League play: Yale leads 81-56
Streak: Yale, 2
Last 5: Yale leads 4-1
Last 10: Yale leads 7-3
Last meeting: Yale 103, Cornell 88 (2/8/2025 at Cornell)
Last Cornell win: Cornell 65, Yale 62 (2/23/2024 at Cornell)
First meeting: Yale 49, Cornell 7 (2/25/1899 in Poughkeepsie)



A WIN OVER YALE WOULD ...
• push Cornell's record to 14-9 on the season and 6-4 in Ivy League play.
• snap Yale's 10-game win streak overall, as well as its own 10-game skid against the Bulldogs in New Haven.
• improve its Ivy record to 18-7 over its past 25 league contests.
• avoid Cornell's first four-game losing streak since the 2019-20 season when it dropped 10 in a row.
• up its all-time record in Ivy League play to 413-534 (.436).
• make Cornell 68-39 overall (.636) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• be the 1,345th in program history (1,344-1,499-2 in 125th season, .473).

LAST TIME VS. YALE
• Yale shot 63 percent from the floor overall and 48 percent from beyond the arc to remain unbeaten in Ivy League play, running past Cornell 103-88 at Newman Arena. 
• Junior Cooper Noard scored a career-high 28 points to lead four double figure scorers for the home team.
• AK Okereke, Nazir Williams and Adam Hinton each scored 14. 
• Okereke added six assists and five rebounds, while Noard hit six 3-pointers on the night as Cornell connected on 15 as a team. 
• Cornell shot 47 percent overall and assisted on 21 baskets in the defeat.
• Yale got 32 points from John Poulakidas, including three step-back 3-pointers as the shot clock was expiring in the second half to keep the Big Red at arm's length. 
• Nick Townsend added 25 points, six rebounds and five assists on 11-of-13 shooting, making the duo 23-of-31 from the floor. 
• Neither could outshine guard Bez Mbeng, who had a 15-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound and 5-steal triple-double.



LAST TIME OUT
• Dartmouth raced out to a 21-2 lead and never looked back, burying Cornell 88-49 at Leede Arena. 
• From the tip, Cornell could never get anything going. 
• The Big Red shot just 28 percent overall and hit on 3-of-27 3-pointers with 16 turnovers, trailing by as many as 45. 
• Junior Cooper Noard was the only player in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds. 
• Guy Ragland Jr. scored six points with four boards and both Jake Fiegen and Gio Panzini had five points apiece. 
• Cade Haskins led a balanced Dartmouth attacked with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Ryan Cornish posted 16 points, five assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals. 
• Jayden Williams was the third double-figure scorer with 10 points and four boards. 
• Brandon Mitchell-Day posted nine points, eight rebounds and five assists in the win. 
• The Big Green shot 49 percent from the field overall and connected on 15 3-pointers. 

NOTES FROM THE DARTMOUTH GAME
• Cornell's 49 points were the fewest in a game since it scored 45 at Syracuse on Nov. 10, 2017.
• The Big Red had just one double figure scorer (Cooper Noard - 10 points), the first time under head coach Jon Jaques that fewer than three reached 10 or more points. 
• The 39-point margin of defeat was its greatest since falling 93-49 at Pitt on Nov. 25, 2015 and its largest in an Ivy contest since falling at home to Princeton 91-51 on March 7, 2014.
• Cornell's .279 field goal percentage in the game was the first time it had shot under40 percent all season, and its lowest since making just 13-of-52 field goals (.250) at Syracuse on Nov. 10, 2017.

TRENDING UP
• The Big Red entered the weekend second in the nation in field goal percentage (.499) and effective field goal percentage (.585) and third in assists (18.7 per game). The Big Red also ranks in the top 20 in scoring offense (15th, 83.2) and 3-point field goals made (17th, 10.3). 
• Entering the weekend, the Big Red ranked as the Ivy League leader in scoring offense (83.2), assists per game (18.7), field goal percentage (.499), effective field goal percentage (.585) and fastbreak points (14.9).
• Four starters are averaging double figures in scoring (a fifth is at 9.9 ppg.), and no player in averaging more than 27.2 minutes per game (senior Nazir Williams).
• Senior Nazir Williams is averaging 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 0.9 steals over his past 15 games against Division I teams, shooting 55 percent from the floor overall (94-of-172) and 37 percent from 3-point range (22-of-59).
• Over his past 15 games against Division I teams, junior Cooper Noard is averaging 15.1 points and 3.5 rebounds while connecting on 49-of-103 shots from 3-point range (.476). He is 27-for-38 from inside the arc over that span (.711) and is 34-for-50 (.680) from two-point range for the year.
• Over his past three games, Noard is averaging 20.0 points and 4.7 rebounds while connection on 12-of-26 shots from beyond the arc (.462).
• Junior AK Okereke is posting 14.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals in his past 12 contests against Division I teams.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. is shooting 57 percent (68-of-119) from the floor in his last 17 games, including 46 percent from 3-point range (28-of-61).
• After shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc in his first two seasons, Ragland Jr. is connecting on a .411 clip over the past two (76-185).
• Junior Adam Hinton has made 12-of-17 3-pointers (.706) over his past seven contests.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Nazir Williams enters the contest with 1,130 points to rank 20th all-time at Cornell in scoring. He is one point from 19th (Steve Cram '66 with 1,131), three from 18th (Gregg Morris '68 with 1,133) and 23 from 17th (Drew Martin '86 with 1,153).
• At 12th all-time in assists with 277, Williams is four away from reaching 11th all-time and eight from joining the top 10.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. ranks 13th all-time at Cornell with 144 3-pointers and needs one to reach 12th all-time, six to hit 11th and 10 to jump into the top 10.
• With his 462 rebounds, Ragland Jr. is 38 away from becoming the 28th player in Cornell history to reach 500 career boards.

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 67-39 record (.632), a mark that is 66-28 when removing regular season guarantee games (.702).
• Over the past four seasons, the Big Red is averaging 17.9 assists per game and hitting 10.3 3-pointers per game while averaging 81.5 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .597 from two-point range.
• Cornell is 37-10 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 994 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 1,043 of 1,047 games (7,216 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 closes out its four-game road swing when it heads to Providence to face Brown on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Big Red hopes it won't be its only trip to the Pizz this season, as Ivy Madness will be hosted by Brown in less than a month.
• The Bears won the first meeting this season between the teams, 83-82 at Newman Arena on Feb. 20.