ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team begins a three-game home stand to close out the regular season when it welcomes Penn on Friday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• With three games to play, Cornell sits tied for third in the Ivy League standings with Princeton at 6-5, a game behind Dartmouth (7-4) and a game clear of Brown (5-6) and Harvard (5-6), with only the top four teams qualifying for the Ivy League Tournament.
• The Big Red is coming off a strong bounceback weekend, dropping a hard-fought 92-88 road contest to Ivy League champ Yale on Friday before climbing back to third after knocking off Brown, 85-81.
• The win snapped a four-game skid, including the first three of a four-game road swing.
• Cornell will now close with three consecutive home contests starting on Friday against the Quakers.
• It will be first matchup in Ithaca between former captain Jon Jaques '10 and his collegiate head coach, Steve Donahue on the floor where they had such great success together, winning three Ivy League titles and advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2010.
• Cornell entering the weekend second 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.
• 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.
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GAME INFORMATION
Penn at Cornell
DATE & TIME: Friday, February 28 at 7 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Penn 7-17 (3-8 Ivy); Cornell 14-10 (6-5 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads 162-79
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Penn leads 162-79
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Penn leads 68-51    
In Ivy League play: Penn leads 97-38
On neutral courts: N/A
Streak: Cornell, 3
Last 5: Cornell leads 4-1
Last 10: Penn leads 6-4
Last meeting: Cornell 86, Penn 76 (1/18/2025 at Penn)
Last Penn win: Penn 92, Cornell 86 (2/4/2023 at Penn)
First meeting: Penn 31, Cornell 12 (2/18/1904 at Penn)



A WIN OVER PENN WOULD ...
• push Cornell's record to 15-10 on the season and 7-5 in Ivy League play.
• improve its Ivy record to 19-8 over its past 27 league contests.
• up its all-time record in Ivy League play to 414-535 (.436).
• make Cornell 69-40 overall (.633) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• be the 1,346th in program history (1,345-1,500-2 in 125th season, .473).

LAST TIME VS. PENN
• The Cornell men's basketball team used a late first half run and a dominant effort on the glass to improve to 2-0 in Ivy League play with an 86-76 victory over Penn at the Palestra. 
• Cornell held a 43-24 edge on the glass and outscored the Quakers 13-0 in second chance points to control the game once it took the lead with a late first half run. 
• The Big Red connected on nine consecutive shots as part of a game-changing 17-4 spurt to close the half and send the visitors into the locker room with a 42-31 edge.
• Cooper Noard's 19 points led four Big Red players in double figures, with AK Okereke (15 points, three rebounds, four assists) joining him. 
• Senior Nazir Williams scored 14 points, Jake Fiegen added 12 more and both players chipped in four rebounds. 
• Senior Ryan Kiachian notched six points and a game-high eight rebounds and Jacob Beccles added eight points, five rebounds and a pair of assists in the win. 
• Ethan Roberts scored a game-high 26 points for Penn, who turned the ball over just eight times in the loss. 
• Sam Brown scored 15, AJ Levine netted 13 and Nick Spinoso scored 12 with seven assists and six boards.
 

LAST TIME OUT
• Junior AK Okereke hit the go-ahead basket late in the second half, then blocked the game-tying shot attempt with less than three seconds remaining to help Cornell to an 85-81 victory over Brown at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
• Okereke's bucket along with his third blocked shot of the day was the difference in an exciting, end-to-end contest that put the Big Red into third place in the Ancient Eight standings with three games remaining. 
• Cornell's effort included 21 offensive rebounds that resulted in 19 second chance points and an impressive 43-33 advantage on the backboards.
• Cooper Noard scored 23 points as all five starters were in double figures - the junior hit 8-of-11 shots and 5-of-8 3-pointers.
•  Guy Ragland Jr. had a monster game with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Nazir Williams scored 13 points and both Okereke and Jake Fiegen tallied 10. 
• Okereke added six assists, four rebounds and two steals along with the three blocked shots. 
• Landon Lewis had 20 points and six rebounds to lead the Bears, while AJ Lesburt netted 16.

NOTES FROM THE BROWN GAME
• Cornell, which sports all five starters in double figures, actually had all five reach double figures in the same game for the first time since topping Samford on Nov. 8.
• The Big Red's 21 offensive rebounds were the most against a Division I opponent since it ripped down 22 at Syracuse on Dec. 17, 2022.
• Guy Ragland Jr. is the first Big Red player to post a stat line with at least 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a single game since both Matt Morgan (31 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) and Stone Gettings (26 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) did it in a 107-101 triple overtime win over Princeton on Feb. 16, 2018.
• Cornell had a +10 rebound advantage (43-33) over Brown, its fourth game this season with a double-digit rebounding edge.
• The Big Red had its 12th game with at least 18 assists and its second straight on the road.
• After shooting .394 from the floor, Cornell posted its lowest field goal percentage in a win since shooting .373 in a 56-53 win at Dartmouth on Feb. 2, 2024.

TRENDING UP
• The Big Red entered the weekend second in assists (18.7 per game) and fifth in effective field goal percentage (.577). The Big Red also ranks in the top 20 in field goal percentage (12th, .490), 3-point field goals made (13th, 10.6) and scoring offense (14th, 83.5). 
• Entering the weekend, the Big Red ranked as the Ivy League leader in assists per game (18.7), effective field goal percentage (.577) and fastbreak points (14.6) and is second in 3-pointers made (10.6), scoring offense (83.5), field goal percentage (.490) and free-throw percentage (.751).
• All five starters are averaging double figures in scoring and no player in averaging more than 27.7 minutes per game (senior Nazir Williams).
• Senior Nazir Williams is averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.8 steals over his past 17 games against Division I teams, shooting 51 percent from the floor overall (104-of-203).
• Over his past 17 games against Division I teams, junior Cooper Noard is averaging 14.8 points and 3.5 rebounds while connecting on 54-of-118 shots from 3-point range (.458). He is 30-for-41 from inside the arc over that span (.732) and is 37-for-53 (.698) from two-point range for the year.
• Junior AK Okereke is posting 15.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals in his past 14 contests against Division I teams.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. is shooting 53 percent (76-of-143) from the floor in his last 18 games, including 44 percent from 3-point range (32-of-73).
• After shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc in his first two seasons, Ragland Jr. is connecting on a .406 clip over the past two (80-197).
• Junior Adam Hinton has made 14-of-23 3-pointers (.609) over his past nine contests.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Nazir Williams enters the contest with 1,162 points to rank 17th all-time at Cornell in scoring. He is nine points from 16th (wallace Prather '02 with 1,171).
• At 12th all-time in assists with 284, Williams is one from joining the top 10.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. ranks 12th all-time at Cornell with 148 3-pointers and needs two to hit 11th and six to jump into the top 10.
• With his 477 rebounds, Ragland Jr. is 23 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 68-40 record (.630), a mark that is 67-29 when removing regular season guarantee games (.698).
• 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 81.6 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .594 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 996 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 1,045 of 1,049 games (7,243 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
• Two teams jockeying for postseason positioning will collide when Cornell and Princeton meet on Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The contest will be televised on ESPNU.
• Cornell will be playing for its first season sweep of the Tigers since the 2019-20 campaign after claiming an 85-76 victory over Princeton on Jan. 25 at Jadwin Gymnasium.
• Princeton leads the all-time series 154-86, though the teams have split the past 10 meetings.