ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will have a chance to Dance, but to do so it will need to get past defending tournament champion and 2025 regular season titleholder Yale on Sunday, March 16 at 12 p.m. at Brown's Pizzitola Sports Center. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Dave Flemming and Noah Savage on the call.

• The Big Red will be looking for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since advancing to the Sweet 16 — a team that Cornell head coach Jon Jaques '10 was a starter on and team captain for.
• Cornell has also reached the NCAAs in 1954, 1988, 2008, 2009 and 2010. 
• The Big Red shot 53 percent from the floor, held Dartmouth to 39 percent shooting and cruised to the final with an 87-71 triumph over Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon.
• Cornell made 10 3-pointers against the conference's top 3-point defense and connected on 22-of-31 shots from inside the arc (.710), becoming the nation's top two-point shooting offense on the season (.608).
• Junior AK Okereke scored 25 points with nine rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocks in a dominant performance.
• Cornell entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing in sole possession of second place in the Ancient Eight with a 9-5 record, its second straight regular season runner-up finish.
• The Big Red enters the Ivy Madness championship game as winners of five straight, averaging 92.8 points and connecting on 14.6 3-pointers with 21.8 assists over that span.
• Cornell entered the week pacing the country in effective field goal percentage and is among the top six in Division I in assists, 3-point field goals made, field goal percentage and scoring offense.
• First-year head coach Jon Jaques '10 was an assistant coach on all four previous Ivy Tournament teams and was a captain and starter on the Big Red's 2010 Sweet 16 team.
• He is the first men's head coach to lead a team into Ivy Madness in their first year directing a program, and he is also the winningest first-year head coach in the history of Cornell basketball (18 wins and counting).
• Cornell entering the weekend second in Division I in assists (19.3 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 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 is one of four teams (Delaware, Maryland and Mississippi) in the country to have all five starters averaging double figures in scoring and has 10 total players seeing double-digit minutes.
• Cornell 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.
• 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
(2) Cornell vs. (1) Yale
DATE & TIME: Sunday, March 16 at 12 p.m.
SITE: Pizzitola Sports Center – Providence, R.I.
RECORDS: Cornell 18-10 (9-5 Ivy); Yale 21-7 (13-1 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Yale leads 125-113
BROADCAST: ESPN2 / ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Yale leads 125-113
On neutral courts: Yale leads 5-1    
In Ivy League play: Yale leads 81-57
Streak: Yale, 3
Last 5: Yale leads 4-1
Last 10: Yale leads 7-3
Last meeting: Yale 92, Cornell 88 (2/21/2025 at Yale)
Last Cor 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 ...
• clinch the program's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and the first since reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2010 (15 years ago).
• give Cornell its first Ivy League Tournament championship in its fifth appearance.
• extend its win streak to six games.
• make Cornell 73-40 overall (.646) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• be the 1,350th in program history (1,349-1,500-2 in 125th season, .474).

LAST TIME VS. YALE
• Cornell gave Yale all it could handle, but the reigning Ivy League Tournament champs clinched a share of 2025 Ancient Eight title following a thrilling 92-88 victory at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. 
• Trailing by two late, the Big Red got its hands on a loose ball and AK Okereke, who had a career-high 30 points, looked to have an open shot under the basket. 
• Yale's Casey Simmons came from the weak side to block the shot, when was on the receiving end of the run-out break for a dunk to give the home team a four-point lead with 1:16 left. 
• Okereke finished the evening with 30 points, seven assists and four rebounds, while Jake Fiegen also added a career-high with 23 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals. 
• Nazir Williams was the third double figure scorer for Cornell with 19 along with six rebounds and six assists.
• Nick Townsend led Yale with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to pace four in double figures, while Simmons added 21 to go along with eight boards. 

LAST TIME OUT
• For the first time in program history, the Cornell men's basketball team will play in an Ivy League Tournament final after dismantling Dartmouth 87-71 at the Pizzitola Sports Center. 
• Junior AK Okereke put together a dominant 25-points, nine-rebounds, four-assist, four blocked shot and four-steal day on 10-of-15 shooting to lead three double figure scorers. 
• Cornell shot 53 percent from the floor, connected on 10 3-pointers against one of the nation's top perimeter defenses and avenged a 39-point loss to Dartmouth in Hanover less than a month ago. 
• Sophomore Jake Fiegen chipped in 16 points and five rebounds and senior Nazir Williams scored 11with five boards. 
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. scored nine with six assists and junior Cooper Noard posted nine points and seven boards. 
• Dartmouth got 20 points and seven rebounds from Brandon Mitchell-Day, while Ryan Cornish scored 15, though he was hounded into 6-of-18 shooting and 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.

CORNELL ALL-IVY SELECTIONS
• For the third consecutive year, senior Nazir Williams (second team) has been named All-Ivy and was joined by first-time selections AK Okereke (second team) and Cooper Noard (honorable mention).
• Williams, a second-team pick in 2024 and an honorable mention choice in 2023, averaged 14.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 51-38-82 split. They were even better in conference play at 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists on 50-40-80 shooting.
• Okereke averaged 13.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks on 59-32-77 shooting. In league play it was 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.2 steals on 63-46-78 shooting.
• Noard shot 50-44-84 with 13.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while connecting on 2.89 3-pointers per night. He also upped his game in conference play, averaging 14.5 points and 3.4 rebounds on 54-40-88 shooting with 3.2 3-pointers per contest.

NOTES FROM THE DARTMOUTH GAME
• AK Okereke's four blocked shots tied Yale's EJ Jarvis (2023 vs. Cornell) as the tournament's single-game record
• He became the first player in Cornell history to surpass 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocked shots in a single game.
• Cornell has six consecutive games with at least 18 assists and no more than 11 turnovers after posting 18 assists and just nine turnovers (fourth game with single-digit turnovers).
• The Big Red made 22-of-31 field goals (.710) from inside the 3-point arc
• It was just the seventh game this season that Dartmouth gave up double figures in made 3-pointers — and the second time against the Big Red.

TRENDING UP
• The Big Red entered the weekend first in the country in effective field goal percentage (.589), second in assists (19.3 per game), fourth in 3-point field goals made (11.3) and field goal percentage (.498) and sixth in scoring offense (85.0). 
• Entering the weekend, the Big Red ranked as the Ivy League leader in scoring offense (85.0), assists per game (19.3), field goal percentage (.498), effective field goal percentage (.589), fastbreak points (14.9) and 3-pointers made (11.3).
• All five starters are averaging double figures in scoring (one of four teams in the country) and no player in averaging more than 27.2 minutes per game (senior Nazir Williams).
• In fact, no Big Red player ranks in the top 20 in minutes played in the Ivy League.
• Not only is Cornell a prolific 3-point shooting team, but the Big Red ranks first in the nation in two-point percentage (.608), ahead of Creighton (.605). 
• Cornell has used the same starting lineup all season except for the season opener against Marywood when Nazir Williams was held out, as well as the win over Columbia when Cornell started four seniors, two who made their first starts.
• Senior Nazir Williams is averaging 16.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 0.9 steals over his past 21 games against Division I teams, shooting 53 percent from the floor overall (127-of-238).
• Over his past 20 games against Division I teams, junior Cooper Noard is averaging 14.9 points and 3.6 rebounds while connecting on 67-of-146 shots from 3-point range (.459). He is 38-for-50 from inside the arc over that span (.760) and is 45-for-62 (.726) from two-point range for the year.
• Noard is one of just two players that stand 6-2 or shorter that rank in the nation's top 30 in effective field goal percentage (16th at .658, just below 6-2 guard Masen Miller of North Dakota State, .663).
• In league games, Noard paced all Ivy players in both 3-point field goals (3.2 per game) and 3-point percentage (.500).
• Junior AK Okereke is posting 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.4 steals in his past 18 contests against Division I teams.
• Okereke paced the Ivy League in assist:turnover ratio (2.9) in Ivy League contests.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. is shooting 54 percent (93-of-171) from the floor in his past 22 games, including 45 percent from 3-point range (42-of-94).
• After shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc in his first two seasons, Ragland Jr. is connecting on a .413 clip over the past two (90-of-218).
• In his past six games, sophomore Jake Fiegen is averaging 14.7 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 52 percent from the floor (30-of-58) and 43 percent from 3-point range (19-of-44) while making 3.2 3-pointers per game. 
• Junior Adam Hinton has made 16-of-31 3-pointers (.516) over his past 13 contests.
• Cornell has made 87 3-pointers over its past six games (14.5 per game) on .414 shooting (87-of-210).
• Over that same span, Cornell has a 128:54 assist:turnover ratio (2.37).

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Nazir Williams enters the contest with 1,224 points to rank 13th all-time at Cornell in scoring. He is eight points from 12th (Cody Toppert '05 with 1.232), 17 from 11th (Robert Hatter '17 with 1,241) and 29 from the top 10 (Chuck Rolles '56 with 1,253 points).
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. ranks 10th all-time at Cornell with 158 3-pointers and needs four to jump to ninth (Ray Mercedes '01 with 162).
• With his 492 rebounds, Ragland Jr. is eight away from becoming the 28th player in Cornell history to reach 500 career boards.
• Ragland Jr. will be playing in his 110th career game, the fifth-most in a game in school history.
• He has upped his career total to 955 points, 45 away from becoming the school's 29th 1,000-point scorer. 
• With 77 3-pointers this season, junior Cooper Noard is one from posting a top 10 single-season mark at Cornell, two from reaching ninth and three from No. 8.
• Junior AK Okereke has 115 assists, a mark that ranks No. 18 in a single season in school history. He is one from reaching 17th and four to march to 16th.
• As a team, Cornell's 314 3-pointers is 12 from hitting the mark of 326 during the 2009-10 season.
• The Big Red has accumulated 539 assists as a team (third all-time) and is within striking distance of the school record of 544 set last year, needing five to tie and six to break.

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 72-40 record (.643), a mark that is 71-29 when removing regular season guarantee games (.710).
• Over the past four seasons, the Big Red is averaging 18.1 assists per game and hitting 10.5 3-pointers per game while averaging 82.1 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .597 from two-point range.
• Jon Jaques '10, a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year for first year DI head coaches, is the winningest first-year mentor in Cornell men's basketball history with his 18 wins (Mike Dement was 15-11 in 1986-87, Scott Thompson was 15-11 in 1996-97).
• The Big Red's four consecutive Ivy League Tournaments marks the first time a Cornell senior class has qualified to compete in four consecutive postseasons.
• Cornell is 40-10 (.800) 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.
• Cornell has hit a 3-pointer in 1,000 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 1,049 of 1,053 games (7,166 3-pointers over its current streak and 7,303 all-time).

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). All four players that have seen action have lifted their teams to significant improvements from the prior year.
• Boothby started all 32 games for William & Mary, averaging 7.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 37 percent from 3-point range for former head coach Brian Earl and the 17-15 Tribe. W&M improved by seven games from the 2023-24 season.
• Gray has started all 34 contests for the Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament champion Zips (28-6), averaging 9.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals on 50 percent shooting for an NCAA Tournament team. The Zips have four more wins overall and in conference play.
• Hansen started 20 of 33 games for the Revolutionaries (21-12), averaging 5.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 47 percent shooting. GW improved this season by five wins.
• Manon has started 25 of 32 games for Vanderbilt (20-12), averaging 6.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game on 54 percent shooting. The Commodores improved from last season by 11 wins (9-23).
• Williams played in just nine contests with five starts at Prairie View due to injuries, averaging 0.3 points and 0.6 rebounds
• 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
• A win in the Ivy League championship game would earn the Big Red its sixth NCAA Tournament berth in school history.
• If it is not sent to Dayton for the First Four on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 18-19, it would be sent to one of other eight sites — Denver, Colo., Providence, R.I., Lexington, Ky., Wichita, Kan., Cleveland, Ohio, Milwaukee, Wis., Raleigh, N.C., or Seattle, Wash.
• A loss would would end the 2024-25 season.