ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will honor its five seniors and close out its regular season at home when it meets Columbia on Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• Prior to the contest, the Big Red will honor seniors Chris Cain, Hayden Franson, Ryan Kiachian, Guy Ragland Jr. and Nazir Williams — the first senior class in Big Red history to qualify for postseason all four years.
• The Big Red has already qualified for Ivy Madness for the fourth consecutive year and will attempt to clinch its second consecutive conference runner-up finish with a win over the Lions.
• Cornell has won three straight games, averaging 92.3 points and connecting on more than 16 3-pointers over that span.
• Cornell entering the weekend second in Division I in assists (19.2 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.



GAME INFORMATION
Columbia at Cornell
DATE & TIME: Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Columbia 12-14 (1-12 Ivy); Cornell 16-10 (8-5 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Columbia leads 131-110
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

THE SERIES
Overall: Columbia leads 131-109
In New York, N.Y.: Columbia leads 80-39    
In Ivy League play: Cornell leads 67-66
On neutral courts: N/A
Streak: Cornell, 7
Last 5: Cornell leads 5-0
Last 10: Cornell leads 8-2
Last meeting: Cornell 98, Columbia 76 (3/9/2024 at Columbia)
Last Columbia win: Columbia 75, Cornell 61 (1/18/2020 at Columbia)
First meeting: Columbia 29, Cornell 13 (1/17/1903 at Cornell)



A WIN OVER COLUMBIA WOULD ...
• close the regular season with a 17-10 record and in second place in the Ancient Eight at 9-5 in conference play.
• enter Ivy Madness with a four-game win streak, the longest among the four teams to qualify.
• sweep the season series with Columbia and up its win streak in the series to nine games.
• improve its Ivy record to 21-8 over its past 29 league contests.
• up its all-time record in Ivy League play to 416-535 (.437).
• make Cornell 71-40 overall (.640) since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• be the 1,348th in program history (1,347-1,500-2 in 125th season, .473).

LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA
• The Cornell men's basketball team bolted out to a big first-half lead and shot 63 percent from the floor overall to top Columbia 94-83 in the Ivy League opener for both teams at Levien Gymnasium. 
• Sophomore Jacob Beccles scored a career-high 23 points and tied a school record by hitting all five of his 3-point attempts, while junior Cooper Noard made 6-of-8 of his own on his way to 20 points. 
• The Big Red shot .633 as a team (No. 9 all-time in a game at Cornell and made 14-of-27 shots from beyond the arc. 
• AK Okereke had 12 points, five assists and three blocked shots and Nazir Williams rounded out four double figure scorers with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
• Columbia put four in double figures with Kenny Noland leading the way with 19 points and six assists. Avery Brown scored 18 and Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa chipped in 15 points and six assists, though the Ivy League's second-leading scorer was held without a point in the decisive first half. 
• Cornell used a pair of 11-0 first half runs to vault to a 51-31 halftime lead and cruised in the second half.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Cornell scored the game's first 10 points and raced its way to a fourth consecutive appearance at Ivy Madness with a 102-70 victory over Princeton in front of a nationally-televised audience. 
• Cornell's offense shot 64 percent from the floor overall, connecting on 20-of-33 3-pointers and assisting on 29 of its 38 baskets in a clinic against the high-powered Tigers. 
• All five starters scored at least 13 points and were +26 or better during their minutes on the floor. 
• Senior guard Nazir Williams made 6-of-7 shots from the floor, including his only two 3-point shots, for 14 points and added 12 assists (No. 2 all-time in a single game at Cornell) and four rebounds to pace the Big Red offense. 
• Junior Cooper Noard led the scoring with 19 points, while senior Guy Ragland Jr. tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. 
• Sophomore Jake Fiegen scored 16 points with six boards and AK Okereke notched 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists while making 6-of-7 shots.
• Xaivian Lee led Princeton with 14 points and five assists.

NOTES FROM THE PRINCETON GAME
• Cornell's 20 3-pointers matched its most in a game against a Division I opponent (at Brown in 2009-10) and ranks second all-time (22 vs. SUNY Delhi in 2022-23).
• Senior Nazir Williams' career-high 12 assists also ranked as the second-most in a single game in Cornell history (Ka'Ron Barnes with 13 vs. Lafayette on Jan. 5, 2003).
• Both Cooper Noard and Jake Fiegen converted four-point plays in the win, the first time Cornell had two in a single game since Adam Gore '09 hit twice at the Palestra during a 94-92 triumph on March 7, 2008.
• The team registered 29 assists, its 11th game this year with 20 or more.
• All five starters scored at least 13 points and were +26 or better during their minutes on the floor - though none played more than 27. As a unit, the starting five made 30-of-42 shots (71 percent) and 16-of-26 shots from beyond the arc (62 percent).
• Six of the top 17 single-game marks for 3-pointers made have been accomplished this year under first-year head coach Jon Jaques '10.
• The team's .604 percentage from beyond the arc marked the 14th game in school history where Cornell has made at least 10 3-pointers and shot 60 percent or better.
• Cornell's 32-point margin of victory was the second-most in the 123-year-old, 241-game series, trailing just a 63-30 victory over the Tigers on March 9, 1985 at Barton Hall.

TRENDING UP
• The Big Red entered the weekend first in the country in effective field goal percentage (.587), second in assists (19.2 per game), third in 3-point field goals made (11.2), fourth in field goal percentage (.495) and eighth in scoring offense (84.5). 
• Entering the weekend, the Big Red ranked as the Ivy League leader in scoring offense (84.5), assists per game (19.2), field goal percentage (.495), effective field goal percentage (.587), fastbreak points (14.6) and 3-pointers made (11.2).
• All five starters are averaging double figures in scoring and no player in averaging more than 27.3 minutes per game (senior Nazir Williams).
• Senior Nazir Williams is averaging 16.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 0.9 steals over his past 19 games against Division I teams, shooting 53 percent from the floor overall (114-of-216).
• Over his past 19 games against Division I teams, junior Cooper Noard is averaging 15.3 points and 3.3 rebounds while connecting on 63-of-136 shots from 3-point range (.463). He is 34-for-46 from inside the arc over that span (.739) and is 41-for-58 (.707) from two-point range for the year.
• Junior AK Okereke is posting 14.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals in his past 16 contests against Division I teams.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. is shooting 55 percent (85-of-155) from the floor in his past 20 games, including 46 percent from 3-point range (37-of-81).
• After shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc in his first two seasons, Ragland Jr. is connecting on a .415 clip over the past two (85-of-205).
• In his past three games, sophomore Jake Fiegen is averaging 16.3 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the floor (22-of-40) and 50 percent from 3-point range (16-of-32) while making 4.0 3-pointers per game. 
• Junior Adam Hinton has made 15-of-26 3-pointers (.577) over his past 11 contests.
• Cornell has made 64 3-pointers over its past four games (16.0 per game) on .432 shooting (64-of-148).
• Over that same span, Cornell has a 89:37 assist:turnover ratio (2.41).

MILESTONE WATCH
• Senior Nazir Williams enters the contest with 1,187 points to rank 16th all-time at Cornell in scoring. He is 15 points from 15th (Chris Wroblewski '12 with 1,202).
• With 298 career assists, Williams is two from becoming the eighth player in school history to reach 300.
• Senior Guy Ragland Jr. ranks 11th all-time at Cornell with 153 3-pointers and needs one to jump into the top 10 (Adam Gore '09 with 154).
• With his 489 rebounds, Ragland Jr. is 11 away from becoming the 28th player in Cornell history to reach 500 career boards
• Ragland Jr. will be playing in his 108th career game, two shy of reaching the top five all-time.
• He has upped his career total to 931 points, 69 away from becoming the school's 29th 1,000-point scorer. 
• With 73 3-pointers this season, junior Cooper Noard is five from posting a top 10 single-season mark at Cornell.
• Junior AK Okereke has 108 assists, just one shy of reaching the single-season top 20 (109).

TEAM NOTES TO KNOW
• Since its return from COVID, Cornell men's basketball has posted a 70-40 record (.636), a mark that is 69-29 when removing regular season guarantee games (.704).
• Over the past four seasons, the Big Red is averaging 18.0 assists per game and hitting 10.5 3-pointers per game while averaging 81.9 points per game. Over that stretch, Cornell is shooting .595 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 16 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 39-10 (.796) 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 998 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 1,047 of 1,051 games (7,280 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 Cornell men's basketball team will head to Ivy Madness where it will play Dartmouth in the second semifinal on Saturday, March 15 at 2 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.
• The contest will be televised on ESPNU and simulcast on ESPN+.
• The teams split the season series, with the Big Green's 88-49 win on Feb. 15 to snap Cornell's five-game win streak in the series.