Men's Basketball Begins Home Stand Against Fairleigh Dickinson Tuesday
11/24/2014 1:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GAME NOTES (.pdf)
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 • 7 P.M. |
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| (2-1) | (2-1) |
| GAMEDAY INFO | |
| LIVE VIDEO/AUDIO |  |
| ANNOUNCERS | Jerry Recco & James Buford |
| LIVE STATS | |
| IN-GAME UPDATES | @CULionsMBB |
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions earned their first road win of the young season, topping Lehigh, 54-44, Sunday. Columbia raced out to a 16-point lead in the first half, but had to hold off a scrappy Mountain Hawk squad for much of the second half. Jeff Coby posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON'S STATUS
The Knights will end a six-day layoff when they pay a visit to Levien Gym. FDU knocked off Saint Joseph's, 58-57, on a Mustafaa Jones 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining on Nov. 14 to kick off the season. The Knights then coasted to a 41-point victory over their sister school FDU Florham before suffering a 61-44 defeat at Rutgers on Nov. 19.
SERIES HISTORY
Although the two campuses are separated by a mere 11 miles, Columbia and Fairleigh Dickinson will meet for just the third time on Tuesday. The Lions have won each of the two previous meetings, including an 82-59 triumph in Levien Gym last December.
COLUMBIA AGAINST THE NEC
Against schools currently in the Northeast Conference, the Lions hold a 34-22 all-time record. Columbia's most common NEC foe is St. Francis Brooklyn, who they are 10-8 against. This will be the second of three games against NEC programs. The Lions topped Wagner in their season opener and will face the Terriers at the end of December.
JAZZY JEFF
Sophomore Jeff Coby had a breakout game at Lehigh on Nov. 14, notching 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for his first career double-double. Both totals marked personal-bests.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
Isaac Cohen and Jeff Coby each recorded double-figure rebounds at Lehigh on Nov. 14 becoming the first Lion duo to pull down 10+ boards in the same game since Dec. 8, 2008 when Asenso Ampin and Jason Miller recorded 11 each.
LIONS GROUND MOUNTAIN HAWKS
The 44 points allowed at Lehigh on Nov. 14 was the fewest by a Lions' team since a 58-41 win against Penn on Feb. 23, 2013. Columbia also held the Mountain Hawks without a 3-point field goal (0-for-13), marking the first time a Lion opponent failed to register a trey since Michigan State went 0-for-5 on Nov. 15, 2013.
GLUE GUY
Every team needs one and that's what the Lions have in junior Isaac Cohen. The 6-4 guard is currently leading the Ivy League in assists at 5.7 per game and is pulling down 9.0 rebounds per game, good for second in the conference.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Columbia is 82-32 all-time in home openers and have won six of its last seven debuts in Levien Gymnasium after dispatching Wagner, 70-56, on Nov. 18.
BLOCK PARTY
With his three rejections in the first two games of the season, senior Cory Osetkowski moved into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time block list. He now has seven on the season and has 75 for his career and is 26 shy of Jamal Adams, who sits in fourth.
KLEPTOMANIAC
Maodo Lo set a new personal standard with five steals against Wagner on Nov. 18. He became the first Lion to record five or more swipes since Brian Barbour was credited with five steals against Brown in March of 2013. He is the early Ancient Eight leader in the category, averaging 3.0 swipes per contest.
CHRIS ROCKS
Sophomore forward Chris McComber has made astrong impression in Columbia's first two games. In his first career start at Stony Brook on Nov. 14, the 6-8 Canadian drilled 4-of-8 from downtown and finished with 13 points in 28 minutes of action. He also added 12 points in 31 minutes against Wagner on Nov. 18. Last season, McComber logged just 13 total minutes on the season after battling mononucleosis early in 2013-14.
THE LO DOWN
Junior guard Maodo Lo picked up right where he left off last season, netting 19 points and tying a career-best with four steals in the season opener at Stony Brook on Nov. 14. For his efforts, he earned a spot on the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll.
THE LIONS' DEN
Last season, Columbia won 14 games in Levien Gymnasium, the most since the building opened its doors in 1974. In the Kyle Smith era, the Lions are 39-21 in front of their home fans.
UP FOR A CHALLENGE
Columbia will play eight games against teams that were widely projected as NCAA Tournament squads in the preseason. The Lions face Stony Brook twice - the early favorite in the America East, American - a 2014 NCAA tourney team from the Patriot League, Kentucky - the preseason No. 1 team in the nation, Hofstra - the preseason pick in the CAA, UConn - the defending national champion, and Harvard twice - the prohibitive No. 1 team in the Ivy League.
