Men's Basketball Hosts Colgate Sunday
12/26/2014 1:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GAME NOTES (.pdf)
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28• 2 P.M. |
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| (6-4) | (3-9) |
| GAMEDAY INFO | |
| LIVE VIDEO/AUDIO |  |
| ANNOUNCERS | Alex Oberweger '92CC '01BUS & James Buford |
| LIVE STATS | |
| IN-GAME UPDATES | @CULionsMBB |
QUICK HITS
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions gave the defending National Champions a scare, but UConn caught fire from 3-point range down the stretch to come away with a 80-65 win Monday night in Bridgeport. Maodo Lo reached the 20-point plateau for the second straight game, scoring a game-high 24.
COLGATE'S STATUS
The Raiders will aim to end a mini two-game slide after defeats to New Hampshire and Syracuse. Colgate is a sound offensive team that shoots .441 from the field and .332 from downtown.
SERIES HISTORY
Columbia and Colgate will meet for the 26th time on Monday with the Lions holding a 16-9 edge in the series. Columbia has won four-straight in the series.
COLUMBIA VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Columbia has a rich history playing teams in the Patriot League. The Lions are 126-97 against teams currently in the conference. Columbia's most common opponent is Army, who they have faced 57 times. This season, the Lions are 3-1 against the Patriot League.
SCHOOL TIES
Columbia's Maodo Lo and Colgate's Alex Ramon played together at Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Providence, Rhode Island. While there, the duo were NEPSAC Class AA semifinalists 2011-2012.
CHAIRMAN MAODO
Junior Maodo Lo tied a career-high with 29 points to lift Columbia to a five-point win over Hofstra Dec. 20. Lo's seven 3-pointers tied a Levien Gym record and matched the second most makes from beyond the arc in a single-game for the program. The Berlin native's 15 tries from 3-point land was the most attempts by any Lion in program history.
MOBB DEEP
In Columbia's last two games, the Lions' bench has outscored their opponents' reserves, 62-16. Against Hofstra Columbia held a 33-4 edge in bench points and at UConn, the trio of Jeff Coby, Steve Frankoski and Luke Petrasek teamed up for 27 of Columbia's 29 bench scoring.
LUKE SKYWALKER
Sophomore Luke Petrasek returned to action at Kentucky Dec. 10 after missing the first seven games due to illness. Petrasek played nine minutes against the Wildcats and is averaging nine points over his last two games.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
The Lions' defense this season has been superb thus far. They are allowing just 56.3 points per game and Columbia opponents are aslo shooting .276 from downtown. Both are tops in the Ivy League and rank among the top-20 in the NCAA.
LOCKING IT UP
Columbia held opponents under 50 points in three straight games from Nov. 23-29 for the first time since 2002 when the Lions did it in four consecutive games from Jan. 15-Feb. 1. (At Albany - L, 40-41, Cornell - W, 56-40, at Cornell - W, 54-42, at Princeton - L, 41-49). For the season, Columbia has held opponents under 50 points on four occasions.
GLUE GUY
Every team needs one and that's what the Lions have in junior Isaac Cohen. The 6-4 guard is currently second in the Ivy League in assists at 4.4 per game and is pulling down 6.4 rebounds per game, which is the best among guards in the Ancient Eight.
MORE ON IKE
Cohen handed out five or more assists in Columbia's first five games this season, the longest stretch for a Columbia player since Brian Barbour accomplished the feat in six-straight spanning two seasons (last five games of 2011-12 and first game of 2012-13). The Orlando, Florida, native also had 10 rebounds in back-to-back contests against Lehigh and FDU, becoming the first player to record double-figure rebounds in consecutive games since Mark Cisco hauled in 10 or more in three-straight during Ivy League play in 2012.
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 currently leading the Ancient Eight and is 15th in the NCAA in the category, averaging 2.6 swipes per contest.
HANGING WITH THE BEST
Columbia gave the No. 1 team in the land its best shot, going ahead 11-0 to start the game and leading Kentucky for the first 27 minutes of the game. Despite eventually falling in Lexington, the 10-point decision was the smallest margin of victory for the Wildcats this season.
THE LIONS' DEN
So far, the Lions are continuing their home dominance with a 5-1 record and have won three of those games by double figures. 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 42-21 in front of their home fans.
