Ivy League Play Commences This Saturday at Cornell for Men's Basketball
1/15/2015 9:05:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17 |
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| (8-6) | (8-8) |
| GAMEDAY INFO | |
| LIVE VIDEO/AUDIO |  |
| ANNOUNCERS (AUDIO) | Jerry Recco & James Buford |
| STUDENT RADIO | WKCR 89.9 FM or WKCR.org |
| LIVE STATS | |
| IN-GAME UPDATES | @CULionsMBB |
QUICK HITS
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions closed non-conference play with a 112-63 win over Central Penn Saturday. The point total was the highest in the history of Levien Gym and the most since 1977. Maodo Lo led five players in double-figures with 20 points, while Kendall Jackson and Noah Springwater established career-highs with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
CORNELL'S STATUS
The Big Red check in with an 8-8 overall record and closed their non-conference schedule with a pair of wins over Howard and Alfred State. Cornell is one of the most improved teams in the country after winning just two games in 2013-14, thanks in large part to the return of senior forward Shonn Miller, who missed last season due to injury.
SERIES HISTORY
Columbia and Cornell will meet for the 222nd time, dating back to the 1902-03 season. The Lions hold a 124-97 record against the Big Red and have won six of the last eight meetings. Last season, Columbia swept the season series for the first time since 2011.
COLUMBIA IN IVY LEAGUE OPENERS
The Lions are 27-31 all-time in Ivy League openers and are 3-1 under the direction of Kyle Smith, including last season's 71-61 win over Cornell in Levien Gym.
A FAMILIAR FACE
Cornell assistant coach Jon Jaques spent the 2012-13 season on the Columbia sidelines as a graduate manager before accepting his current position at his alma mater over the summer. Jaques was a member of three Ivy League Championship teams with the Big Red and emerged as a starter on the 2009-10 NCAA Tournament squad that made a run to the “Sweet 16.”
LEVIEN GYM RECORD
Columbia's 112 points against Central Penn established a new Levien Gymnasium record, eclipsing the old mark of 109 set by the Lions on Dec. 29, 2007 against Polytechnic. It is the highest single-game point total since the program set the record of 118 on Jan. 12, 1977 against Wagner.
MOBB DEEP
In their last five games, the Lions' bench has outscored its opponents' reserves, 185-69. Against Hofstra, Columbia held a 33-4 edge in bench points. At UConn, the trio of Jeff Coby, Steve Frankoski and Luke Petrasek teamed up for 27 of Columbia's 29 bench scoring. The Lions posted a 17-0 edge in bench points in their win over Colgate, they held a 24-8 advantage against Stony Brook on Jan. 6 and outscored Central Penn 68-20.
AGENT 0
First-year Kyle Castlin's scoring average of 9.6 points per game and field goal percentage of 49.5 percent leads all Ancient Eight neophytes. He has started all 13 games for Columbia and has a pair of Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors under his belt (Dec. 22, Jan. 5).
TRENDING UPWARD
After a slow shooting start, Columbia looks like it is returning to its 2013-14 form, converting on .461 of its attempts from the field and .384 from beyond the arc in its last eight games. In their first six games, the Lions were just shooting at a .409 clip overall and .296 from downtown.
FRANKIE SAYS RELAX
A big reason for the Lions' spike in shooting has been the play of Steve Frankoski. In his last six games, the tri-captain is averaging 12.5 points off the bench, while shooting 55.1 percent from the floor and 16-of-32 (50 percent) from beyond the arc. His hot stretch has moved him up to sixth on the all-time 3-point field goal list (149) and is two shy of cracking the top-five.
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 4.7 per game and is pulling down 6.1 rebounds per game, which is the best among guards in the Ancient Eight. Cohen narrowly missed posting just the third Ivy League triple-double ever with his eight-point, 10-rebound, nine-assist effort against Stony Brook on Jan. 6.
MORE ON IKE
Isaac Cohen's 10 assists against Colgate was the most for a Lion since Brian Barbour posted 12 against Elon on Dec. 29, 2012. He also handed out five or more assists in Columbia's first five games this season, the longest stretch for a Columbia player since 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.
SWITCHING IT UP
Columbia changed its starting lineup for the first time against Colgate on Dec. 28, inserting Jeff Coby into the first five in place of Chris McComber. Since then, the Lions have used a different quintet to open things up in three of the last four games.
