Men's Basketball Takes On Central Penn Saturday in Final Non-Conference Tilt
1/9/2015 10:53:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 10 |
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| (7-5) | (9-6) |
| GAMEDAY INFO | |
| LIVE VIDEO/AUDIO |  |
| ANNOUNCERS | Jerry Recco & Mike Kowalsky |
| LIVE STATS | |
| IN-GAME UPDATES | @CULionsMBB |
QUICK HITS
The Lions wrap up non-conference play with hopes of snapping its mini two-game slide. Columbia fell to Stony Brook, 70-61, Tuesday night. The Seawolves received a big night from Jameel Warney, who netted 25 points and 13 rebounds, and held the Lions' leading scorer Maodo Lo to just seven points on the night.
CENTRAL PENN'S STATUS
The Knights have had eight days off since their 125-80 loss at Central Michigan. Central Penn (a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association - Division II) is playing its fifth game against NCAA DI opponents. They have faced Elon, Liberty, Radford and the Chippewas (0-4).
SERIES HISTORY
This is the just the second meeting betwen the schools after Columbia's 104-78 win over Central Penn last season in Levien Gym.
MOBB DEEP
In their last five games, the Lions' bench has outscored its opponents' reserves, 117-49. 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 n their win over Colgate and held a 24-8 advantage against Stony Brook on Jan. 6.
AGENT 0
First-year Kyle Castlin's scoring average of 9.2 points per game 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 .447 of its attempts from the field and .368 from beyond the arc in its last seven 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 five games, the tri-captain is averaging 12.4 points off the bench, while shooting 56.4 percent from the floor and 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from beyond the arc. His hot stretch has moved him up to sixth on the all-time 3-point field goal list (147) and is four 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 leads the Ivy League in assists at 5.1 per game and is pulling down 6.5 rebounds per game, which is the best among guards and 10th overall 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
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 the last three games.
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 second in the Ancient Eight and in the category, averaging 2.2 swipes per contest.
THE LIONS' DEN
So far, the Lions are continuing their home dominance with a 6-2 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. The Lions are now 20-6 at home in the last two years and in the Kyle Smith era, they are 43-22.
SWISHING AND DISHING
Columbia was in the Holiday Spirit in three home games in late December. Against Bucknell on Dec. 6, the Lions posted 15 assists on 22 field goal makes. They followed that up with a season-best 17 assists on 25 baskets against Hofstra Dec. 20 and dished out 16 assists on 25 makes against Colgate on Dec. 28.
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.
THE LIONS' DEN
So far, the Lions are continuing their home dominance with a 6-1 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. The Lions are now 20-5 at home in the last two years and in the Kyle Smith era, they are 43-21.
