Men's Basketball Welcomes Princeton, Penn for Alumni Weekend
2/4/2015 11:41:00 AM | Men's Basketball
PURCHASE TICKETS
COMPLETE GAME NOTES (.pdf)
COLUMBIA (10-8, 2-2) VS. PRINCETON (9-10, 2-1)
PRESENTED BY OTIS ELEVATOR
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 • 7 P.M.
LEVIEN GYMNASIUM
GAME VITALS
| TELEVISION |  |
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| VIDEO/AUDIO STREAM |  |
Jerry Recco - Play-by-Play |
| STUDENT RADIO | WKCR 89.9 FM or WKCR.org | |
| LIVE STATS | |
COLUMBIA VS. PENN (6-11, 1-2)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 • 7 P.M.
LEVIEN GYMNASIUM
GAME VITALS
| VIDEO/AUDIO STREAM | |
Jerry Recco - Play-by-Play |
| STUDENT RADIO | WKCR 89.9 FM or WKCR.org | |
| LIVE STATS |
QUICK HITS
COLUMBIA'S STATUS
The Lions split last weekend's games, falling to first place Yale, 63-59, on Friday before bouncing back against Brown, 86-65, Saturday night. Columbia finished the Brown game on a 23-2 run to turn a one-point lead into a blowout victory.
PRINCETON'S STATUS
The Tigers also went 1-1 in the first set of back-to-backs, dropping a 75-72 decision to Harvard and topping Dartmouth, 64-53, the following evening. After a tough stretch during non-conference play, Princeton has won six of its last eight contests.
PENN'S STATUS
The Quakers edged the Big Green, 58-51, last Friday night, but defending Ivy League Champs Harvard walked out of the Palestra with a 63-38 triumph on Jan. 31.
SERIES HISTORY VS. PRINCETON
Columbia and Princeton will meet for the 232nd time with the Tigers holding a 146-85 advantage in the series that dates back to 1900-01. Last season, the squads traded road victories.
SERIES HISTORY VS. PENN
Saturday will be the 226th time Columbia and Penn get together. The Quakers lead the all-time series 138-87 going back to 1901-02. Both teams won at home during the 2013-14 campaign.
ALUMNI WEEKEND
This weekend, Columbia will welcome back a number of former players as the program celebrates Alumni Weekend. Additionally, at halftime of the game against Penn, members of the 1976-77, 1977-78 and 1978-79 squads will be honored.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
The Lions are 26th in the nation, surrendering just 59.0 points per game to the opposition. Columbia's 3-point defense has been a strength throughout the year, holding opponents to 28.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc which leads the Ancient Eight and ranks ninth in the NCAA.
THE LO-DOWN COUNTDOWN
Junior Maodo Lo reached the 900-point plateau against Cornell on Jan. 25 and is on pace to become just the 27th member of Columbia's 1,000-point club this season. He currently sits with 936 points, which is tied for 30th on the all-time scoring list.
MOBB DEEP
In their last nine games, the Lions' bench has outscored its opponents' reserves, 248-103. 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, outscored Central Penn 68-20 and topped the Brown reserves, 22-6, on Jan. 31.
AGENT 0
First-year Kyle Castlin's scoring average of 10.2 points per game and field goal percentage of 49.3 percent leads all Ancient Eight neophytes. He has started all 18 games for Columbia and has a trio of Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors under his belt (Dec. 22, Jan. 5, Feb. 2).
FRANKIE SAYS RELAX
Columbia's top threat off the bench has been senior Steve Frankoski. The tri-captain moved to fifth place on the all-time 3-point field goal list (155) after knocking down a pair of treys at Cornell on Jan. 17 and is two shy of moving into fourth.
GLUE GUY
Every team needs one and that's what the Lions have in junior Isaac Cohen. The 6-4 guard is currently tied for the Ivy League lead in assists at 4.4 per game and is pulling down 6.0 rebounds per game, which is the best among guards in the Ancient Eight and 10th overall in the conference. 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.
LOCKING IT UP
Columbia held opponents under 50 points for the fifth time after giving up 45 to Cornell on Jan. 17. The Lions did not surrender 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).
COLUMBIA IN IVY LEAGUE OPENERS
The Lions are 28-31 all-time in Ivy League openers and are 4-1 under the direction of Kyle Smith, including a 48-45 win in Ithaca on Jan. 17.
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.
