Feb. 5 • at Yale • 5 p.m. | Feb. 6 • at Brown • 6 p.m.
MEN'S BASKETBALL VS. YALE WATCH PARTY
Prior to the home Columbia women's basketball game on Friday night, Athletics will be offering a men's basketball watch party for its game against Yale at 5 p.m. in the Lou Gehrig Lounge. Admission to the watch party is FREE with the proof of ticket to the women's basketball game later that night.
THE THREE-POINT PLAN
The Three Point Plan ticket package is available now.
1. Best Games - any three Men's Basketball games, including one premium game, before Ivy League single tickets go on sale!
2. Best Seats - buy early for the best seats in the house!
3. Best Value - $40, a savings of 20% PLUS a 20% off coupon for The Lion Store! Purchase at www.goclumbialions.com/tickets or by calling 888-LIONS-11.
THE STORYLINES
COLUMBIA'S STATUS (15-6, 4-0)
The Lions are off to their first 4-0 start in Ivy League play since 1994. Columbia picked up a road sweep with a convincing 77-60 win at Dartmouth before Alex Rosenberg drained a game-winning shot at the buzzer to help the Lions top Harvard on the road, 55-54.
YALE'S STATUS (13-5, 4-0)
The Bulldogs sit tied with the Lions atop the Ivy League standings at 4-0. Yale topped Penn and Princeton on the road, the latter being a four-point contest.
Makai Mason leads the team, averaging 15.7 points and 4.1 assists. Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, Justin Sears, is right behind him, posting 15.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.
Brandon Sherrod (11.3 PPG, .559 FG%, 7.6 RPG), who took last year off to sing with Yale's acapela group, The Whiffenpoofs, has made his last 25 field goal attempts and is one shy of tying the NCAA single-season record shared by Eastern Michigan's James Thompson, who did it earlier this season, and Bowling Green's Torian Oglesby in 2012.
SERIES HISTORY... YALE
Friday will be the 230th meeting between the squads with Columbia holding a 125-104 advantage in the series. Last season, the Lions snapped a six-game road losing streak to the Bulldogs as the teams each picked up road victories.
BROWN'S STATUS (6-12, 1-3)
The Bears picked up their first Ivy League victory, an 89-83, triumph over Penn Saturday night.
Brown is led by Cedric Kuakumensah, who is the Ivy League's all-time leader in blocked shots (286), is averaging 13.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.8 rejections. Tavon Blackmon checks in at 10.8 points and 5.3 assist,s which leads the conference. Steven Spieth, brother of PGA golfer Jordan Spieth, chips in 10.8 points and 7.5 rebounds.
SERIES HISTORY... BROWN
Columbia leads the all-time series, 70-65, and swept the Bears for the first time since 2010 last season.
ROSENBERG GETS REVENGE
Two years after a potential game-winning basket was waved off against Harvard due to a charge call in overtime, Alex Rosenberg hit a shot at the buzzer that lifted the Lions to their first win at Lavietes Pavilion since 2008.
COMEBACK KIDS
Columbia erased a 20-point deficit in a game for the first time since a 46-45 win over Holy Cross on Dec. 6, 2011 when they were down 20. Dating back to 1989, Columbia it is the largest come-from-behind Ivy League victory for the program.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Lions' three-game road winning streak is the longest since 2010-11 when they topped Maine, Lafayette and Cornell and the longest in Ivy League play since 1998 when they knocked off Dartmouth, Harvard, Brown and Yale away from home.
DECEMBER AND JANUARY TO REMEMBER
Prior to Kyle Smith's arrival to Columbia, the Lions had not won six or more games in any calender month since February 1982 (8-1). With Columbia's 6-1 record in both December and January, Smith has now accomplished the feat three times after posting a 6-1 mark in December 2011 in his second season at the helm.
