NEW YORK - The Columbia men's basketball team will play the first of two games at Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday, November 23, when it faces Rider at 5 p.m. The Lions will face either Central Connecticut State or Vermont Sunday, November 24. Both contests will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 

OPENING TIP-OFF

• Columbia and Rider will meet up for the first time in 27 years Saturday night at the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic Saturday night. The Lions will then face off against either Central Connecticut State or Vermont to wrap up the event at Mohegan Sun Arena.
• The Lions fell to St. John's 82-63 Wednesday night. The Red Storm started the game on an 11-4 run and never looked back to earn their 15th consecutive win over Columbia.
• Mike Smith led all scorers with 20 points Wednesday. Smith checks in at No. 2 in the Ivy League in scoring (20.0 PPG) and leads the Ancient Eight lead in assists (5.0).

NEWS/NOTES

RIDER'S STATUS
The Broncs have also dropped the first two campus site games of this MTE to Arizona State and UMass. Tyere Marshall is Rider's top threat, checking in at 16.3 points per game on a 73.0 percent clip from the floor to go with 10.0 rebounds per game.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Columbia and Rider will meet for just the fourth time Saturday and for the first time since Jan. 15, 1992 (a 77-73 victory for the Broncs in Levien Gym). The Lions won the first matchup, 64-61, in 1988, but have dropped following two,

COLUMBIA VS. THE MAAC
Columbia is 24-26 record against teams currently in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Lions most common opponent is Manhattan, who it has faced 24 times (15-9).

CCSU'S STATUS
The Blue Devils come into the weekend in search of its first win of the year. Greg Outlaw is posting 9.6 points per game to lead the squad and Myles Baker provides punch off the bench, dropping in 9.0 points per contest.

VERMONT'S STATUS
The Catamounts suffered its first defeat of the season to defending NCAA Champions, Virginia, by a score of 61-55 Tuesday night. Anthony Lamb is registering 20.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game to lead the squad.

LIONS AGAINST THE REST OF THE FIELD
The Lions are 1-2 all-time against Central Connecticut State. Columbia fell to the Blue Devils, 62-40, in the last meeting on Nov. 18, 2000. Columbia is 0-3 against Vermont, with the Catamounts earning a 67-66 win on Nov. 27, 1998. Each of the three contests against Vermont have been decided by four or fewer points. Additionally, Sunday will mark the third time Columbia will face either CCSU or Vermont at a MTE.

FAMILIAR FACES, DIFFERENT PLACES
Columbia head coach Jim Engles was an assistant at Rider from 1997-03 before taking a job on Joe Jones' staff at Columbia.  Assistant to the Head Coach, Jesse Agel, graduated from Vermont in 1984 and was a long-time assistant to Tom Brennan. Agel was on staff for the Catamounts NCAA Tournament win over Syracuse in 2006.

ABOUT THE HALL OF FAME TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT
The Basketball Hall of Fame hosts the annual Tip-Off Tournament each November. The Tip-Off Tournament is an NCAA exempt men's basketball tournament sponsored by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Each year, top teams and conferences will compete in the Basketball Hall of Fame's event showcasing its talents in New England's only exempt Division I college basketball tournament. The original Tip-Off was held in Springfield for more than 25 years. The format has changed, but the name has remained the same.