NEW YORK - Columbia men's basketball (6-12, 1-2) will look to bounce back when it travels to Harvard (10-7, 1-2) on Saturday, January 14 before returning home on Monday, January 16 to face Cornell (12-4, 2-1) at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium. Both games will be broadcasted on ESPN+ with Monday's matchup also airing on SNY.
OPENING TIP-OFF
• Columbia will hit the road for the first time in Ivy League play this season when it travels to Harvard on Saturday at 1 p.m. before returning home on Martin Luther King Day to host Cornell with tipoff set for 12 p.m. at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
• Columbia suffered its first conference losses when it dropped both games of last weekend's home back-to-back to Princeton and Penn.
• The Lions have posted three of the last five Ivy League Rookies of the Week with Avery Brown picking up the honor twice (Dec. 12, Jan. 3) and Blair Thompson on Dec. 18.
• Next week, Columbia will head to Brown on January 21 with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m. in Providence, Rhode Island.
NEWS/NOTES
HARVARD'S STATUS
The Crimson split last weekend's back-to-back, defeating Brown in OT and then falling to Yale the next day. Chris Ledlum leads Harvard and ranks second in the conference with 19.3 points per game and has three double-doubles in his last four games.
INSIDE THE SERIES - HARVARD
Harvard is 86-98 all-time against Columbia and has won seven-straight over the past five seasons. The Crimson won both games last year by a single digit margin, earning a 91-82 victory in New York and a 62-54 triumph at Lavietes Pavilion. Columbia's last win in Cambridge came back on January 30, 2016 when the Lions squeaked by, 55-54.
CORNELL'S STATUS
The Big Red have three players averaging double-digit points per game. Greg Dolan leads the team with 13.4, followed by Nazir Williams (11.6) and Chris Manon (10.0). Cornell is 1-2 in league play after splitting a back-to-back at home with Penn and Princeton last weekend.
INSIDE THE SERIES - CORNELL
The Lions hold a 131-104 record in the series with Cornell. The Big Red swept last year's meetings and last time the teams played in New York, Cornell earned a 78-64 win.
DECEMBER TO REMEMBER
Columbia turned another corner in the final month of 2022. The Lions finished December 4-3, marking the first winning month for the program since January 2017 when they went 5-1. Columbia has already eclipsed its 2021-22 win total (four) on December 12.
CRASHING THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
The Lions lead Ivy League teams with 205 offensive rebounds, which is 25 more than Harvard, which has the second-most. Josh Odunowo leads Columbia with 29 offensive boards and ranks eighth among Ivy League players in that category.
MIDDLE OF THE PACK
Through the first 18 games of the season, Columbia sits in the top five of several stat categories among Ivy League teams. The Lions are third in free throw shooting (70.3%), fourth in steals (7.1 per game), fourth in turnover margin (-0.22), and first in offensive rebounds (11.4 per game).
DEFENDING THE PRIDE
Columbia's defense has stepped things up over the past 11 games, holding opponents to 66 points, 40 percent shooting and 30.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc since its game at Providence on Nov. 26. The Lions have only allowed more than 75 points once since that Providence game. Prior to this stretch, Columbia was allowing 76.4 points and teams were shooting 48.8 percent from the floor.
FREE THROW SHOOTING
Columbia's ability to get to the foul line has been a strength this season. The Lions are leading the Ivy League, averaging 12.4 made free throws per game and are third in the conference in free throw percentage (70.3). Columbia recently went 17-of-17 from the stripe against UMES to bolster that average. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa ranks second in the conference and 22nd nationally in free throw percentage, converting at an 89.6 percent clip. The Lions have made 223 foul shots and attempted 317, both by far the most in the conference.
NUTHIN' BUT A G THANG
There's been no sophomore slump for Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa this season. He has played a strong all-around game, leading the Lions and ranking among the Ivy League leaders in scoring (12.3), rebounding (5.7) and steals (1.6).
KLEPTOMANIACS
Against Delaware State on November 16, the Lions established a new program record for steals with 15. Columbia then tied that mark two weeks later when it posted 15 steals against Sarah Lawrence.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Columbia boasts one of the youngest rosters in the country with four first-years averaging over 15 minutes per game. It is believed only VMI is playing more freshmen consistently (five averaging 20+ MPG) than the Lions this season. Avery Brown and Zinou Bedri have started every game and Blair Thompson entered the lineup on Nov. 18. The class of 2026 has comprised 48 percent of the team's scoring in 2022-23. When you combine the sophomore class (De La Rosa, Cooper, Robledo, Stankard, Tavroff) - that represents 77 percent of the team scoring coming from underclassmen.
TICKETS TO UPCOMING HOME GAMES
Tickets for all Columbia home games are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking here or calling 888-LIONS-11.
THE IVY LEAGUE ON ESPN+
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