ITHACA, N.Y. — Columbia men's basketball opens Ivy League play on Tuesday night at Cornell. Tip-off from Newman Arena at Bartels Hall is set for 6 p.m.

Tuesday's matchup between the Lions (9-4) and Big Red (10-3) can be followed via live stats or watched live on ESPN+.

Opening Tip-Off

Columbia is 32-34 all-time in Ivy League openers. Under head coach Jim Engles, the Lions are 3-3 in conference debuts.

The Lions enter conference play with nine wins for the first time since 2015-16.

Columbia is coming off a dominant 120-52 victory over Mount Saint Vincent on Thursday, in which it exceeded the previous record for most points in a game in program history.

After starting the season 0-2, Columbia has won nine of its last 11 games. The Lions had won eight of their first 11 games to start the season for the first time since 1978. Columbia already passed last season's win total on Dec. 11.

Tuesday's game is the 2,700th in Columbia men's basketball program history.

Following Tuesday's matchup with the Big Red, Columbia plays at Yale on Monday at 7 p.m.

Ivy Insights Podcast

FOX Sports Broadcaster & Reporter John Fanta joined the Ivy Insights podcast this week to discuss the league's depth and impressive non-conference resume heading into league play.
 

"Something tells me that this group is getting undervalued analytically and Levien can be a very difficult place to play" 👀🦁

Thanks for the kind words, @John_Fanta! Check out the full @IvyLeague Insights Pod ⬇️

Spotify: https://t.co/qBM9PfKImw
Apple: https://t.co/MuGRZRMT2J pic.twitter.com/1In2KpTywq

— Columbia Basketball (@CULionsMBB) January 5, 2024

News/Notes

Last Time Out 

Columbia dominated Mount Saint Vincent, 120-52, in a wire-to-wire victory on Thursday night from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium. The Lions surpassed the previous record for most points in a game in program history (118 at Wagner on Jan. 17, 1977).
 

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Columbia has now won seven in a row at home for the first time since the 2015-16 season and has hit the nine-win mark before entering Ivy League play for the first time since that same year.

The 68-point win was Columbia's largest margin of victory in head coach Jim Engles' tenure. Columbia's 62 rebounds and 30 assists in the game were also the most under Engles.

All 13 Lions to appear in Thursday's contest cracked the scoresheet. Zavian McLean dropped a game-high 19 points and pulled in 11 rebounds, becoming the first Columbia player to tally a double-double since Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa on February 4, 2022, at Princeton.
 

🎥 You'll want to see these highlights from last night! ⬇️#RoarLionRoar🦁 #OnlyHere🗽 pic.twitter.com/iwMX6xPbPV

— Columbia Basketball (@CULionsMBB) January 5, 2024

In The New York Groove

Columbia is averaging 86.7 points per game in wins this season. The Lions have the second-largest scoring margin (14.2) and second-most assists (238) in the Ivy League. Columbia is also second in steals (113) and steals per game (8.7). Columbia is third  in opponent turnovers (180). The Lions lead the league and rank 34th in the country in opponent 3-point field goal percentage (28.9).

Fast Facts

The Lions are one of four teams in the country that return more than 90% of their scoring this season, along with Northern Iowa, Wisconsin, and St. Bonaventure. Columbia is also one of 11 teams in the country to return at least 70 percent of its points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks from 2022-23.

Columbia has scored at least 100 points in two games this season. The last time a Lions team accomplished this feat was in 1976-77.

Columbia's six-game winning streak earlier this season was the program's longest since January 2016.

Let's Get Ivy Play Started

Columbia opens Ivy League play with Cornell on Tuesday night for the 15th time since the 2002-03 season. The Lions are 8-6 in conference openers against the Big Red over that span.
 

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Scouting Cornell

The Big Red enter Tuesday's contest at 10-3 and are coming off a 19-point loss at No. 18 Baylor last Tuesday. Cornell leads the Ivy League in scoring, field goal percentage, and steals. Chris Manon leads the team with 11.4 points per game. Four Big Red players are averaging double-figures scoring. Cornell is 3-0 at home this season.

Series History - Cornell

The Lions are 131-106 all-time against Cornell. Columbia has dropped the last five meetings to the Big Red with its most recent victory coming at home in 2020. Columbia last won at Cornell in 2017.

Well-Balanced Attack

Through the first 13 games this season, Columbia has had at least four players finish with double-figures scoring seven times and five players finish with double-figures scoring twice (Dec. 5 vs. Lafayette and Jan. 4 vs. Mount Saint Vincent). Before this season, Columbia last had five players score double-figures in the same game on Nov. 19, 2019 against Binghamton.

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa (13.3), Avery Brown (11.7), and Blair Thompson (10.6) are all averaging double-figures scoring. Rubio De La Rosa and Brown lead the team with 10 double-figure scoring performances each while Thompson has six such games.

Free Throw Frenzy

Columbia is 200-260 (76.9) percent) from the free throw line this season. That mark is second in the Ivy League and ranks 22nd in the country. Zavian McLean (17-21), Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa (48-54), and Noah Robledo (11-12) are all shooting above 80 percent from the charity stripe.

Columbia went 28-39 from the line on Nov. 21 against LIU. It was the most attempted free throws by the Lions since Feb. 23, 2018 vs. Brown and the highest mark in head coach Jim Engles' tenure.

Lions Trending Upward

Following a win over Temple on Nov. 18, it was the first time Columbia's record has been over .500 since Feb. 4, 2017. 

De La Rosa Dominance

Junior guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa has built off his strong sophomore campaign to start this season. The Santiago, Dominican Republic native had scored in double-figures in nine straight games dating back to last season before dropping eight points on Nov. 15. He has scored double-figures in 10 out of 13 games this season. De La Rosa played a strong all-around game in 2022-23, leading the Lions and ranking among the Ivy League leaders in scoring (13.6), rebounding (5.6) and steals (1.4). His 713 points through his first two seasons are the third-most all-time in program history for a player's first two years.

De La Rosa recorded 22 double-figures scoring games last season, including six straight to close out the year. He scored in double-figures in 12 out of the team's 14 Ivy League games last season. De La Rosa was one of four Lions to play in all 29 games last season and Avery Brown was the only other Lion to start in every game. De La Rosa's 88.8 percent mark from the free throw line last season led the Ivy League and ranked No. 16 in the country. His mark from the charity stripe also ranked third all-time in a single season behind Brian Barbour, who did it twice (.917, 2010-11 and .901, 2011-12).

Up Next

Following Tuesday's matchup with the Big Red, Columbia plays at Yale on Monday at 7 p.m. from  John J, Lee Amphitheater.

Preseason Ivy League Poll

The Lions were predicted to finish eighth in the preseason Ivy League poll, conducted by selected members of the media.

Follow The Lions
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