NEW YORK — Columbia men's basketball begins a three-game road trip on Friday from Lavietes Pavilion at Harvard at 7 p.m. before facing Dartmouth at Leede Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Friday's contest between the Lions (10-7, 1-3) and the Crimson (10-7, 1-3) can be followed via live stats and
watched live on ESPN+. Drew Casey (play-by-play) and Donny Guerinoni (analyst) will be on the call. Tickets can be purchased
here.
Saturday's game between the Lions and Big Green (5-12, 1-3) can be followed via live stats and
watched live on ESPN+. Brett Franklin (play-by-play) and Dave Faucher (analyst) will be on the call. Tickets can be purchased
here.
Opening Tip-Off
A victory on Friday for Columbia would mark consecutive league wins for the first time since March 2019 and snap a nine-game losing streak to the Crimson. A win over Harvard would give Columbia its first victory at Lavietes Pavilion since 2016.
A win Saturday gives the Lions their first win at Dartmouth since 2016.
Also with a win this weekend, Columbia will have accumulated its most road victories in a season since 2018-19 and would give Columbia its first conference road victory since Jan. 8, 2022 at Penn.
News/Notes
Last Time Out
The Lions got back in the win column with an 84-81 victory over Penn in front of a packed house in New York City last Saturday afternoon. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led the team with a season-high 24 points. It was his eighth-career 20-point game. The junior's five three-pointers also marked a season-high. It was the second 20-point performance by a Lion this season (Zine Eddine Bedri vs. SUNY Delhi on Nov. 15). Saturday's win gave Columbia its first home victory over the Quakers in nearly seven years and snapped a three-game losing streak in the series.
Columbia shot 55.8 percent (29-52) from the field and 48.1 percent (13-27) from three and held a 21-13 advantage in assists. The Lions improved to 10-1 when they shoot better from the floor than their opponent.
In The New York Groove
Columbia is averaging 86.4 points per game in wins this season. The Lions are averaging 18.1 assists, which ranks No. 12 in the country and leads the Ivy League. Columbia is shooting 38.2 percent from three-point range (21st in the country) and has an assist/turnover ratio of 1.5 (28th in the country).
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's eight home wins this season are the most since 2015-16.
Before the loss to Princeton on Jan. 20, Columbia had won seven straight home games for the first time since 2015-16.
The Lions began conference play with nine wins for the first time since 2015-16.
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 surpassed the previous record for most points in a game in program history on Jan. 4 vs. Mount Saint Vincent when the Lions cruised to a 120-52 win. The previous mark was 118 points at Wagner on Jan. 17, 1977.
Zavian McLean dropped a game-high 19 points and pulled in 11 rebounds on Jan. 4, becoming the first Lion to tally a double-double since Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa on Feb. 4, 2022, at Princeton.
Following a win over Temple on Nov. 18, it was the first time Columbia's record has been over .500 since Feb. 4, 2017.
Columbia's two road wins this season so far match the away victory total from the previous three seasons combined.
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.
Columbia's six-game winning streak earlier this season was the program's longest since January 2016.
Scouting Harvard
The Crimson enter Friday's contest at 10-7 (1-3) and are coming off a 78-65 loss to Yale last Saturday. First-year guard Malik Mack ranks second in the conference and leads the team with 18.8 points per game. Chisom Okpara is right behind him with 17.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Harvard is 6-3 at home this season.
Series History - Harvard
The Lions are 98-90 all-time against the Crimson and last defeated Harvard on Feb. 2, 2018 at home. Columbia's most recent win inside Lavietes Pavilion came on Jan. 30, 2016.
Scouting Dartmouth
The Big Green enter the weekend at 5-12 (1-3) and just earned their first conference win of the year over Brown at home. Dartmouth is averaging a league-worst 60.9 points per game and has the worst scoring margin in the league (-8.8). Dusan Neskovic leads the team with 14.8 points per game. Dartmouth is 5-3 at home this season.
Series History - Dartmouth
The Lions are 115-107 all-time against the Big Green and snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with a home win last February. Columbia seeks its first road win at Dartmouth since Jan. 29, 2016.
Well-Balanced Attack
Through the first 17 games this season, Columbia has had at least four players finish with double-figures scoring eight times and five players finish with double-figures scoring three times (Dec. 5 vs. Lafayette, Jan. 4 vs. Mount Saint Vincent, and Jan. 9 at Cornell).
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 (14.4) and Avery Brown (11.6) are averaging double-figures scoring, while three other Lions are averaging over eight points per game. Brown leads the team with 13 double-figure scoring performances while Rubio De La Rosa has 12. Odunowo, Thompson, and Noland each have seven such games.
Columbia is averaging 28.4 bench points per game, which ranks No. 27 in the country.
Free Throw Frenzy
Columbia is 238-307 (77.5 percent) from the free throw line this season. That mark is currently tied for the all-time single-season average in program history, second in the Ivy League, and ranks 17th in the country. Zavian McLean (19-23), Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa (57-65), and Noah Robledo (14-16) 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.
Rubio 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 12 out of 15 games this season. Rubio De La Rosa also ranks fifth in the country in fouls committed per 40 minutes (1.01), according to KenPom.
Rubio 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.
Rubio 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. Rubio 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. Rubio 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 this weekend's matchups with the Crimson and Big Green, Columbia travels to play Brown next Saturday at 12 p.m. from Pizzitola Sports Center.
Preseason Ivy League Poll
The Lions were predicted to finish eighth in the preseason Ivy League poll, conducted by selected members of the media.
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