NEW YORK — Columbia men's basketball tips off its third-straight back-to-back this weekend by closing out its road slate for the regular season. The Lions visit Princeton on Friday at 8 p.m. and Penn on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Friday's contest between the Lions (13-11, 4-7) and the Tigers (21-3, 9-2) at Jadwin Gymnasium can be followed via live stats and watched live on ESPN+. Derek Jones (play-by-play) and Isis Young (analyst) will be on the call. Tickets can be purchased here.

Saturday's game between the Lions and Quakers (10-16, 2-9) at The Palestra can also be followed via live stats and watched live on ESPN+. Joe Tordy (play-by-play), Vince Curran (analyst), and Gary Erdelyi (sideline reporter) will be on the call. Tickets can be purchased here.

Opening Tip-Off

Columbia dropped both of last weekend's games against Brown and Yale at home. The Lions held leads in the second half in each game.

The Lions rank in the top 20 in the country in assists per game, three-point percentage, and bench points per game.

News/Notes

Last Time Out 

Last Saturday night's tilt inside Levien Court at Schiller Gymnasium featured 18 lead changes and 11 ties as Columbia was bested by Ivy League preseason favorite, Yale, 84-76. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa exploded for 21 of his 23 points in the second half to give the Lions a chance to overcome Yale but 64.3 percent shooting from the Bulldogs in the final 20 minutes helped seal their ninth road win of the season. Rubio De La Rosa was 5-6 from deep in the final half and had all of Columbia's three-pointers in the frame. Zavian McLean chipped in 16 points while Blair Thompson poured in 12. Columbia outrebounded Yale, 32-26. The Bulldogs had just four turnovers on the night.

1,000 Points For G

Junior guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa became the 30th Lion in program history to reach 1,000 career points last Friday and the 16th to achieve the feat in his first three seasons when he made a layup at the 1:51 mark of the first half against Brown. Mike Smith '20CC was the previous most recent Lion to enter the 1,000-point club.
 

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In the New York Groove

Columbia is averaging 84.0 points per game in wins this season. The Lions are averaging 17.5 assists, which ranks No. 11 in the country and is second in the Ivy League. Columbia is shooting 38 percent from three-point range (15th in the country) and has a defensive three-point percentage of 31.2 (55th 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 13 wins this season are the most under head coach Jim Engles and most since the 2015-16 CollegeInsider.com Championship season. The Lions have also surpassed the previous win total from the past two seasons combined.

After a 10-point win over Dartmouth on Feb. 16, it was the second time Columbia earned three-straight double-digit victories since November 2014, with the other stretch being November of this season.

Columbia's nine home wins this season are the most since 2015-16.

Columbia's four road wins this season surpass the away victory total from the previous three seasons combined and are the most since 2018-19.

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 became the first Lion to tally a double-double  in two seasons on Jan. 4 with 19 points and 11 boards. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa then recorded his third career double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds) on Feb. 3 at Dartmouth and first since 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.

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.

Columbia had the 10th-largest year-over-year KenPom rank increase (+145 spots) the week of Feb. 12. The Lions sat at No. 196 in KenPom compared to last season's finish at No. 341.

Columbia is averaging 28.8 bench points per game, which ranks No. 19 in the country.

Well-Balanced Attack

Through 24 games this season, Columbia has had at least four players finish with double-figures scoring nine times and five players finish with double-figures scoring four times (Dec. 5 vs. Lafayette, Jan. 4 vs. Mount Saint Vincent, Jan. 9 at Cornell, Feb. 10 at Brown).

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 (14.2) and Avery Brown (10.2) are averaging double-figures scoring, while three other Lions are averaging over eight points per game. Rubio De La Rosa leads the team with 17 double-figure scoring performances while Brown has 14 such games.

Free Throw Frenzy

Columbia is 316-425 (74.4 percent) from the free throw line this season. That mark is currently third for the all-time single-season average in program history, second in the Ivy League, and ranks 48th in the country. Five Lions are shooting above 75 percent from the charity stripe this season.

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 in 2023-24. 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 17 out of 22 games this season. He ranks 17th in the country in fouls committed per 40 minutes (1.2), 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. 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).

Scouting Princeton

Princeton currently sits in a three-way tie for first place in the Ivy League standings entering the weekend and have won six games in a row. The Tigers rank in the top 25 in the country in eight different stats categories, including winning percentage, fouls per game, free throw percentage, and scoring defense. Xaivian Lee and Caden Pierce are each averaging over 15 points per game. Princeton is 10-0 at home this season.

Series History - Princeton

The Lions are 86-162 all-time against the Tigers and dropped their home contest earlier this season, 70-62. The Lions clawed back to tie the game 47-47 with 11:16 to go but Princeton exploded on an 8-0 run to re-take momentum. Columbia was able to get the margin back within reach when a Blair Thompson lay-up trimmed Princeton's lead to 64-60 with 3:39 to go. The Tigers closed out the victory with three baskets in the paint in the final two minutes. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa returned to action after missing the previous two games with an injury and tied his season-high with a team-best 19 points.

Scouting Penn

The Quakers enter this weekend at 10-16 (2-9). Penn just split last weekend's back-to-back with Dartmouth (82-69 win) and Harvard (74-70 loss).  Four Quakers are averaging double-figures scoring, led by Clark Slajchert (17.4 points per game).

Series History - Penn

The Lions are 94-148 all-time against the Quakers and defeated Penn earlier this season at home, 84-81. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led the team with a season-high 24 points. It was his eighth-career 20-point game. Avery Brown tied his season-high for assists, dishing out six dimes to his teammates. Kenny Noland added 15 points while Zavian McLean chipped in 12.

Up Next

Following this weekend's matchups, Columbia closes out the regular season when it hosts Cornell next Saturday at 2 p.m. for Senior Day.

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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