NEW YORK — Columbia concludes its 123rd year of men's basketball when the Lions welcome Cornell on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium in the season finale.

The Lions will recognize seniors Liam Murphy, Josh Odunowo, and Zavian McLean in a pregame ceremony.

Saturday's contest between the Lions (13-13, 4-9) and the Big Red (21-6, 10-3) can be followed via live stats and watched live on ESPN+. Lance Medow (play-by-play) and Barry Rohrssen (analyst) will be on the call. One student will win a pair of Beats Solo3. Tickets can be purchased here.
 

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Opening Tip-Off

Columbia dropped both of last weekend's games at Princeton and Penn. The Lions led by as much as nine in the first half on Friday at Jadwin Gymnasium and by as much as six in the first half on Saturday at The Palestra.

With a win Saturday against Cornell, the Lions would finish the season with a record over .500 for the first time since 2015-16.

The Lions rank in the top 30 in the country in assists per game (17.2), three-point percentage (37.6 percent), and bench points per game (27.8).

News/Notes

Last Time Out 

Columbia dropped an 84-72 contest last Saturday evening to Penn at The Palestra in the Lions' final road matchup of the season. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led Columbia with 15 points, followed by Zavian McLean (14 points) and Blair Thompson (13 points). All but one Lion to appear in the game cracked the scoresheet. Penn center Nick Spinoso poured in a game-high 23 points on 11-18 shooting. The Lions held their final lead of the game with 5:23 left in the first half. The Quakers maintained the double-figure margin over the final nine minutes. Columbia shot 44.1 percent compared to Penn's 55.6 percent mark.

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 on Feb. 23 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. Going into Saturday's season finale, Rubio De La Rosa ranks 22nd all-time on the Columbia men's basketball scoring list.

In The New York Groove

Columbia is averaging 84.0 points per game in wins this season. Columbia is shooting 37.6 percent from three-point range (19th in the country) and has a defensive three-point percentage of 32.0, which leads the conference.

Sharing is Caring

The Lions are averaging 17.2 assists, which ranks No. 18 in the country and is second in the Ivy League. Columbia's 446 assists this season rank second all-time in program history.

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 27.8 bench points per game, which ranks No. 27 in the country.

Well-Balanced Attack

Through 26 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 (14.4) and Avery Brown (10.1) are averaging double-figures scoring, while three other Lions are averaging over eight points per game. Rubio De La Rosa leads the team with 19 double-figure scoring performances while Brown has 14 such games.

Free Throw Frenzy

Columbia is 336-459 (73.2 percent) from the free throw line this season. That mark ranks second in the Ivy League. 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 19 out of 24 games this season. He ranks 18th 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 Cornell

Cornell currently sits in third place in the Ivy League standings with a spot clinched in next week's Ivy League Tournament. The Big Red are 9-5 on the road this season and lead the Ivy League in points per game, field goal percentage, steals, and assists.  Chris Manon leads Cornell with 12.7 points per game. The Big Red are the only conference team to have six players averaging over eight points per game.

Series History - Cornell

The Lions are 131-107 all-time against the Big Rid and dropped their conference-opener earlier this season in Ithaca, 91-79. Avery Brown led Columbia with a season-high 17 points in 38 minutes of action, followed by double-figure efforts from Josh Odunowo (11), Kenny Noland (11), Jaden Cooper (10), and Zine Eddine Bedri (10). The Lions went 32-59 from the field but posted a season-low 7-11 mark from the free throw line. Cornell also finished above 50 percent from the floor but converted on 15 of 21 free throws. Nazir Williams posted a game-high 24 points for Cornell on 8-12 shooting. Columbia looks to snap a six-game losing streak in the series on Saturday.

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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