Yale at Cornell
Friday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m.
Newman Arena, Ithaca, N.Y.
ESPN+ | Live Stats
 
Yale at Columbia
Saturday, Feb. 22, 7 p.m.
Levien Gym
TV: SNY
ESPN+ Video | SNY Channel Finder | Live Stats

Yale Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Bulldogs begin the second half of the Ivy League season with a trip to New York State this weekend. Yale is at Cornell on Friday at 7 p.m. and then has a Saturday night date at Columbia at 7 p.m. ESPN+ has video of both games, and Saturday's game vs. the Lions will also be televised on SNY.
 
The Bulldogs (18-6 overall) enter the weekend in a first-place tie with Princeton. Both teams sit at 6-2, one game ahead of Harvard, Penn and Brown, who are all 5-3. The top four finishers at the end of the regular season earn a spot in the Ivy League Tournament at Harvard on Mar. 14-15.
 
Yale is on the road for the second straight weekend. The Bulldogs split two games at Princeton and Penn, walloping the Tigers 88-64 last Friday before dropping a hard-fought 69-61 decision at Penn on Saturday. Azar Swain, who scored 23 points in the win over Princeton, became Yale's single-season record holder by making his 73rd three-pointer last Saturday. Swain leads the league with 74 three-pointers and is 12th in the nation in three-point field goals made (3.22 per game).
 
Junior Paul Atkinson is approaching an important milestone as well. Atkinson needs 19 points to become the 30th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. He enters the weekend leading the team in scoring at 17.5 ppg., which is third in the league. Atkinson, who posted his seventh double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) vs. Penn last Saturday, is seventh in the nation in field goal percentage (.639).
 
Jordan Bruner returned to the lineup last Friday after missing the Dartmouth game with an injury and had 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks in the victory over Princeton. Bruner leads the league in rebounding at 9.1 rpg.
 
Yale can reach the 20 overall wins mark for the second straight season (the Bulldogs won 22 last year) and the fourth time in the last six years with a pair of victories this weekend. In the 119 seasons of Yale Basketball prior to 2014-15, the Bulldogs only won 20 or more games in a season five times – 1904-05 (22), 1906-07 (30), 1907-08 (20), 1948-49 (22) and 2001-02 (21).
 
Yale's streak of receiving votes in the national coaches' poll ended at five consecutive weeks on Monday, but the Bulldogs are still No. 49 in the KenPom rankings and No. 57 in the NCAA Net Rating. In addition, Yale is No. 5 in the CollegeInsider Mid Major poll and No. 13 in the Mid Major Madness top 25.
 
The Bulldogs remain the national leader in defensive rebounds per game (30.42). Yale also is ninth nationally in scoring margin (+13.0), 11th in field goal percentage defense (.381), 12th in fewest fouls, 17th in assists per game (16.3) and 22nd in rebounding margin (+6.5 per game).
 
The Bulldogs lead the Ivy League in scoring offense (76.8), scoring defense (63.7), scoring margin (+13.0), field goal percentage (.473), field goal percentage defense (.381), three-point field goal percentage (.375), three-point field goal percentage defense (.299), rebounding margin (+6.5) and assists (16.3 per game).
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale has won 14 straight games against Cornell, including an 86-71 victory at Lee Amphitheater on Feb. 1. Cornell's last victory in the series came in 2013, 68-61 in New Haven. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 117-110. The first game between the teams was in 1899. Yale is looking to sweep the season series for the seventh straight season.
 
The Bulldogs can sweep the season series from Columbia for the fourth time in the last five years. Matthue Cotton scored 20 points and Azar Swain added 16 as the Bulldogs cruised to an easy 93-62 victory over the Lions on Jan. 31. Yale has won six straight in the series at Levien Gym. Columbia leads the all-time series 126-112. The first meeting between the teams came in 1902.
 
SCOUTING CORNELL
 
The Big Red (5-16, 2-6 Ivy) is 4-1 at Newman Arena since the calendar turned to 2020, including a 73-62 victory over Princeton on Feb. 8. Junior Jimmy Boeheim, who missed a majority of the contest against Dartmouth last Saturday with an injury, is averaging 17.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest, while classmate Terrance McBride is the team's only other double figure scorer at 10.9 ppg. Josh Warren is having a strong senior season with averages of 9.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists. 
 
SCOUTING COLUMBIA
 
The Lions (6-18, 1-7 Ivy) are coming off a heartbreaking double overtime loss at Harvard last Saturday. Mike Smith, who leads the league in scoring at 21.6 ppg., had 38 points vs. the Crimson. The night before, Columbia fell to Dartmouth 65-63 when the Big Green's Aaryn Rai scored on a layup at the buzzer. The Lions lead the Ivy League in free throw percentage (.724). Columbia Athletics will dedicate the center court in Levien Gymnasium in honor of Jonathan D. Schiller '69CC '73LAW at halftime of Saturday's game.