Bears Back In Action At Columbia and #25 Cornell

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Providence, Rhode Island - Brown's men's basketball team takes its first extensive Ivy road trip of the season, starting in New York City on Friday night (2/5) against Columbia, and Saturday evening (2/6) in Ithaca, New York, to face 25th ranked Cornell.

Bears’ senior Matt Mullery will look to become the 23rd player in Brown history to score 1,000 or more points. The All-Ivy center, Brown’s leader in scoring (14.9), rebounding (6.0), assists (61) and blocked shots (31), has scored 977 career points for the Bears.

Freshman forward Andrew McCarthy has gotten off to a solid Ivy League start and leads the Ivy League in field goal percentage, connecting on 14 of 23 field goals (.609) in Ivy games. McCarthy is the Ivy League’s sixth leading rebounder with 5.6 per game.

Brown dropped to 7-14 overall, 1-3 in the Ivy League, following a controversial one-point loss to Penn on Saturday. A shot by Penn at the buzzer was ruled good by the game officials, without conferring on the court, despite replay later showing that the basket came well after the final horn had sounded.

Columbia (7-11, 1-3) earned its first Ivy win with a 63-51 decision over Dartmouth Saturday evening. Cornell (18-3, 4-0 Ivy) made its debut in the ESPN/USA Today poll at number 25 nationally after sweeping Dartmouth (71-37) and Harvard (86-50). The Big Red has lost just once in their last 17 games, a 71-66 loss at Kansas, where the Big Red led into the game’s final minute.

Brown and Columbia have met 123 times, dating back to 1900-1901, with the Lions holding a 64-59 series advantage. The Lions swept the Bears last season, 65-59, in New York City and 70-57 in Providence. Prior to that game, Brown had won three straight games over the Lions, including a 67-52 decision in the second meeting in 2007-2008.

Brown and Cornell will be meeting for the 114th time, dating back to 1949-1950, with the Big Red holding a 67-46 series advantage. The Big Red have won the last six games between the two teams, including both games last season, 90-58, in Ithaca, and 85-45, in Providence. Brown’ last win over the Big Red was a 69-64 victory in Ithaca on 2/26/06.