Mike Martin '04 Becomes Winningest Coach in Program History as Men's Basketball Defeats Cornell

Saturday, February 11

Providence, R.I.

2:00 p.m.

Brown University

13-10,6-4Ivy League

Cornell

15-8,5-5Ivy League

Cornell

Brown

Mike Martin '04 Becomes Winningest Coach in Program History as Men's Basketball Defeats Cornell

2/11/2023 6:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Mike Martin '04 became the winningest head coach in the history of Brown men's basketball as the Bears took down Cornell 80-66 Saturday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The win was the 134^th of Martin's career, breaking the 54-year-old record previously held by Stanley Ward.

"It means a whole lot," senior Paxson Wojcik said when asked what Martin setting the record means to the team. "We were aware of it coming into the game, but our focus, like Coach wanted it to be, was getting the job done regardless of the record. He's very selfless, so he's not going to talk about it, but it's really special and we're all really proud of him. We were excited to get it done, especially at home in front of a really nice crowd."

The win pushes Brown to 13-10 on the season and 6-4 in Ivy League play. Cornell falls to 15-8 and 5-5. The victory puts the Bears in position to control their own fate down the stretch of the season as Ivy Madness draws closer. With today's result, Brown is tied for third in the Ivy standings with Penn, just one game behind first-place Princeton at 7-3. If Yale were to fall to Columbia tonight, there would be a four-way tie for second between Brown, Penn, and Yale with Cornell and Dartmouth tied for fifth behind them at 5-5.

"We're really happy for our players with how hard they've worked all week long," Martin said. "I thought our offense and defense complimented each other really well for pretty much the whole game. We shared the ball offensively and got great shots, we took what the defense gave us. Defensively, I thought our physicality and ball pressure disrupted them a little bit.

"I said to the guys in the locker room, we've got to get better at playing with a 30-point lead. But that's a good problem for us to have at this point. These guys [Wojcik and Dan Friday] led the way and had a lot of help from their teammates."

Kino Lilly Jr. had his third straight game of 21+ points as he dropped 25 on a 76.9% (10-for-13) shooting performance. Wojcik recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while adding six assists. Friday contributed 16 points, five rebounds, and a career-high seven assists. Nana Owusu-Anane had eight points, seven boards, and three assists.

The Bears started the game hot from deep as they connected on all four of their first attempts to open up a 12-4 lead five minutes into the game. Brown stayed aggressive from there to eventually lead by 20 following a layup by Friday with 2:51 remaining in the half to lead 40-20. The Bears would eventually settle into an 18-point halftime lead, 42-24.

Brown opened the second half on a 17-5 run to open up its largest lead of the contest, a 30-point advantage at 59-29 with 14:28 to go in the game.

As Martin mention, the Bears struggled a bit over the next few minutes as Cornell would go on a 13-0 run to close the gap to 59-42 with just over 10 minutes to go.

But Brown regrouped and were able to regain control, never letting the Big Red get within 14 for the rest of the second half.

The Bears shot 53.7% on the game and were 10-for-24 (41.7%) from three. Brown is 6-1 on the season when the team shoots at least 50% from the field.

The win gives the Bears just their third three-game Ivy League winning streak in the last eight years. Their sixth conference victory also surpasses last year's total of five with four games remaining.

"I really just want to focus on what we have ahead of us," Martin said. "We're in the thick of a championship hunt, hopefully. We've got a lot of work to do. It's one day at a time, one game at a time. I really just want to focus on that and we'll have time in the offseason, or way down the road, to reflect.

"I just know that I work with special people. That's now, that's always. The student-athletes, the support staff, our administration, our fans, our people, our alumni. It's a special place because of the people. I will share that, but we're focused on enjoying this win, building on it and having a great week getting ready for next week."

The Bears head back out on the road for their final back-to-back Ivy League weekend of the season next week. Brown will play at Princeton on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. before heading to Penn for a 6 p.m. matchup on Saturday, Feb. 18.

BROWN UNIVERSITY SPORTS FOUNDATION
The Brown University Sports Foundation (BUSF) is the lifeblood of the athletics program, and exists to enhance the student-athlete experience through philanthropic support from alumni, parents, fans and friends. A gift through the Sports Foundation makes an immediate impact on today's Brown Bears and helps them to be their best in the classroom, in competition and most importantly in the community. To learn more about supporting the Bears, please click here.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
For the latest on Brown Athletics, please follow @BrownU_Bears on Twitter, @BrownU_Bears on Instagram, like BrownUBears on Facebook and subscribe to the BrownAthletics YouTube channel.