Columbia University’s men’s basketball team will begin its Ivy League season against Cornell on Monday at Newman Arena at Bartels Hall. The game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and can be watched live on ESPN+ with commentary from Nick DeLuca and Eric Taylor.
The Lions, who hold an 11-3 record, are set to open conference play against the Big Red for the 17th time since the 2002-03 season. Over that period, Columbia has an even record of 8-8 in Ivy League openers against Cornell and stands at 32-36 all-time in such games.
Columbia has demonstrated strong rebounding this season, ranking sixth nationally in rebounding margin and inside the top ten for both total rebounds per game and defensive rebounds per game. The team leads all Ivy League programs in combined rebounds per game (44.0), defensive rebounds per game (30.6), and offensive rebounds per game (13.4). In their last outing, Columbia defeated Penn State Abington with a score of 106-51, out-rebounding their opponent by a margin of 62-23.
Head coach Kevin Hovde is noted as the first Columbia head coach since Lou Rossini in the 1950–51 season to win 11 of his first 14 games during his debut year.
In recent performances, Gerard O’Keefe led scoring with 19 points against PSU Abington, while Connor Igoe achieved his first career double-double. Several other players contributed double-digit points, including Mason Ritter, Richard Nweke, Blair Thompson, and Miles Franklin.
On offense, Columbia scored over 100 points twice this season—including a notable performance at Fairfield—and currently ranks 40th nationally with a three-point shooting percentage of 37.6%. Seven of their wins have been by margins greater than fifteen points.
Senior guard Kenny Noland leads the team offensively with an average of 16.6 points per game and holds the highest free throw percentage in the country among qualified players at nearly 98%. He has also earned consecutive Ivy League Player of the Week honors and was named to the Lou Henson Award Early Season Watch List.
First-year guard Miles Franklin has made significant contributions off the bench and has been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week three times so far this season.
Both Noland (977 career points) and Avery Brown (862 career points) are approaching personal milestones as they near the achievement of scoring over one thousand career points for Columbia.
Historically, Columbia holds a record of 131-110 against Cornell but is seeking its first win in this matchup since January 2020; their last victory on Cornell’s home court was in 2017.
Following Monday’s contest, Columbia will host Harvard for its conference home opener on Saturday at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium starting at 2 p.m.
For more updates on Columbia men’s basketball, fans can follow @CULionsMBB on X or Instagram or visit GoColumbiaLions.com.
