2023-24 Monmouth Basketball Gameday Preview: Game Eight
                                                                    
Monmouth Hawks (4-3, 0-0 CAA) at Cornell Big Red (5-1, 0-0 Ivy)
Wednesday, November 29, 2023 - 7:00 p.m.
Newman Arena at Bartels Hall, Ithaca, NY
 
TV
ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Johnny Gadamowitz
Analyst: Eric Taylor

RADIO
Monmouth Digital Network

QUICK BULLETS
-MU is coming off a 2-1 showing at the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic
-Xander Rice has scored 20+ points in five of seven games this season
-Jaret Valencia dropped a career-high 16 points at Penn
-Abdi Bashir was named the CAA Rookie of the Week after averaging 10.0 points per game across four contests
-Nikita Konstantynovskyi tallied a career-best 11 rebounds vs. Lafayette
-Jakari Spence grabbed a career-best five steals against Lafayette
-Konstantynovskyi scored a career-high 22 points vs. Belmont
-Valencia grabbed 11 rebounds against Belmont, a career best
-Konstantynovskyi posted his first career double-double vs. Lehigh
-MU's 15 steals against Lafayette was their most since January 12, 2020

A MONMOUTH WIN WOULD...
-mark the fifth win of the season for Monmouth
-be MU's second road win of the season
-be MU's third ever win over Cornell
-be MU's first win over Cornell since 2016
-register as the 194th win of Rice's career
-hand Cornell its second loss of the season
-get the Hawks to five wins before December for the first time since 2021-22
-be the first win for MU over an Ivy school this season

MORE INFO ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
-Monmouth and Cornell are meeting for the fourth time in MBB competition
-In its history, Monmouth has played against an Ivy League member 43 times
-MU is playing three Ivy opponents this season, having already played Princeton and Penn
-Monmouth is 14-29 all-time against the Ivy League
-King Rice is 2-1 against Cornell, with one of the wins coming at Newman Arena
-Cornell took last year's meeting in West Long Branch, 81-63
-Jack Collins led the Hawks with 17 points while Klemen Vuga scored 15 in last year's contest
-Over the last two meetings, MU has collected 22 total steals
-The first meeting came in 2015 at Newman Arena in Ithaca, NY, a Monmouth win


NOTES FROM THE LAST TIME OUT
-Xander Rice was named to the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic All-Tournament Team.
-Jaret Valencia had a career-high 16 points.
-Gabe Spinelli added a season-best six points on 3-4 shooting.
-Jack Collins scored in double figures for the fourth time this season.
-Jakari Spence posted a career-best with six rebounds.
-Monmouth finished the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic 2-1, tying Penn and Belmont for the best record of the weekend.
-Monmouth shot 51% in the second half.
-Monmouth was better in the paint, 38-36.
-MU posted 14 assists to nine turnovers.
-MU did not allow a fast break point, winning the battle 7-0.

NEXT UP
-Monmouth will have nine days of rest before hosting Northern Illinois on Saturday, December 9
-The teams will meet for the first time ever
-Monmouth will take on its only MAC opponent this year
-The game will air on FloSports, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and SNY