NEW YORK – Columbia is back in action this weekend at Levien Gym against Yale on Friday night on the first weekend when all eight Ivy League teams will be in action. Following Friday's matchup with Yale will be a game against Brown on Saturday, January 31.  Both games begin at 7 p.m. and can be followed online at gocolumbialions.com.  Tickets are also available online or by calling 888-LIONS-11.

The weekend also marks Coaches vs. Cancer “Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend,” a collaborative initiative of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society (the Society).

Participating NABC-member coaches will wear sneakers instead of dress shoes with their usual game attire during weekend games to demonstrate their support for the Society and the fight against cancer. As well, fans are encouraged to wear sneakers to games to demonstrate their support.

By lacing up sneakers with their suits, participating coaches nationwide will spotlight the fact that while cancer remains a major health concern, everyone can take daily steps to reduce their risk of the disease.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of college and high school coaches across the country, Coaches vs. Cancer participants have raised nearly $45 million since 1993 to help the Society fund groundbreaking cancer research, provide up-to-date cancer information and education, advocate for public health policies that benefit communities, and deliver services that improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

Additional information is available at http://www.cancer.org/coaches. 

THE SERIES UP CLOSE
Yale series record: Columbia, 121-93
Series started: 1901-02
Last time out: Columbia, 68-62 (2/23/08)

Brown series record: Columbia, 61-60
Series started: 1900-01
Last time out: Brown, 67-52 (2/22/08)

MORE ON THE GAMES
Tip-off    7 p.m.
Video    gocolumbialions.com
Radio    gocolumbialions.com
    Alex Oberweger (play-by-play)
    James Buford (color)
Additional Radio    WKCR 89.9 FM
    Mike Weinstein (play-by-play)
    Destin Jenkins (color)
    
AGHO TWICE NAMED IVY LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
For the second time this month, Columbia’s Noruwa Agho is the Ivy League Rookie of the Week. Against Cornell on Saturday, January 24, Agho set a career high with 24 points in his first Ivy League road game. The 6-3 guard’s 24 points were the most for any Lion this season, three more than Agho had on Dec. 29 vs. Sacred Heart, when he previously set a career mark with 21 points. Agho nailed a season-best four three-pointers and made six of eight from the foul line in 33 minutes.  He added two assists and two steals, while helping limit Cornell’s Ryan Wittman, the league’s leading scorer, to just two field goals. The New City, N.Y. native is averaging 9.2 points per game, which ranks second among all Ivy League newcomers. Agho is also among the Ivy League’s leaders in steals (third), three-point percentage (sixth) and free throw percentage (eighth).

THE HISTORY NOTE
Brown walked away with a 10-8 win over Columbia in Columbia’s first intercollegiate season in 1901, a decade after Dr. James Naismith invented basketball in 1891. Columbia and Yale met twice the following season, 1901-02. The Bulldogs captured the series opener, 48-3, but Columbia bounced back in the second meeting to claim a 19-14 victory. The Lions’ game with Brown on Saturday will mark the 2300th game in Columbia history.

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES
Columbia head coach Joe Jones is the younger brother of tenth-year Yale head coach James Jones. The battle of the Joneses is 6-4 in favor of the elder Jones and Yale. The only time in Ivy League history that two brothers were simultaneously serving as head basketball coaches was from 1924 to 1928. Basketball Hall of Famer Ed Wachter was the coach at Harvard while his brother, Leonard, coached at Dartmouth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League, the forerunner of the Ivy League. Research indicates that two brothers coaching within the same conference is extremely rare. The most notable tandem was Clarence and Hank Iba, who each coached in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1949 to 1957. Clarence was in charge at Tulsa while Hank coached Oklahoma State.