GAME NOTES: For a team that won a total of just two games last season, one of those coming against an opponent outside of Division I, already the 2014-15 campaign has been a huge success.

Now the Cornell Big Red seeks a seventh win before the calendar year draws to a close as the team visits the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday evening.

Last season, Cornell registered wins over Dartmouth and Oberlin and the rest of the campaign was a lost cause. Just five seasons removed from a 29-5 mark overall, the Big Red are hoping they've turned the corner with Ivy League play set to begin in the middle of January.

The team has split the last four outings, with the most recent decision three days ago being a 59-52 overtime loss to Saint Peter's at home.

Meanwhile, the Orange began the season with five wins in the first six games before losing three of four, two of those defeats coming against top-20 foes in Michigan and Villanova. Since the overtime loss to the Wildcats (82-77) in Philadelphia on Dec. 20, Syracuse has responded with consecutive victories against Colgate (78-43) and, on Sunday Long Beach State (85-67).

With respect to the all-time series between these two colorful, New York-based opponents, Syracuse is ahead by a sizeable 87-31 margin, winning 33 in a row over Cornell. The Big Red is 1-20 inside the Carrier Dome and is winless in 19 changes in the facility versus the Orange.

The last time Syracuse bowed in this series was during the 1968-69 campaign as the Big Red scored a 93-81 victory in Ithaca.

In a game that featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes, Cornell actually held a halftime lead despite converting a total of only seven field goals, but that advantage disappeared in the second half and the Big Red ended up in overtime, eventually losing by seven after shooting just 1-of-7 from the floor in the bonus session. Shonn Miller gave the hosts a fighting chance against St. Peter's with his 24 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots, but the only other player in double figures was Devin Cherry with 14 points as he was also the only other Cornell performer to knocked down more than a pair of field goal tries.

Miller has proven to be a true force in the paint for the Big Red, sporting averages of 16.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, both of which lead the program. He has also recorded 22 of the unit's 55 blocked shots, giving him a level of intimidation near the rim as well. Robert Hatter (12.9 ppg) and Galal Cancer (10.0 ppg) pitch in on offense, although the latter is trying to offset his mere 36.8 percent shooting from the field with 38 assists and 15 steals.

In order to come up with the 18-point win over visiting Long Beach State, the Orange utilized only two players off the bench who combined for only six points during the convincing win in the Carrier Dome. Michael Gbinije logged a career-high 24 points, shooting 10-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 behind the 3-point line, not to mention accounting for eight of his team's 22 assists. Rakeem Christmas produced his fourth double-double of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Trevor Cooney responded with 16 points, but also turned the ball over six times as he went the distance.

Ringing in the holiday cheer for the Orange is Christmas with his 17.2 ppg and 8.8 rpg, both of which are team highs, while his 27 blocked shots are tied with Chris McCullough (11.2 ppg) for the most on the unit. Christmas is hitting his field goal tries at a 62.1 percent rate making him the only regular to be converting shots at better than 50 percent accuracy. Defensively, Syracuse has managed to limit opponents to only 59.0 ppg based on 37.5 percent shooting from the field and 28.3 percent on the outside.

Cornell is closing in on a five decades of futility versus the Orange and while stranger things have happened for some very prominent teams already this season, the chances of the Big Red coming out on top New Year's Eve is still a very big stretch.