VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's basketball will open the curtain on its 70th season by hosting Cornell at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The matchup between BU and its closest geographic rival follows the women's game between the Bearcats and Bucknell, which starts at 5:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN3 as part of the new 'AE on ESPN3' initiative. Every home Binghamton game during the 2016-17 season, as well as all America East road games, will be delivered on ESPN3.

Head coach Tommy Dempsey's squad will play four games in eight days to open the season. After Cornell, BU will head to Queens to face BIG EAST member St. John's for the first time. The Bearcats will then return home to host Central Connecticut State on Wednesday. 

Binghamton returns all five starters and 11 letterwinners from last year's 8-22 squad that secured its highest America East tournament seed (No. 5) in seven seasons. Preseason all-conference selection Willie Rodriguez (15.1 ppg., 6.7 rpg.) leads an offense that now has several more weapons available. Redshirt sophomore guard J.C. Show begins his Binghamton career after playing his freshman season at Bucknell two years ago. Show, a former Mr. Basketball in the state of Pennsylvania, will be counted on for quality minutes alongside senior captain Marlon Beck (826 career pts.) and sophomore Everson Davis (9.4 ppg. as freshman) in the backcourt.

Up front, sophomore center Thomas Bruce has added bulk to his frame and in addition to his trademark blocks and dunks, Bruce will be more of an offensive threat in his second collegiate season. Junior Dusan Perovic is back to form after an injury slowed his sophomore season and his double-threat of three-point shooting and inside jump hooks will present matchup problems for opponents. 

Binghamton is 5-10 in all-time openers as a Division I program. The Bearcats have dropped their last five season openers, including last year's 63-53 setback at St. Bonaventure. 

Cornell returns all five starters and 11 lettermen from a 10-18 squad of a year ago. First-year head coach Brian Earl will look to his All-Ivy League backcourt duo of senior Robert Hatter (17.1 ppg.) and sophomore Matt Morgan (18.9 ppg.) to lead the way. Morgan led the Ivy League in scoring last season and had the fifth-highest freshman scoring average in the nation. Hatter was third in the conference in scoring. In all, Cornell returns 97 percent of its points, rebounds and assists from 2015-16.

Cornell leads the all-time series between the two schools 8-3. The Big Red have won the last two matchups and four of the last five, including a 76-59 win in Ithaca last season. The last Bearcats win in the series was an 89-79 road victory in 2013. In the game last November 18, Cornell shot 53 percent and drilled 12 three-pointers in the 17-point win. The Big Red built an 11-point halftime lead and then shot 58 percent over the final 20 minutes to ward off any BU comeback bid. Beck scored a team-high 17 points to continue his production against the school that originally recruited him. In three career games against Cornell, Beck is averaging 16.7 points on 52 percent shooting from 3-point range.