Shortly after the news broke last night that legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden had passed away at the age of 99, I received a note from a reader asking if Princeton had ever played against a Wooden-coached team.
The Tigers faced UCLA twice during Wooden's incredible run, the initial meeting in 1968 when Princeton's first undefeated Ivy League champs fell 83-67 to the 29-1 eventual national champions in the first round of Saint John's annual Holiday Festival tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Lew Alcindor scored 40 points matched up against Chris Thomforde in UCLA's 23rd straight win. The next day Princeton was crushed by previously unbeaten North Carolina, 103-76 in the tournament's consolation game.
One year later, on December 28. 1969, the Tigers traveled to Pauley Pavilion for the Bruin Basketball Classic and a game that was nearly the program's biggest victory.
Today's Game:Wagner (2-11 / 0-2) vs. Princeton (5-4 / 0-0) Location: Jadwin Gym - Princeton, NJ Time: 7:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: Princeton leads 1-0. Last meeting: Princeton 82 Wagner 66 - 11/29/78.
Wagner
Princeton
0-4
Home Record
3-1
1-6
Away Record
2-3
1-1
Neutral Record
0-0
343
RPI
101
339
Sagarin
159
332
Pomeroy
163
62.0
Points / Game
56.8
73.2
Points Allowed / Game
58.0
.369
FG%
.403
.623
FT%
.757
.308
3PT FG%
.319
35.2
Rebounds / Game
29.1
11.5
Off. Rebounds / Game
8.1
-6.5
Rebounding Margin
-3.3
11.5
Assists / Game
10.7
16.6
Turnovers / Game
15.0
4.2
Blocks / Game
3.1
Martin: 14.8
Points
Davis: 13.3
Orock: 7.4
Rebounds
Mavraides: 4.3
Czeski: 2.4
Assists
Schroeder: 2.8
Martin: 1.8
Steals
Schroeder: 1.7
Orock: 1.4
Blocks
Buczak: 1.0
Orock: .591
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Saunders: .595
Conrad: .800
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Davis: .909
Murray: .417
3PT FG% (Min: 5 3PTM)
Saunders: .500
Northwestern vs. Illinois - 9:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Dartmouth vs. Quinnipiac - 2:00 pm ET - NESN
George Washington vs. Harvard - 6:00 pm ET
Brown vs. Sacred Heart - 7:00 pm ET
Maine vs. Columbia - 7:00 pm ET
A Princeton/Penn game made the TigerBlog list of "Best Games of the Decade."
Princeton recruit Chris Clement scored nine points in Round Rock Stony Point's three point win over La Vega.
Future Tiger Ben Hazel had 13 in Good Counsel's one point STOP-DWI Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament loss to Boys and Girls High School.
Sacramento Kings GM Geoff Petrie received a three year contract extension.
"Outside The Limelight" author Kathy Orton is interviewed by The Quad.
Luke Owings provides a unique perspective looking back on the 2005-06 season.
The wife of Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson is due to have a baby any day.
Around the Ivy League: Ryan Wittman scored a career high of 34 as Cornell (10-2) defeated La Salle, 78-75. Yale (4-8) turned the ball over 30 times in a 70-59 loss at Colorado.
Got plans on Friday? Going to the California State Fair? You can meet Sacramento Kings GM Geoff Petrie at the County Exhibits Building from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm.
A California center who played for Scott Greenman at the 2009 Maccabiah Games has decided to play collegiately for Yale.
San Diego swept a three game series against Washington with a 7-0 victory yesterday afternoon. Will Venable was 2-4 on the day and drove in the game's final run.
Related to the link I shared on Friday about St. John's retaining someone to use Twitter during basketball games comes this piece on colleges hiring official "Sportswriters".
The Padres traded outfielder Scott Hairston last night, freeing up more playing time for Will Venable. Earlier on Sunday, Venable was 1-2 with a run scored, plus a leaping catch to keep the game tied in extra innings.
Chris Young doesn't mince words when talking about Manny Ramirez's return from a 50 game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy.
An anecdote from Butch van Breda Kolff is part of Allen Barra's piece in today's Philadelphia Inquirer calling for Dick Allen's enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sacramento Kings' GM Geoff Petrie is interviewed about his team's first round draft pick - Omri Casspi.
Now I understand what Coach Carril was muttering about last night at Jadwin when he said he was leaving town for a few weeks...
SACRAMENTO, CA, January 8, 2009 ---- The Sacramento Kings today announced that former Kings assistant coach Pete Carril will return to the organization as a Basketball Development Consultant according to Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.
“We’re really excited to have Pete come back and join us as a consultant to assist Kenny (Natt) in all areas of individual player and team development,” said Petrie. “He’s really excited about rejoining the club and adding some of his experience and understanding of the game. I look forward to seeing him back here.”
One of the most respected men in basketball, Carril spent 10 seasons with the Kings as an assistant coach, specializing in individual player development and offensive schemes.
“Coach Carril brings a lot of winning experience and knowledge about basketball in general,” explained Kings’ Head Coach Kenny Natt. “As a young head coach, I will be able to utilize his experience and knowledge about getting the best out of our players. I’m looking forward to his input. It’s exactly what I need at this point.”
In a crowning achievement to his legendary collegiate coaching career, Carril was rewarded with an induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 29, 1997. After coaching 30 years in the NCAA ranks, Carril joined the Kings prior to the 1996-97 campaign. His addition to the Kings' coaching staff reunited him with Petrie, whom he coached at Princeton from 1968-70.
The winningest coach in Ivy League history (525-273, .658 winning percentage), Carril's career at Princeton included 13 conference titles, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, and just one losing season. Prior to his retirement following the 1996 NCAA Tournament, he was the only active NCAA Division I head coach to reach the 500-victory plateau without athletic scholarships.
In his final season as head coach at Princeton, he led the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship with a 22-7 record. In one of the most thrilling moments of the 1996 NCAA Tournament, Carril's Tigers upset defending champion UCLA in the first round, 43-41, on a signature Carril-designed backdoor layup with only 3.8 seconds remaining in the game.
Carril played collegiately at Lafayette College under Head Coach Butch Van Breda Kolff. Following his graduation from Lafayette in 1952, Carril began his coaching career at the high school level where he stayed for 12 years. He went on to become head coach at Lehigh University for one season before beginning his stay at Princeton in 1967.
princetonbasketball.com was founded on April 28th, 1998 in an attempt to provide fans of the Princeton Tigers and Ivy League basketball with the best on-line source for up-to-date news and information. We have since expanded to launch a companion site, Georgetown Basketball News.
As these sites have continued to grow we have increased our coverage to include additional teams with Princeton connections - the Richmond Spiders, Denver Pioneers, Oregon State Beavers, Fairfield Stags and Mercer County Community College Vikings - plus former Tigers playing professional baseball and basketball all over the world. This site is not directly affiliated with the Friends of Princeton Basketball, Princeton University or the Princeton athletic department.
Sun. 11/10 vs. Florida A&M
Sat. 11/16 at Butler
Wed. 11/20 vs. Lafayette
Sat. 11/23 at Rice
Tue. 11/26 vs. George Mason
Sat. 11/30 at Bucknell
Sat. 12/7 vs. FDU
Wed. 12/11 at Rutgers
Sat. 12/14 at Penn State
Fri. 12/20 vs. Portland*
Sat. 12/21 vs. Pacific*
Tue. 12/31 vs. Kent State
Sat. 1/4 at Liberty
Sat. 1/11 at Penn
Sun. 1/26 vs. Kean
Fri. 1/31 at Harvard
Sat. 2/1 at Dartmouth
Fri. 2/7 vs. Columbia
Sat. 2/8 vs. Cornell
Fri. 2/14 at Brown
Sat. 2/15 at Yale
Fri. 2/21 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. 2/22 vs. Harvard
Fri. 2/28 vs. Yale
Sat. 3/1 vs. Brown
Fri. 3/7 at Cornell
Sat. 3/8 at Columbia
Tue. 3/11 vs. Penn
2,503 - B. Bradley, 1962-65
1,625 - I. Hummer, 2009-13
1,550 - D. Davis, 2008-12
1,546 - K. Mueller, 1987-91
1,451 - P. Campbell, 1959-62
1,441 - C. Robinson, 1979-83
1,428 - B. Earl, 1995-99
1,365 - B. Scrabis, 1985-89
1,321 - G. Petrie, 1967-70
1,292 - H. Haabestad, 1952-55
1,277 - G. Lewullis, 1995-99
1,239 - B. Taylor, 1970-72
1,207 - S. Goodrich 1994-98
1,133 - F. Sowinski, 1975-78
1,130 - R. Hielscher, 1991-95
1,122 - C. Thomforde, 1966-69
1,099 - T. Manakas, 1970-73
1,090 - J. Wallace, 2001-05
1,088 - C. Belz, 1956-59
1,079 - B. Hauptfuhrer, 1973-76
1,076 - B. Roma, 1976-79
1,071 - C. Mooney, 1990-94
1,064 - A. Hyland, Jr., 1960-63
1,062 - L. Brangan, 1957-60
1,057 - A. Hill, 1973-76
1,054 - D. Mavraides, 2007-11
1,044 - S. Johnson, 1993-1997
1,031 - J. Hummer, 1967-70
1,010 - W. Venable, 2001-05