Georgetown (21-11) saw their season end with a disappointing 74-59 loss to VCU. The Rams knocked down nine of their first 14 three point attempts. Hoya Hoops has the postgame audio.
Morehead State stands in the way of a return to the Sweet Sixteen for Richmond. For current Spiders head coach and former Air Force head man Chris Mooney, it has been a happy return to Denver.
Johnson allowed his team a chance to say goodbye publicly to their fans. Now it is your opportunity to return the favor. Either in the comments below or via email feel free to send a message for Bobby Foley, Dan Mavraides and Kareem Maddox.
I'll make sure they are delivered to the basketball staff next week.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Dan Mavraides, Kareem Maddox & Douglas Davis:
Locker room audio - Kareem Maddox:
Locker room audio - Dan Mavraides:
Locker room audio - Coach Sydney Johnson:
When it ended, one basket shy of all they had worked for, the man who profoundly despised losing as both a player and a coach did something unexpected and beautiful.
He allowed his team to say goodbye.
Before heading back into the depths of the St. Pete Times Forum after a two point defeat in the final two seconds against the SEC champion Kentucky Wildcats, Princeton coach Sydney Johnson motioned his players not to the locker room but towards the Tiger faithful sitting across from his team's bench.
First came senior Dan Mavraides, having just concluded his final collegiate contest wherein he led his team with 14 points and tied the game on a step back jumper in the lane that hung, hoped and stuck with 34 seconds remaining for a 57-57 score.
Mavraides blew kisses with both hands, his teammates joining him pointing to family and friends applauding in the stands.
"It was hard to do that. But I felt like we owed it to our fans. We didn't want to celebrate a loss in any way, shape or form," Johnson said of the gesture. "That's not what it was about."
"As much as I love our guys, they have to realize that we're all people and we've all got to do things the right way. When someone is giving you the support that our fans have given us, you've got to say thank you," Johnson added.
Forced to make their St. Pete Times Forum debut accompanied by a Black Eyed Peas jam (compared to the rousing school fight song Kentucky would enter to 90 minutes later) and walking into the arena a minute before their cue to kick off the day's open to the public event, Princeton held a 40 minute practice on Wednesday morning in front of 100 or so spectators - the majority of whom were older members of Big Blue Nation reserving their seats for when the Wildcats would take the floor almost two hours later.
The free shootaround consisted primarily of traditional Princeton layup, three point shot and passing drills as the Tigers revealed little to those watching and got accustomed to the sightlines and angles of the home for both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Big East's USF Bulls.
Princeton looked exactly as their coach Sydney Johnson wants them to play on Thursday - loose but focused. There were smiles to be shared but none of the "I can't believe we're here" variety.
Today's Game: (13) Princeton (25-6 / 12-2) vs. (4) Kentucky (25-8 / 10-6) Location: St. Pete Times Forum - Tampa, FL Time: 2:45 pm ET (estimated) Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: CBS Internet: ncaa.com/mmod Series History: Kentucky leads 2-1. Last meeting:Kentucky 72 Princeton 58 - 3/12/78.
Princeton
Kentucky
12-0
Home Record
15-0
10-5
Away Record
4-7
3-1
Neutral Record
6-1
40
RPI
7
77
Sagarin
12
89
Pomeroy
6
69.6
Points / Game
76.4
63.2
Points Allowed / Game
63.8
.465
FG%
.460
.731
FT%
.718
.368
3PT FG%
.397
34.7
Rebounds / Game
38.1
9.9
Off. Rebounds / Game
12.1
+4.1
Rebounding Margin
+4.3
13.5
Assists / Game
12.7
12.4
Turnovers / Game
10.7
4.3
Blocks / Game
6.3
Maddox: 13.9
Points
Knight: 17.5
Maddox: 7.1
Rebounds
Jones: 8.9
Mavraides: 2.8
Assists
Curry: 5.8
Davis: 1.2
Steals
Knight: 4.2
Maddox: 1.8
Blocks
Jones: 1.9
Maddox: .565
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Harrellson: .586
Darrow: .800
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Miller: .850
Davis: .395
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3FGM)
Lamb .472
Thursday, March 17th
Southwest region – Denver, CO
(12) Richmond vs. (5) Vanderbilt – 4:10 pm ET – TBS NCAA Tournament
Friday, March 18th
Southwest region – Chicago, IL
(11) VCU vs. (6) Georgetown – 9:50 pm ET – TBS NCAA Tournament
Saturday, March 19th
(4) Northwestern vs. (1) Boston College – 11:00 am ET – ESPN NIT
Kentucky players tell the Lexington Herald-Leader that they do not believe their youth is an issue.
Sydney Johnson was a guest on WFAN (.mp3) late Sunday night. The Princeton coach stopped by Sporting News Radio for a spell and was also named PAW's Tiger of the Week.
Bloomberg has an interesting hodgepodge of notes from Tampa, including what books Kareem Maddox brought with him to Florida and what John Bogle '51 thinks of the matchup with Kentucky.
The Daily Pennsylvanian asks a pair of Quaker players about Princeton's chances today.
There's a Town Topics story on the Ivy League playoff.
The Daily Princetonian has a great piece about Bill Greenfield, the man who created the handwritten record book for Princeton basketball.
Monmouth is narrowing their search for a new head coach and Mike Brennan remains in the picture.
John Shurna scored 25 points as Northwestern (19-13) won their first postseason game in 17 years, 70-61 over UW Milwaukee. The Wildcats travel to Boston College on Saturday.
Richmond tips against Vandy in Denver about an hour after the start of Princeton's game in Tampa.
Craig Robinson breaks down his brother in law's NCAA bracket.
Princeton recruit Bobby Garbade was named to the BCANY All-Section 4 team.
I was interviewed by Newsworks for a piece on local college basketball writers during the NCAA Tournament. Looking for audio of the piece as it sounded on WHYY. Thanks to those who wrote saying you heard me on the radio.
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
