Princeton 72 Lafayette 53.

November 24, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Filed under 12-13, Audio, Basketball, Princeton

Box Score : HD Box Score

After facing Syracuse's long and active zone defense on Wednesday, Princeton made their delight in going up against Lafayette's less-fearful man-to-man four days later apparent by opening today's game on a 19-4 run and only let their advantage drop under nine once the remaining 75%+ of the contest.

The modus operandi was to go inside, inside and inside with the ball and the Tigers scored 44 of their points in the paint with Ian Hummer recording a career high 28 on 12-16 shooting.

This gameplan also benefitted guard T.J. Bray, who continued his steady ascent to expected form with a personal best of 17 on 7-9 tries and was able to turn a number of cuts into posting opportunities versus smaller defenders. Bray also had four assists against a single turnover.

“I thought it was contagious all night,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson of his team's interior focus. “The ball kept going in there.”

The Leopards entered Saturday's game shooting 40.9% from three point range and averaging over 25 attempts. Versus a stingy and composed Tiger defense the home team opened 1-9 outside and hit a mere 20% of their 15 tries.

Will Barrett also had 13 for Princeton, who shot a season-best 58.0% from the floor. Sophomore Denton Koon recorded his first start of both the season and his career, replacing Chris Clement in the backcourt.

Playing his first game in eight days since injuring his ankle warming up at Kentucky, Australian big man Dan Trist had 10 for Lafayette - as did Tony Johnson.

The Tiger advantage apexed at 58-36 with 8:09 left to play. Princeton never trailed.

Postgame audio and the rest of this recap can be found after the jump.

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Saturday News:

November 24, 2012 at 9:18 am
Filed under Basketball, Fairfield, Georgetown, Northwestern, Princeton, Richmond, Today's News

Today's Game: Princeton (1-3 / 0-0) vs. Lafayette (1-4 / 0-0)
Location: Kirby Sports Center - Easton, PA
Time: 2:00 pm ET
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: N/A (Though you never know with the Lafayette Sports Network)
Internet: goprincetontigers.com
Series History: Princeton leads 46-18.
Last meeting: Princeton 69 Lafayette 54 - 11/30/11.

Mount St. Mary's vs. Georgetown - 12:00 pm ET - ESPN3
Richmond vs. Ohio - 2:00 pm ET - Nation Of Coaches Classic
Northwestern vs. Illinois State - 8:00 pm ET - South Padre Island Invt. - CBS College Sports

IPFW vs. Dartmouth - 2:00 pm ET
St. Francis (NY.) vs. Brown - 2:00 pm ET
Army vs. Yale - 2:00 pm ET
Cornell vs. Longwood - 5:30 pm ET - Las Vegas Invitational
Columbia vs. San Francisco - 10:00 pm ET - San Francisco Hilltop Classic

The Full-Court Press offers the lone preview of today's game I could find.

A Know! Your! Foe! about Lafayette was scheduled to run last night but the person who agreed to answer my questions went MIA after receiving these queries. Instead I offer three things to look at as the game unfolds:

1. Leopards sophomore center Dan Trist was averaging 23.0 ppg before getting injured prior to Lafayette's game at Kentucky eight days ago. What is his status?

2. Are Lafayette's poor defensive numbers this season (332nd overall, 334th in EFG%, 337th in 2PT%) due more to the quality of the opponents they've faced (all in the Top 200 including the aforementioned Wildcats and Maryland) or a result of the Leopards' personnel?

3. Princeton is 343rd in the NCAA guarding the perimeter. Opponents are making 49.0% of their threes versus the Tigers. Lafayette is converting 40.9% of their outside attempts and jacking on average 25.4 times from deep. Is this where the game will be won or lost?

Fairfield (3-3) fell 66-47 at Providence.

Holding TCU to just 31 points, Northwestern (5-0) advanced to the championship of the South Padre Island Invitational. The Wildcats will play fellow unbeaten Illinois State.

Georgetown returns home to host Mount St. Mary's and Richmond visits Ohio today.

Around the Ivy League: Cornell (2-4) destroyed winless Presbyterian, 89-55. At the Hilltop Classic, Columbia (4-1) recorded a victory over NAIA program Wayland Baptist, 75-63.

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Black Friday News:

November 23, 2012 at 9:18 am
Filed under Basketball, Fairfield, Northwestern, Princeton, Recruiting, Today's News, Video

Fairfield vs. Providence - 7:00 pm ET
Northwestern vs. TCU - 8:30 pm ET - South Padre Island Invt.

Cornell vs. Presbyterian - 4:30 pm ET - Last Vegas Invitational
Columbia vs. Wayland Baptist - 9:00 pm ET - San Francisco Hilltop Classic

Good morning. I hope you and yours had a happy Thanksgiving.

Action picks back up tonight with Fairfield visiting Providence and Northwestern playing TCU at the South Padre Island Invitational.

Princeton recruit Steven Cook scored nine points for the Trevians against Loyola at the 2012 New Trier Thanksgiving Tournament.

A sweet pass by future Tiger Spencer Weisz made a Hoop Group video of the Top 10 Plays from Summer 2012.

Is it possible the Georgetown vs. Florida game might be resumed indoors?

Wrapping up coverage of Princeton at Syracuse, the Post-Standard looks at the sunny side of a Orangemen victory while the Auburn Citizen offers some postgame video and the Syracuse Sports Examiner runs a recap.

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Thanksgiving News:

November 22, 2012 at 7:28 am
Filed under Basketball, Denver, Princeton, Today's News

In addition to our recap, read about Princeton's defeat at Syracuse on goprincetontigers.com, in the Daily Princetonian, in the Post-Standard, on the Full-Court Press, courtesy the Associated Press and on the Syracuse athletics site.

The Post-Standard also has blurbs on the Tigers' 24 turnovers and a second half block of Ian Hummer among others.

Playing catch-up, the Town Topics writes about the Tigers' loss to Rutgers.

Denver (1-3) was bested by Colorado State, 60-53.

Around the Ivy League: Brown (2-2) was dropped by Bryant, 68-61. Yale (1-5) fell 65-52 at Vermont.

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Syracuse pictures.

November 22, 2012 at 12:18 am
Filed under Basketball, Photos, Princeton, Stephen Goldsmith

Photos from today’s game courtesy Stephen Goldsmith.

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Syracuse 73 Princeton 53.

November 21, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Filed under 12-13, Audio, Basketball, Princeton

Box Score : HD Box Score

It was an admirable yet error-filled performance for Princeton in front of 17,881 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse on Tuesday night.

Facing a formidable foe and a daunting zone, the Tigers fell behind 10-2 in the first four minutes as the sixth-ranked Orangemen grabbed five offensive boards. While the visitors from New Jersey trailed from pillar to post there were actually a good number of positives to take away from the lone regular season contest versus a Top 10 foe this season.

Once the ship was steadied, Princeton hung within hailing range of Syracuse, despite 14 first frame turnovers.

Down 36-25 at intermission and minus 14 with 16:45 to go, the Tigers countered with an 8-0 run to close within 45-39 on a Clay Wilson three pointer. Wilson was the perfect antidote to the SU zone, knocking in five threes on the game.

However, Syracuse quickly responded with a dunk, two layups and a put-back in the two minutes that followed to extend their lead back up to two touchdowns.

Princeton would not see a single digit deficit again and a game-closing 12-3 run over the last 5:45 generated the final score. Wilson's fifth three dropped before this spurt and was the Tigers' ultimate field goal.

In addition to Wilson, Brendan Connolly had 11 and Ian Hummer 10 for the orange and black who committed 24 turnovers. Eight of those were charged to Hummer.

“I thought at times we were OK, but there were just so many turnovers,” said Tiger head coach Mitch Henderson. “They got 19 more shots than we did. We have to be able to take better care of the ball.”

James Southerland's 22 off the bench led five Orange men with double digits. Southerland connected four times from behind the arc.

42 of Syracuse's points came in the paint and 25 of their 73 were generated via turnovers.

Postgame audio can be found after the jump.

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Wednesday News:

November 21, 2012 at 9:08 am
Filed under Basketball, Denver, Fairfield, Georgetown, MCCC, Northwestern, Princeton, Recruiting, Richmond, Today's News

Today's Game: Princeton (1-2 / 0-0) vs. Syracuse (2-0 / 0-0)
Location: Carrier Dome - Syracuse, NY
Time: 7:00 pm ET
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: Time Warner (SNY rebroadcast on 11/22 at 2:00 pm ET)
Internet: goprincetontigers.com
Series History: Syracuse leads 24-9.
Last meeting: Syracuse 56 Princeton 45 - 11/12/04.

Colorado State vs. Denver - 9:00 pm ET - Root Sports

Bryant vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET
Yale vs. Vermont - 7:00 pm ET

There's an open thread for the Syracuse game in the forum if you want to discuss this contest before/during/after.

Junior guard T.J. Bray is trying to shoot himself out of a slump.

Ian Hummer is not your average Ivy Leaguer.

The Full-Court Press talked to Mitch Henderson.

The Trentonian, the Post-Standard, the Daily Princetonian and CBS Sports preview tonight's matchup.

Here's more on Amir Bell committing to Princeton.

Georgetown (2-1) took top-ranked Indiana into overtime where the Hoosiers prevailed, 82-72.

A late three pointer by Desmond Wade gave Fairfield (3-2) the 74-71 win over Fordham.

The Mercer (3-1) season is off to a decent start. Last night the Vikings beat Lackawanna 82-67 as Mustafa El-Amin totalled 25.

Richmond (4-1) tamed Wofford by six.

Drew Crawford had 18 for Northwestern (4-0) in a 69-50 decision versus Delaware State.

Briefly a member of the Tiger coaching staff before heading to play overseas, Craig Moore is the Wildcats' new Volunteer Special Assistant.

Denver hosts Colorado State tonight.

Around the Ivy League: Columbia (3-1) raised eyebrows as they disposed of Villanova with relative ease, 73-57. The Lions converted 18 straight free throws over the final 2:39. Trailing by as many as 40 in the second half, Harvard (2-2) lost 75-56 at St. Joe's. Penn (1-5) dropped their fifth straight, 73-66 at Lehigh. Guilty of 23 turnovers, Cornell (1-4) lost 64-53 at Arizona State.

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Know! Your! Foe! - Syracuse.

November 20, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Filed under Basketball, Know Your Foe, Princeton

There's one order of business before I leave for upstate New York - the latest installment of Know! Your! Foe!. Joining me to discuss the sixth-ranked Orangemen is Sean Keeley (hopefully not pictured above, but one never knows...) of comprehensive Syracuse site Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician.

Keeley is also the author of How To Grow An Orange.

My questions and his answers follow after the jump. I know this is a busy week for all of us, so I really appreciate the quick turnaround and the detailed nature of Keely's responses.

If you cover any of the teams that Princeton will be facing in 2012-13, get in touch! Would love to interview you.

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New Recruit - Amir Bell.

November 20, 2012 at 5:08 pm
Filed under Basketball, Photos, Princeton, Recruiting, Video

College basketball recruiting is by no means an exact science. Sometimes those with extra stars shining next to their names don’t see their abilities convert beyond high school. At Princeton there’s a long list of the comparatively unhearlded who have developed from seeming afterthoughts to all-conference players.

With that history understood, it becomes even harder to look 23 months into the future.

Yet on November 20 of this year the Tiger coaching staff can wake up in the morning feeling comfortable about having filled their top priority for the 2014 recruiting class.

Amir Bell of East Brunswick High School may not be a name that has attracted a lot of attention from the top recruiting sites yet but the key word in this sentence is “yet.” Getting Bell committed to the enrollment process at Princeton before he attracted additional attention from bold-faced basketball powerhouses was paramount.

It can not be coincidence that three different members of Mitch Henderson’s staff posted words to the effect of “it is a great day to be a Tiger” on Twitter last night with Bell’s commitment then entering public knowledge less than an hour later.

I had a chance to speak with the 6’4” 170 lb junior point guard’s high school coach Bo Henning on the phone a few hours ago. Quotes from our conversation plus links and videos featuring Bell can all be found after the jump.

All photos courtesy Ethan Reiss. Used with permission.

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Tuesday News:

November 20, 2012 at 9:28 am
Filed under Basketball, Fairfield, Georgetown, Northwestern, Princeton, Recruiting, Richmond, Today's News, Will Venable

Fairfield vs. Fordham - Preseason NIT consolation round - 6:00 pm ET
Lackawanna vs. MCCC - 7:00 pm ET
Wofford vs. Richmond - 7:00 pm ET - Nation of Coaches Classic
Delaware St. vs. Northwestern - 8:00 pm ET - South Padre Island Invit. - BTN.com
Georgetown vs. Indiana - Legends Classic - 10:00 pm ET - ESPN2

Columbia vs. Villanova - 7:00 pm ET - ESPN3
Harvard vs. St. Joe's - 8:00 pm ET - NBCSN
Penn vs. Lehigh - Preseason NIT consolation round - 8:30 pm ET
Cornell vs. Arizona State - Las Vegas Invitational - 9:30 pm ET - Pac-12 Network

Otto Porter returned and a 12-0 run to open the second half propelled Georgetown (3-0) to the victory over #11 UCLA. The Hoyas face top-ranked Indiana in the Legends Classic championship game late tonight.

The sensational senior guard C.J. McCollum scored 35 for Lehigh, victors versus Fairfield (2-2) by an 82-67 final. The Stags stay in Bethlehem to meet Fordham this evening on the last day of the preseason NIT consolation round.

Here's more on Amir Bell committing to Princeton. Some interesting quotes. I expect to speak with Bell's high school coach later this morning.

Tiger recruit Steven Cook is the player you want taking a last second shot for New Trier this year.

Ian Hummer made the Ivy League's honor roll for this week.

A preview of tomorrow's matchup is posted on the Juice Online.

The Daily Princetonian reports on the Tigers' loss to Rutgers.

One writer's "cult favorite" on the San Diego Padres is Will Venable.

Richmond hosts Wofford and Northwestern welcomes Delaware State tonight.

Around the Ivy League: Penn (1-4) dropped their fourth straight, losing a late lead versus Fordham.

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Amir Bell commits to Princeton.

November 19, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Filed under Basketball, Princeton, Recruiting, Video

So much for a quiet evening! According to Northstar Basketball, 6'3" junior guard Amir Bell from East Brunswick High School just up the road has committed to Princeton over offers from Iona, Northeastern and Fairfield.

Here is additional detail on schools Bell visited and was contacted by.

Bell is the first member of the Tigers' 2014 recruiting class.

As I work to gather information on this breaking news, videos and images of Bell in both high school and AAU action can be found after the jump.

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Monday News:

November 19, 2012 at 9:58 am
Filed under Basketball, Denver, Fairfield, Georgetown, Northwestern, Oregon State, Princeton, Richmond, Today's News

Georgetown vs. UCLA - Legends Classic - 8:00 pm ET - ESPN2
Fairfield vs. Lehigh - Preseason NIT consolation round - 8:30 pm ET

Fordham vs. Penn - Preseason NIT consolation round - 6:00 pm ET

With the caveat that it is exceptionally early in the season, Ian Hummer leads all of college basketball in Assist Rate.

Rutgers' guards carried the scoring load against Princeton.

Northwestern (3-0) had no issues with FDU, building a 27 point halftime lead and coasting from there.

A seven point advantage with 10 minutes remaining could not hold and Richmond (3-1) fell 72-57 at Minnesota.

Georgetown plays #13 UCLA in Brooklyn tonight. It is the second semifinal of the Legends Classic. The Hoyas expect to have Otto Porter back for this game.

Lehigh hosts Fairfield in a preseason NIT consolation pool.

It is confirmed that Oregon State center Angus Brandt is lost for the season due to a knee injury.

Around the Ivy League: Two teams were in action and neither could reach 50 points. Yale (1-3) lost 59-47 to Western Illinois on the final day of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and Wisconsin demolished Cornell (1-3) by 33.

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