Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Kareem Maddox, Marcus Schroeder & Dan Mavraides:
The question came last, from the back of the abandoned locker room turned into a makeshift press conference location.
It was directed at senior co-captain Marcus Schroeder, after Princeton's unexpected 56-53 win at Harvard to improve to 3-0 in Ivy League play.
How had things changed since his first year as a Tiger?
Schroeder danced around an answer before settling on a satisfactory sentence.
"I don't think it is time to look back yet. We have some more work to take care of."
That work includes 11 more Ivy contests, which Schroeder hopes will turn out the same way tonight's game did.
Jeremy Lin's deep three point shot at the buzzer came up short of the mark and Princeton was able to escape a hostile Lavietes Pavilion with the victory - the first team to beat Harvard at home this year.
Junior forward Kareem Maddox, who was part of a team defensive effort that troubled Lin into 6-16 shooting, scored a season high 14 off the bench, finishing three different backdoor lobs from Schroeder.
"Kareem does a great job of cutting and he's long," Schroeder said. "I just kind of lob it up there and he does of a good job of going and getting it and then he takes his time and finishes it."
Dan Mavraides also had 14 for Princeton, including a three from the far corner off an inbounds pass from Schroeder that put the Tigers up 47-33 with 4:55 to go.
A furious Crimson comeback ended with Lin pulling up from several steps behind the arc and hoisting a shot that bounded harmlessly off the front rim.
Lin finished with 19, but had difficulty finding unobstructed paths to the basket throughout the night.
The Tigers could not locate their footing on both sides of the ball early. Kyle Casey won the opening tip from Pawel Buczak and it wasn't long after that Lin drove into the lane and dished to Doug Miller for an easy layup.
Douglas Davis' drive was short off the glass and when Buczak's wing pass was picked off by Christian Webster, Webster drove and was fouled by Buczak, making both free throws.
Lin came up short on a slash and Casey's second tip try went down, putting the Tigers behind 6-0 at the 16:37 mark.
Schroeder attacked the paint, found Patrick Saunders in the far corner who selflessly swung the ball to Davis on the wing for a three that halved the Harvard advantage and settled the Tigers down.
Ian Hummer and Maddox entered the game with 14:56 on the clock and each had positive impacts. Maddox blocked a Brandyn Curry drive when it looked like Curry was on his way to the rim and Hummer somehow muscled an unorthodox shot up off his hip for two.
Lin poked away an entry pass to a posting Maddox and twisted in the paint to make it an 8-5 game.
Princeton pulled even by going inside/outside, Buczak down low finding Mavraides outside for three in front of the Harvard student section, Mavraides taunting the assembled as he raced back on defense.
Buczak stepped in front of a pass by Dee Giger for the steal and Hummer tracked down a lose ball to turn an ugly possession into a thing of beauty. Hummer got the ball to Davis, who beat his man into the lane and dished off to his right where Maddox went up strong and dunked on Giger to push the Tigers up by two at the 11:46 media time out.
When play resumed Maddox missed his free throw.
The next six points went to Harvard. Oliver McNally took a Miller pass from the post and fired in a three. After a Hummer hesitation travel, Lin drove to the hole, drew three defenders and sent a pass back out to McNally behind the arc. The Crimson led 16-12 with 8:22 to go before halftime.
Schroeder, who has not attacked the basket as much this season as he did as an underclassman, caught a Mavraides pass in stride and knocked down the left wing three.
Schroeder entered the lane and dished left to a slashing Hummer for two off glass, giving Princeton a lead that they would not relinquish.
These were the early stages of what would be a 17-1 Tiger run.
Hummer slid in to take a charge as Webster drove and when play resumed Schroeder's spin and scoop with the shot clock dwindling made it a 19-16 game.
Kyle Casey could not connect from outside and Schroeder caught the Harvard defense napping, going over the top with a long feed to Zach Finley ahead of the pack for an easy layup that made Crimson coach Tommy Amaker call time out.
Again Schroeder drove, hanging in the air for a fraction of a second to draw contact as he floated to the left of the tin. Fouled by Casey, he made both free throws.
Just as this week's Know! Your! Foe! column had prophesied, Casey is an athletic talent with a propensity for picking up fouls in bunches (7.1/40 minutes - worst in the league). This foul was Casey's second and limited what he could do defensively the rest of the way.
Schroeder's first lob pass to a cutting Maddox was caught, controlled and after a moment to assess his surroundings, laid home over Casey.
Following a McNally turnover, Casey could not step in front of a driving Buczak in time and had his third foul of the half. Buczak made both ends of his one-and-one to take the lead up to 29-17.
Lin's open three from the top of the arc made it a 29-20 Tiger lead heading up the stairs to the locker rooms. The basket was Lin's only jumper of the half. He was 2-7 from the floor.
While Maddox disagreed with this assessment after the game, his length did not allow Lin to drive in the ways he has grown accustomed. Maddox was able to keep Lin moving from side to side, but on only one occasion did Lin get his entire body past Maddox's arms. By mixing Maddox with the sturdy Mavraides and a sprightly Davis on defense, Lin saw different types of defenders and never got in a rhythm, settling for five three point shots, which is not a strong aspect of his game.
As the second half began, Buczak got deep position, but his baseline hook came up short.
At the other end, McNally tried to get cute on an inbounds pass, bouncing it to himself off Saunders' backside. Saunders was not amused and surrounded McNally under the rim and blocked his shot when he went up with the try.
This time Buczak's shimmy hook in the lane was true and the lead had extended to 11.
Harvard struggled to score. Princeton's switching defense was communicating well and there were few moments of hesitation from the Tigers. When Lin turned the corner, there were several obstacles in his way before he could get up to the glass.
McNally made one of two at the free throw line after picking up a rebound off a missed Schroeder three and running in stride to the other end of the gym, fouled by Schroeder as he went up. It was Harvard's first point of the half, 4:55 in.
Maddox rebounded his own missed hook to keep a possession alive, a possession that ended when Buczak from the free throw line found Davis on the right wing for a three.
Lin went quickly down the left baseline for a reverse to draw within 34-23.
It was deja vu for Maddox, unable to score over Casey but leaping for the rebound and putting it back over the Crimson's foul-plagued freshman forward.
Asked about Maddox's night, Johnson praised Maddox for both "keeping it simple" and "letting the game come to him." Much of Maddox's comfort comes from the fact that he's no longer trying to do the things that he can't do. As the leaps in the air before deciding where the ball is going and the passes to no one have decreased, his playing time has increased. Add some stellar rebounding on Friday and Maddox was key to the result.
Lin drove at Schroeder and drew the whistle, putting Harvard in the bonus. Lin made both of his free throw tries. It was Schroeder's third personal.
Will Barrett, in the game for the first time replacing Schroeder, found space on the right wing off a Mavraides drive and rose up in front of the Princeton bench for his first and only shot of the game, a three that made it 39-25.
McNally answered from the left corner, but it was Davis' turn to drive, finding Mavraides in the same spot Barrett had connected from. Mavraides popped from deep to keep the lead at 14.
Schroeder lobbed down the left side for Maddox, again he caught and took his time to score on Casey, who could not afford another foul. Princeton coach Sydney Johnson quickly took a time out, up 44-31 with 8:46 left to play out.
Lin split two defenders and went glass to take the lead down to 11.
Schroeder noticed Mavraides hiding in the far corner on a designed inbounds and an unobstructed Mavraides launched his third three of the night.
With less than five minutes on the clock, the result appeared almost secure anywhere but Lavietes Pavilion - a place where:
-Kyle Wente can split two defenders for a game-winning three point shot at the buzzer.
-Noah Savage can somehow get open after a Justin Conway steal for a short jumper with half a second showing.
-Harvard can score the last eight points of regulation to force overtime.
And those are just three of the crazy finishes from a decade+ of wild outcomes.
Lin's midrange jumper was off target, but before Princeton could rebound, Casey jumped high to dunk the ball back home.
The Crimson student section, desperate for a reason to explode, did just that. Their slow-to-unfold "I! I believe! I believe that! I believe that we! I believe that we will win!" chant got two bleachers of undergraduates wearing white t-shirts on their feet.
Schroeder came up short on a jumper, which Finley tracked down and reset the offense. Mavraides' drive was blocked by Casey and out of bounds off Mavraides' body.
Curry's three from the top of the arc took Princeton's lead under 10 for the first time since it was 29-20.
A pass by Maddox on the side sailed over the heads of Schroeder and Davis, heading towards the Crimson basket. Curry tracked it down before the backcourt violation could be whistled and raced ahead for a layup that made it 47-40.
I!
A third time Schroeder went to Maddox cutting via the lob.
"I think every one of my baskets was assisted by Schroeder," Maddox joked afterwards.
Lin drove at Schroeder and Schroeder picked up his fourth personal.
At the line for a one-and-one, the 75% free throw shooter came up short.
Lin made up for the miss by picking off a Schroeder pass and scoring on a soaring drive over Maddox, who was unable to get fully in front in time. Lin's free throw made it 49-43.
I believe!
With 1:06 to play, McNally fouled Maddox, who made both ends of his one-and-one.
Lin rose up over Davis on the left side to cut the lead down to 51-46.
I believe that!
McNally fouled Buczak, who was long on his free throw and Casey rebounded.
Casey, who had missed three times outside the arc, was good on his fourth attempt and the lead was just 51-49 with :39.5 on the clock. Harvard called their last time out.
I believe that we!
Lin immediately fouled Mavraides, who made both his chances in the same icy manner that pushed Princeton past Harvard 77-71 last year in Massachusetts.
Down four, Lin spun, Lin slipped, Lin was cut off and Lin could not find the basket. Mavraides rebounded and was fouled by McNally, as the 200+ Princeton faithful in attendance began to throw Harvard's chant across the gym at the Crimson students.
Christian Webster, who also had not made a field goal all game (0-6), stepped backwards behind the stripe, his line drive triple dropping as Mavraides foolishly fouled him.
The free throw was good. The lead was down to one.
The chant was the loudest it had been all night.
The inbounds came to Maddox, who was fouled by McNally, his fifth and disqualifying personal. Maddox went to the other side of the gym, the entire building aware that a miss would give Harvard the chance at bedlam in regulation.
Several Harvard students followed Maddox to the opposite end, screaming at him from the sidelines.
First shot. Good.
Second shot. Good.
Knowing that Harvard needed a three to tie, Princeton overplayed the arc. The final Crimson possession was out of sync. Casey had the option of launching a defended try, but passed it up with time running out. Eventually Lin had no other choice but to chuck from a good thirty feet out and the clang of the iron was followed by the sound of the final buzzer.
"I thought these guys really held on to their guts," said Johnson after the Crimson comeback came up one basket short. "There were a couple plays we would rather do without [down the stretch], but just a lot of heart from Dan, Marcus and Kareem and that entire locker room."
A locker room looking forward, with work to take care of at Dartmouth on Saturday night.
Notes:
-Princeton shot 17-39 on Friday night (43.6%), 9-18 in the first half. The Tigers went 7-12 from deep (58.3%), 4-5 after intermission. A 15-18 performance at the line (83.3%) was well above their season average.
-Harvard shot a season low 18-50 (36.0%) from the floor, 8-24 on threes (33.3%) and 9-13 from the stripe (69.2%).
-The Tigers won the rebounding battle 30-27, with Maddox grabbing eight.
-Princeton's bench outscored Harvard 23-5.
-Harvard sophomore forward Keith Wright was an unexpected scratch before Friday's game with an Achilles injury.
