Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson & Pawel Buczak:
It was the perfect call. A play that Princeton hadn't run once in a game this season, one that caught Rutgers by surprise. A play they had been sitting on for a moment like this.
It was the perfect time. Trailing by one with :46.6 left to play and nine on the shot clock, the Tigers would get two possessions to the Scarlet Knights' one.
It was the perfect pass. A high inbounds diagonal lob from in front of the Princeton bench by Dan Mavraides to back-cutting center Pawel Buczak on the other side of the basket from the far end of a stack set.
It was perfect.
Almost.
Buczak was alone behind the defense, their heads turned, trying to react to what was happening. Buczak soared into the air above the iron to receive Mavraides' expertly-placed pass with two hands and lay the ball off the glass. But Buczak put a touch too much on his layup and the ball sailed strong off the backboard.
Instead of retaking the lead and being one defensive stop away from a victory, Princeton was playing defense still behind by one.
Down at the other end of Jadwin Gym, Mike Coburn thrust up an errant bank off a drive for Rutgers but Hamady Ndiaye crashed the boards and threw home Coburn's miss to send Rutgers up three with 10 seconds to go.
Two plays.
One made. One unfinished.
The difference between victory and a fourth straight home loss for Princeton.
"They got more penetration that we would have liked [on their final possession] and I think that created the offensive rebound opportunity," said Princeton coach Sydney Johnson.
"Tough luck for us."
Doug Davis' three point shot on the left arc that would have tied the game came up short of the rim and Rutgers had scored the last five points to defeat Princeton 49-44. It was the Scarlet Knights' 10th victory over the Tigers in their last 12 meetings.
Freshman center Gregory Echenique bumped and bodied his way to 15 points and 11 rebounds for Rutgers.
Dan Mavraides scored 11 off the bench to lead the Tigers, seven in the first half. Buczak and Zach Finley combined for 15 points and eight rebounds out of the center position for Princeton.
"I felt like we had the looks we wanted and they didn't go down [in the final minutes]," Johnson after another close loss. "We're trying to get our better shooters shots and get our big guys touches. I think we have a solid balance. the ball just has to go in, and then we can win a game like this."
Princeton had rallied from down six to tie Rutgers on Davis' only field goal of the game, a long two point jumper using Buczak's screen to create space.
Buczak played perhaps his best overall game as a Tiger on Wednesday night, including one sequence in the second half where he scored inside with a right-handed hook, tied up Rutgers' Hamady Ndiaye on the defensive end to give the ball back to Princeton, hit a three point shot at the top of the key that provided the Tigers with a 34-33 lead when Ndiaye stepped off of him defensively and appeared to block a shot that was called a foul. Buczak still can be careless with the basketball, but he is no longer the newborn foal of two years previous, replaced by a confident, capable big man.
Neither team led the game by more than six points, Rutgers going up by that margin on two free throws by Coburn with 6:11 to play. Coburn stepped to the stripe after Coach Johnson successfully argued the officiating crew that it was Coburn, not Scarlet Knights leading scorer Mike Rosario, who had been pushed by Dan Mavraides on a defensive rebound.
The 86.4% free throw shooter was replaced by the 55.0% free throw shooter, but Coburn made the move moot by connecting twice at the line.
Princeton's bench scored 18 of the Tigers' 23 first half points. Kareem Maddox was the only starter to convert in the opening frame and the Tigers trailed 25-23 at intermission. With leading scorer Doug Davis on the bench with two personal fouls, Mavraides helped keep the orange and black in striking distance, his long two point shot off a curl knotting the action at 14.
Davis struggled to connect for the second straight game. He missed 12 straight shots over two games before his basket that pulled Princeton even one final time.
It is frustrating to repeatedly see Princeton come so close only to have the opposition on top when time runs out. Improvements in effort and defensive execution can only take a team so far.
Eventually, as Coach Johnson said following tonight's loss, the ball just has to go in the basket.
"I think the guys see that light, but we can only feel as good as we want to by winning," Johnson concluded his press conference.
"That's the standard here. We're not where we want to be right now. It stings, but we've got to grow up, mature and make these plays when they come in the future."
Notes:
-Princeton is 0-4 at home for the first time in history.
-The Tigers were 18-48 from the field (37.5%), 4-13 from outside (30.8%) and 4-4 from the line (100.0%). Rutgers shot 14-35 (40.0%), 5-13 from behind the arc (38.5%) and 16-23 at the stripe (69.6%).
-Rutgers attempted 19 more free throws than Princeton.
-The Tigers had a season-low 10 turnovers, continuing to cut down on many of the unforced errors seen in the first four games of the season.
-Princeton did not score in the last 3:55 of the second half.
