Manhattan pictures.
Photos from tonight's game courtesy of Stephen Goldsmith.
Princeton 61 Manhattan 54.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson:
Postgame audio - Dan Mavraides, Ian Hummer & Zach Finley:
Three quarters of the way through Princeton’s home opener against Manhattan, it looked like the story was going to be the potential points the Tigers left just short of the rim or a fraction off the glass. Stuck searching for a foothold after falling into an early 18-6 hole, Princeton repeatedly teased taking control of the game, yet point blank misfires left them down with time rolling off the clock.
The Jaspers were holding a 50-43 lead when the plot changed. With less than seven minutes to go, Darryl Crawford, who led Manhattan with 14 points and 10 rebounds, sped down the baseline unobstructed and reversed the ball in off the glass.
It was the type of deficit and the sort of situation that Princeton will face when the calendar flips to February but this early season test of the Tigers’ mettle saw Princeton go on a narrative-altering 16-2 run that helped the Tigers improve to 2-0 for the second time in three seasons.
Zach Finley, continuing to put last year’s frustrating junior campaign behind him as he now plays confidently alongside instead of behind fellow senior center Pawel Buczak, had 16 points, going 8-10 at the free throw line. Dan Mavraides and Buczak added 13 and 11 points respectively to aid the comeback.
Mavraides’ catch-and-shoot right angle three off a pass from Marcus Schroeder with 3:26 to go gave the Tigers their final lead and Princeton would close the book on Manhattan from the free throw line, a perfect 8-8 from the stripe. “Schroeder lined up the laces nicely for me,” said Mavraides of the shot.
Wednesday News:
Today's Game: Manhattan (1-0 / 0-0) vs. Princeton (1-0 / 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 15-3.
Last meeting: Manhattan 70 Princeton 60 - 12/14/08.
| Manhattan | Princeton | |
| 1-0 | Home Record | 0-0 |
| 0-0 | Away Record | 1-0 |
| 196 | RPI | 206 |
| 191 | Sagarin | 264 |
| 98 | Pomeroy | 115 |
| 70.0 | Points / Game | 71.0 |
| 58.0 | Points Allowed / Game | 68.0 |
| .483 | FG% | .585 |
| .389 | FT% | .750 |
| .417 | 3PT FG% | .571 |
| 40.0 | Rebounds / Game | 27.0 |
| 15.0 | Off. Rebounds / Game | 8.0 |
| +2.0 | Rebounding Margin | +1.0 |
| 9.0 | Assists / Game | 8.0 |
| 14.0 | Turnovers / Game | 14.0 |
| 3.0 | Blocks / Game | 4.0 |
| Crawford: 17.0 | Points | Davis: 16.0 |
| Crawford: 9.0 | Rebounds | Lake: 6.0 |
| Crawford: 4.0 | Assists | Schroeder: 3.0 |
| Crawford, Pearson: 2.0 | Steals | Hummer: 2.0 |
| Gabriel: 3.0 | Blocks | Barrett, Davis, Finley, Buczak: 1.0 |
| Gabriel: .667 | FG% | Schroeder, Barrett: 1.000 |
| Jolicoeur: .750 | FT% | Davis: 1.000 |
| Walsh: .600 | 3PT FG% | Schroeder: 1.000 |
Butler vs. Northwestern - 8:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Rhode Island vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET
Cornell vs. UMass - 7:30 pm ET - Legends Classic
Douglas Davis is the centerpiece of a well-executed article about how Princeton is looking to show they learned lessons from certain losses last season.
It wasn't pretty but a Greg Monroe layup with six seconds left gave Georgetown (2-0) a 46-45 win over Temple - the first time in 69 games that the Owls lost when they held their opponent under 50 points.
Soft Pretzel Logic has postgame audio from John Thompson III, Chris Wright and Greg Monroe.
Northwestern hosts Butler in Evanston. Jon Greenberg from ESPNChicago.com talks to Bill Carmody, trying to figure out if the Wildcats are cursed.
Forward Devon Collier officially signed his National Letter of Intent with Oregon State.
Around the Ivy League: Yale (1-2) defeated Colgate 65-55 in the second day of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Columbia (0-1) missed a shot to tie in the final minute at DePaul, falling 59-53.
Tuesday News:
Temple vs. Georgetown - 4:00 pm ET
Yale vs. Colgate - 4:30 pm ET - NIT Season Tip-Off
Columbia vs. DePaul - 9:00 pm ET - SNY
Douglas Davis made the Honor Roll of the Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report.
The Daily Princetonian writes about Princeton's successful trip to Michigan.
Would you believe more bad news for Northwestern? Jeremy Nash, who led the Wildcats in scoring with 20 points in their season opener, is suffering from a heart ailment and was sidelined during practice on Monday.
Richmond (2-0) went on a 20-0 first half run and cracked the century mark for the first time since 1996, blitzing VMI 103-59.
Georgetown hosts Temple in a late afternoon start as part of the ESPN 24 Hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.
Around the Ivy League: Penn (0-2) was on the wrong end of a 103-65 decision against Villanova. Yale (0-2) remained winless, falling by five to Hofstra.
Monday News:
VMI vs. Richmond - 7:00 pm ET
Yale vs. Hofstra - 6:30 pm ET - NIT Season Tip-Off
Penn vs. Villanova - 7:00 pm ET
Central Michigan Life reports on the Chippewas' loss to the Tigers.
SportsProf has a couple nice words about Princeton's season opener (and this site).
The bad news continues for Northwestern. Andy Katz from espn.com reports leading scorer Kevin Coble is done for the year and fellow senior Jeff Ryan tore his ACL on Friday and will not play again this season.
Denver (1-1) entered the win column with a 75-66 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Oregon State (1-2) fell in the final four minutes to Texas Tech, 64-60.
Richmond hosts fast-paced VMI this evening. Chris Mooney announced the signing of three recruits to National Letters of Intent.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (2-0) won at the buzzer in triple OT over William & Mary. Jeremy Lin hit a three point shot (video) and was fouled as time expired on a wild 87-85 game. Brown (1-0) battled but came up short at Virginia Tech, 69-55. Dartmouth (0-2) lost on the road to George Mason, 60-44.
PAW season preview.
I wrote a piece for the latest Princeton Alumni Weekly previewing Princeton's prospects this season. Enjoy! - JS
Basketball Seniors Shoot For Ivy Title
By Jon Solomon
Last year was a good year - but not a great one - for the Princeton men's basketball team, according to head coach Sydney Johnson '97.
"We were pleased with the forward progress that we made, but we want to keep things in perspective," Johnson said. "To truly be considered great here on the basketball floor - I think that comes with a championship."
Expectations are raised for the Tigers, who return their top nine scorers from a team that went 8-6 in the Ivy League and finished tied for second behind Cornell.
Unseating the two-time defending champion Big Red will be a challenge, according to Johnson. "[Cornell] has talented players who have played several years, and then they have transfers that have been exposed to a bigger-game environment and can add a year or two of experience," he said.
Sunday News:
Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Denver - 3:00 pm ET
Oregon State vs. Texas Tech - 4:00 pm ET - Duel In The Desert
William & Mary vs. Harvard - 2:00 pm ET
Brown vs. Virginia Tech - 4:00 pm ET - Philly Hoop Group Classic
Dartmouth vs. George Mason - 4:00 pm ET
In addition to our recap you can read about the Tigers' season-opening win versus Central Michigan on goprincetontigers.com, on cmuchippewas.com, in the Morning Sun and on Central Michigan Life.
Oregon State (1-1) defeated South Dakota, 62-47. The Beavers play host Texas Tech this afternoon in the final day of the Duel In The Desert.
Denver battles the Golden Lions of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Around the Ivy League: Cornell (1-0) turned some heads with a 71-67 win at Alabama.
Princeton 71 Central Michigan 68.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson:
Postgame audio - Douglas Davis & Zach Finley:
When I spoke with Coach Sydney Johnson on Thursday afternoon, he told me that he wanted his Princeton team to be in the position to win the first game of the year coming out of the final media time out at Central Michigan.
The Tigers went into that stoppage with their nine point edge filed to two this afternoon at the Rose Center in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan and responded when the Chippewas took their first lead since the first half.
"We were trying to settle in emotionally and I think we did an excellent job," said Tiger head coach Sydney Johnson. "Last year we might not have responded the same way."
Douglas Davis scored an up-and-under banker with less than thirty seconds to play to put the Tigers back up one and then made two free throws after blocking the attempt to tie by Central Michigan’s Robbie Harman to help Princeton to a season-opening 71-68 victory.
"He showed a lot of guts," Johnson said about Davis' afternoon. "We want him to continue to be good offensively, but getting that block and making hustle plays, that's really forward progress for him."
Davis and junior Dan Mavraides each totaled 16 points for the Tigers and Zach Finley added 13.
Finley was Princeton’s starting center to open the year, with fellow senior Pawel Buczak sliding to forward. It was an unexpected personnel decision, but one that created some interior advantages for Princeton.
Harman had a game-best 22 points on 6-11 shooting from the perimeter to pace the Chippewas.
