Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon met at Jadwin Gym today for their first interview of the new year. The two talked in detail about the Tigers' most recent three games against Lafayette, UNC Greensboro and Lehigh, before discussing where the team stands as they head into their annual exam break. This interview is 15:00+ in length.
Interviews with Coach Johnson appear on this site every week during the season.
Eddie Jordan, Eric Snow & Ernie Johnson break down the "Princeton Offense."
I might finally understand 1-2-2 now!
Arkansas State vs. Denver - 9:00 pm ET
Oregon State vs. Arizona State - 10:30 pm ET - FSN
In addition to our recap, write-ups of last night's win can be found on goprincetontigers.com, in the Trentonian, the Trenton Times and the Express-Times and on lehighsports.com.
The Town Topics has a story on the UNC Greensboro game.
Northwestern (8-5) was no match for Wisconsin.
Denver hosts Arkansas State tonight.
Oregon State plays at Arizona State this evening. Former Sun Devils recruit Jared Cunningham will instead join the Beavers, saying their win over USC fortified his decision.
Around the Ivy League: Three days after they beat top-ranked North Carolina on the road, Boston College returned home to face Harvard (8-6). The Crimson shocked the #17 Golden Eagles, the first win over a ranked team in school history. Soft Pretzel Logic has more on the 82-70 upset. Yale (4-9) kept NJIT winless, 80-51.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Zach Finley, Dan Mavraides & Kareem Maddox:
To fully appreciate Princeton's 73-64 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday night, you had to sit through the two teams playing in Bethlehem one year and one day ago.
It was a then-program-worst 11th straight loss for the Tigers, a game where Princeton was unable to put the ball in the basket or stop their opponent. A game where Lehigh's Zahir Carrington scored as many points as the entire Tiger team in the first 24 minutes. From 15-3 to 27-12 to 41-19 to the Mountain Hawks' eventual 27 point lead with 8:47 left, it was as ugly and discouraging a game as you could stomach.
Which is why last night's result was such a thrilling and unexpected treat.
The Mountain Hawks came into Jadwin Gym on a five game winning streak, but Princeton led almost the entire night and held off a number of second half pushes by Lehigh.
Dan Mavraides topped his career high for the second time this week, scoring a game-best 21. Doug Davis supported the cause with 14 and Marcus Schroeder offered up 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
"I talked to these guys about last year and I think they had a feel about how I felt about last year's game," said Princeton coach Sydney Johnson, choosing his words carefully. "I wasn't happy with how it played out. That may have factored into our preparation for this game. I'm glad that we were able to win."
Today's Game: Lehigh (10-3 / 0-0) vs. Princeton (3-8 / 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 30-3.
Last meeting: Lehigh 68 Princeton 49 - 1/6/08.
| Lehigh | Princeton | |
| 5-2 | Home Record | 1-4 |
| 5-1 | Away Record | 2-4 |
| 0-0 | Neutral Record | 0-0 |
| 195 | RPI | 330 |
| 168 | Sagarin | 312 |
| 164 | Pomeroy | 289 |
| 69.5 | Points / Game | 56.8 |
| 62.5 | Points Allowed / Game | 59.6 |
| .415 | FG% | .408 |
| .696 | FT% | .722 |
| .369 | 3PT FG% | .344 |
| 41.6 | Rebounds / Game | 33.6 |
| 12.4 | Off. Rebounds / Game | 10.3 |
| 13.4 | Assists / Game | 10.4 |
| 12.9 | Turnovers / Game | 14.9 |
| 2.5 | Blocks / Game | 3.0 |
| Hall: 14.7 | Points | Davis: 13.7 |
| Carrington: 7.0 | Rebounds | Buczak: 5.1 |
| Hall: 5.0 | Assists | Maddox: 1.9 |
| Hall: 1.6 | Steals | Davis: 1.5 |
| Anderson: 1.0 | Blocks | Maddox: 0.9 |
| Anderson: .493 | FG% (Min: 10 FGM) | Buczak: .531 |
| Anderson: .850 | FT% (Min: 10 FTM) | Mavraides: .889 |
| Anderson: .553 | 3PT FG% (Min: 10 3PTM) | Davis: .387 |
Northwestern vs. Wisconsin - 8:30 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Harvard vs. Boston College - 7:00 pm ET
Yale vs. NJIT - 7:00 pm ET
The Princeton Packet has published their story on the UNC Greensboro game.
The Daily Princetonian summarizes the action that took place while they weren't publishing.
Northwestern visits Wisconsin this evening.
Video of Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson discussing the Beavers' forthcoming trip to Arizona.
Princeton recruit Gus Gabel took a hard fall in Chaparral's upset of Phoenix Shadow Mountain. Another future Tiger, Mack Darrow, had 19 points as Barrington lost by seven to Wheeling.
Around the Ivy League: Brown (5-8) lost 74-50 at Virginia. Cornell (9-6) won its fourth straight, 75-64 over Bucknell. Penn (3-7) beat Lafayette, 84-70.
Brown vs. Virginia - 7:00 pm ET
Lafayette vs. Penn - 7:00 pm ET
Bucknell vs. Cornell - 7:00 pm ET
Dan Mavraides was named to the Honor Roll of the latest Ivy Weekly Basketball Awards.
Georgetown (10-3) fell 73-67 on the road at Notre Dame.
Don't look now, writes The Dagger, but Oregon State is playing good basketball.
The new Schuylkill 16 is out. Princeton = 14th again.
Around the Ivy League: Columbia (4-9) could not hang with American, dropping a 62-50 decision.
Georgetown vs. Notre Dame - 7:00 pm ET - ESPN
Columbia vs. American - 7:30 pm ET
Oregon State (6-6) shocked USC yesterday in overtime. Center Roeland Schaftenaar had 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals and sent the game to OT with a three pointer. It was easily the Beavers' biggest win since Craig Robinson became the school's coach.
Georgetown travels to Notre Dame this evening.
Princeton recruit Jimmy Sherburne was named to the “Lucky 13” after playing in the Converse/Eastbay College Scholarship Classic.
USC vs. Oregon State - 5:30 pm ET
In addition to our recap, write-ups of yesterday's win can be found on goprincetontigers.com, in the Trentonian, in the Trenton Times and on UNCG Basketball Fan and uncgspartans.com.
Dick Vitale is thrilled Pete Carril will have the floor at Jadwin named after him.
Princeton recruit Ian Hummer impressed with 16 points and nine rebounds in Gonzaga's victory over Baltimore St. Frances Academy in the Cancer Research Basketball Classic.
Georgetown (10-2) was topped by Pitt, 70-54. The Panthers outrebounded the Hoyas 46-21.
Richmond (8-6) steamed Rice, 74-43.
Mercer (6-7) won 59-35 over Salem. Antoine Rogers scored 14 for the victorious Vikings.
Denver (6-8) fell 63-62 in double overtime to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Northwestern (8-4) was outscored by 12 in the second half of a 77-66 loss to Michigan State.
Oregon State hosts USC this afternoon.
Around the Ivy League: Cornell (8-6) made a school record 18 three pointers in a 99-45 drubbing of Ursinus. Yale (3-9) had their way with MIT, 86-63. Army defeated Dartmouth (2-10) for the second time this season.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Doug Davis, Dan Mavraides & Marcus Schroeder:
Princeton coach Sydney Johnson was blunt.
Losing is terrible.
Losing hurts.
Losing stinks.
His Tigers were tired of losing and on Saturday the team did what they had been unable to do in five straight tight contests across December. When the score got close and the clock got late, they made just enough plays to win, defeating UNC Greensboro 65-55.
Dan Mavraides scored a career-high 17 points, including a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line in the second half.
Doug Davis set the tone with 15 in the first twenty minutes as Princeton opened up early leads of 15-3 and 30-15.
Junior center Pawel Buczak grabbed 10 rebounds, a new personal best.
"I probably won't be able to wipe the smile off my face," said Johnson following Princeton's third win of the season.
Today's Game: UNC Greensboro (1-9 / 0-2) vs. Princeton (2-8 / 0-0)
Location: Jadwin Gym - Princeton, NJ
Time: 12:00 pm ET
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: ESPNU
Internet: goprincetontigers.com
Series History: This is the first meeting between the two teams.
Last meeting: This is the first meeting between the two teams.
| UNC Greensboro | Princeton | |
| 1-3 | Home Record | 0-4 |
| 0-6 | Away Record | 2-4 |
| 0-0 | Neutral Record | 0-0 |
| 324 | RPI | 323 |
| 338 | Sagarin | 314 |
| 338 | Pomeroy | 288 |
| 58.5 | Points / Game | 56.0 |
| 76.1 | Points Allowed / Game | 60.1 |
| .364 | FG% | .411 |
| .650 | FT% | .719 |
| .286 | 3PT FG% | .351 |
| 35.7 | Rebounds / Game | 32.7 |
| 13.8 | Off. Rebounds / Game | 10.0 |
| 9.8 | Assists / Game | 10.5 |
| 18.2 | Turnovers / Game | 15.2 |
| 3.3 | Blocks / Game | 2.8 |
| Koivisto: 11.7 | Points | Davis: 13.6 |
| Stywall: 8.4 | Rebounds | Buczak: 4.6 |
| Koivisto: 2.6 | Assists | Maddox: 2.0 |
| Stywall: 1.2 | Steals | Davis: 1.4 |
| Eargle: 1.4 | Blocks | Maddox: 0.8 |
| Brown: .425 | FG% (Min: 10 FGM) | Buczak: .541 |
| Koivisto: .889 | FT% (Min: 10 FTM) | Maddox: .882 |
| Clement: .340 | 3PT FG% (Min: 10 3PTM) | Davis: .396 |
Pitt vs. Georgetown - 12:00 pm ET - ESPN
Rice vs. Richmond - 12:00 pm ET
Mercer vs. Salem - 2:00 pm ET
Denver vs. Louisiana-Lafayette - 6:00 pm ET - Cox
Michigan State vs. Northwestern - 7:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Ursinus vs. Cornell - 3:00 pm ET
Army vs. Dartmouth - 7:00 pm ET
MIT vs. Yale - 7:00 pm ET
The Trentonian previews today's game at Jadwin.
Oregon State (5-6) could not hang with UCLA.
Greg Monroe and Georgetown host Pitt in a battle of top 10 teams.
Denver visits Louisiana-Lafayette.
Michigan State travels to Northwestern for the Wildcats' Big Ten home opener.
Richmond welcomes Rice to the Robins Center.
Around the Ivy League: Brown (5-7) fell at American, 68-53. Bryant picked up its first home win as a D-I team, 69-58 over Yale (2-9). Columbia (4-8) could not stop Lehigh, as the Mountain Hawks rallied for the 73-59 victory. Harvard (7-6) topped Santa Clara, 73-68.
