Does Princeton have an honest chance of making it into the 2012 NIT? A popular question around these parts to be sure. The Tigers would certainly like to play in this postseason tournament but I’m unsure at how legitimate that dream is.
So, I did some extensive work after I got home from the Big East Tournament tonight. For this step-by-step exercise I’ll be using Ken Pomeroy’s rankings.
Before you click through, realize that Princeton is ranked 84th in Pomeroy as of this morning. I'll try and update these numbers as we work up to Selection Sunday.
Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Otto Porter & Henry Sims:
Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III one on one interview:
For whatever reason, a quote from Joe Scott relayed in the upper balcony of Jadwin Gym ages ago has stayed with me all these years.
Players get better from their freshman year to their sophomore year.
They can improve from their sophomore season to when they are juniors.
Once they hit their fourth and final campaign however, they aren’t going to be more than what they already are.
The exception to Scott’s rule may be a late leap by Georgetown center Henry Sims.
Averaging 3.2 points per game three years in, Sims more than tripled his output in 2011-12, putting up 11.1 points along with 5.6 rebounds as an All-Big East third team member.
Sims was downright dominant at times in a Wednesday afternoon Big East Tournament second round matchup versus Pitt with both his scoring and his distributing as the Hoyas were able to build, cultivate and expand a lead that they took for the first time late in the first half on a three point play by freshman Greg Whittington. This was only part of a 16-2 run that closed a frame which ended with Georgetown up by eight as Sims bodied inside for the closing bucket.
The Ivy League announced its 2011-12 All-Ivy team moments ago. Princeton's Ian Hummer (introducing himself to Cornell's Johnathan Gray above) was unanimously named First Team All-Ivy.
Senior Tiger guard Douglas Davis was rewarded as Second Team All-Ivy.
Zack Rosen of Penn is the unanimous Player of the Year. Cornell's Shonn Miller is Rookie of the Year and Yale's Reggie Willhite takes home Defensive Player of the Year.
2011-12 All-Ivy Men's Basketball
Ivy League Player of the Year:
*Zack Rosen, Penn (Sr., G, Colonia, N.J.)
Ivy League Rookie of the Year:
Shonn Miller, Cornell (Fr., F, Euclid, Ohio)
Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year:
Reggie Willhite, Yale (Sr., G/F, Elk Grove, Calif.)
First Team All-Ivy^:
Brian Barbour, Columbia (Jr., G, Alamo, Calif.)
Chris Wroblewski, Cornell (Sr., G, Highland Park, Ill.)
Kyle Casey, Harvard (Jr., F, Medway, Mass.)
*Zack Rosen, Penn (Sr., G, Colonia, N.J.)
*Ian Hummer, Princeton (Jr., F, Vienna, Va.)
Greg Mangano, Yale (Sr., C, Orange, Conn.)
Second Team All-Ivy:
Sean McGonagill, Brown (So., G, Brookfield, Ill.)
Brandyn Curry, Harvard (Jr., G, Huntersville, N.C.)
Keith Wright, Harvard (Sr., F, Suffolk, Va.)
Douglas Davis, Princeton (Sr., G, Philadelphia)
Reggie Willhite, Yale (Sr., G/F, Elk Grove, Calif.)
Honorable Mention All-Ivy:
Johnathan Gray, Cornell (Jr., G, Tampa, Fla.)
Rob Belcore, Penn (Sr., G, Lake Forest, Ill.)
* Unanimous selection
^ Expanded to six players due to tie in voting
Wednesday, March 7th
Pitt (13) vs. Georgetown (5) - 2:00 pm ET - Big East Tournament - ESPN
Washington State (9) vs. Oregon State (8) - 3:00 pm ET - Pac-12 Tournament - FSN
Thursday, March 8th
Minnesota (10) vs. Northwestern (7) - 5:30 pm ET - Big 10 Tournament - ESPN2
Tried something we've never done before on the site. Both Stephen Goldsmith *and* Robert Solomon shot tonight's game. I've split these images into two batches and SG is up first. Enjoy!
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, John Comfort, Douglas Davis & Patrick Saunders:
As someone who has slugged through Princeton vs. Penn repeatedly as both a player and as a coach, Jerome Allen’s statement after his team had been withheld a share of the 2011-12 Ivy League title by losing to the Tigers at Jadwin Gym was a surprise.
“How can a team that’s playing for nothing play harder than the team that is supposedly playing for something?” he asked himself.
It was not the circumstance that Princeton wanted to find itself in at the regular season’s close, but when the Quakers come to town there’s always substance on the line.
Tigers senior guard Douglas Davis didn’t see Tuesday’s competition as Allen did, nearly channeling Pete Carril in the process. “Not at all,” he said when questioned if Princeton had nothing to play for. “Every time you step on the floor you’re trying to win. We don’t know what our future holds so we’re just going to play.”
Play they did. Play to win. Especially on defense.
Today's Game:Penn (19-11 / 11-2) vs. Princeton (18-11 / 9-4) Location: Jadwin Gym - Princeton, NJ Time: 7:30 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet:ESPN3 Series History: Penn leads 123-102. Last meeting:Penn 82 Princeton 67 - 1/30/12
Penn
Princeton
11-6
Home Record
9-2
8-5
Away Record
8-8
0-0
Neutral Record
1-1
94
RPI
93
139
Sagarin
113
126
Pomeroy
91
65.6
Points / Game
66.3
63.9
Points Allowed / Game
61.3
.448
FG%
.455
.731
FT%
.670
.376
3PT FG%
.375
30.3
Rebounds / Game
33.2
8.5
Off. Rebounds / Game
8.6
-2.6
Rebounding Margin
-0.1
13.7
Assists / Game
14.3
12.7
Turnovers / Game
12.2
2.4
Blocks / Game
3.8
Rosen: 18.5
Points
Hummer: 16.0
Belcore: 4.8
Rebounds
Hummer: 7.2
Rosen: 5.3
Assists
Bray: 3.6
Belcore: 1.7
Steals
Bray: 1.7
Dougherty: 0.7
Blocks
Hummer: 1.1
Howlett: .510
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Connolly: .550
Rosen: .892
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Saunders: .826
Bernardini: .421
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3PTM)
Bray: .419
The Princeton senior class of 2012 as freshmen.
Tuesday, March 6th
Richmond (10) vs. La Salle (7) – Atlantic 10 Tournament – 7:00 pm ET
Penn vs. Princeton – 7:30 pm ET – ESPN3
Wednesday, March 7th
Pitt (13) / St John’s (12) vs. Georgetown (5) – 2:00 pm ET – Big East Tournament – ESPN
Washington State (9) vs. Oregon State (8) – 3:00 pm ET – Pac-12 Tournament – FSN
Thursday, March 8th
Minnesota (10) vs. Northwestern (7) – 5:30 pm ET – Big 10 Tournament – ESPN2
The final Ivy League Men's Basketball Weekly Release of the season includes Ian Hummer on the Honor Roll.
It was looking decent for Fairfield (19-14) in the championship game of the MAAC Tournament at halftime. The Stags were up four and playing well. The second half however was a brutal defensive struggle where Sydney Johnson's team missed their first 13 attempts from the floor. Three tying shots in the final 1:08 went off the mark and it was Loyola (Md.) advancing to the NCAAs, 48-44. A postseason bid of some fashion is expected.
How about Fairfield against Yale in the CBI or CIT?
Denver (22-9) was knocked out of the Sun Belt semifinals by Western Kentucky, 67-63. Senior guard Brian Stafford had a look for three behind a screen down two with five seconds to go and Royce O'Neale's putback was then blocked. The Hilltoppers sealed the result at the line.
Richmond plays at La Salle tonight to open defense of their conference tournament title. Spiders guard Kendall Anthony is the Atlantic 10's Rookie of the Year.
Congratulations to Marcus Schroeder, who is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time as Saint Mary's graduate assistant. The Gaels won the West Coast Conference tournament in overtime, knocking off Gonzaga. It was good to see a smiling Schroeder celebrating on the floor after the final buzzer.
While at Princeton, Pete Hegseth was a polarizing figure.
There are great eBay auctions full of rare memorabilia, and then there is this.
Jesse Agel is out at Brown. A decision was made to not renew his contract.
If you liked reading last Thursday's Yale and Brown updates in our ongoing Know! Your! Foe! series, you're in luck! We're back one final time during the Ivy schedule with a Q&A about the Penn Quakers.
If you also want to read his original take in advance of late January's game at The Palestra, please check it out here.
Thanks to all of this season's interview subjects, especially those who made it possible to "run the table" with 14 consecutive previews, one for each conference contest.
Additionally, if you cover a team the Tigers will face down the line, let us know. It would be great to talk with you.
Mondays have become a good time on this site to look into the past, and the previous three weeks that has meant scanning photographs from the archives of David Zeft.
This is the last stack that Mr. Zeft loaned to me and includes shots from between 1981 and (roughly) 1993. Click on any scan to enlarge.
Above, Kit Mueller with a righty hook during Princeton's December 1990 victory in the championship game of Iona's on-campus Manufacturers Hanover Classic.
Eight more images after the jump. I'll need help identifying a number of players in some of the team celebrations. That's where you come in!
Monday, March 5th
Fairfield (4) vs. Loyola Md. (2) - 7:00 pm ET - MAAC Tournament - ESPN2
Western Kentucky (7) vs. Denver (3) - 9:30 pm ET - Sun Belt Tournament - ESPN3
Tuesday, March 6th
Richmond (10) vs. La Salle (7) - Atlantic 10 Tournament - 7:00 pm ET
Penn vs. Princeton - 7:30 pm ET - ESPN3
Wednesday, March 7th
Pitt (13) / St John's (12) vs. Georgetown (5) - 2:00 pm ET - Big East Tournament - ESPN
Washington State (9) vs. Oregon State (8) - 3:00 pm ET - Pac-12 Tournament - FSN
Thursday, March 8th
Minnesota (10) vs. Northwestern (7) - 5:30 pm ET - Big 10 Tournament - ESPN2
Well well well. After an 85-75 upset of top seed Iona, Sydney Johnson and Fairfield (19-13) are now 40 minutes from the NCAA Tournament. An impressive 16-1 run when trailing by six in the second half turned the game around. The MAAC final is tonight in Springfield, MA against Loyola of Maryland.
The Sun Belt Tournament bracket is in shambles with the exception of Denver (22-8). All the other top seeds fell in the quarterfinals while the Pioneers were taking care of South Alabama, 61-50. Western Kentucky awaits in the semifinals tonight.
Usually Monday belongs to the student papers around these parts, but only the Daily Princetonian (with an exceptional photograph) recounts the weekend's action.
Here's comprehensive information on where Northwestern stands in their quest for the NCAA Tournament.
Georgetown's Jason Clark was named first team all-Big East, with Henry Sims and Hollis Thompson also earning recognition from their conference.
Big Apple Buckets has updated their projected NIT bracket. Princeton is among their last seven teams out.
princetonbasketball.com was founded on April 28th, 1998 in an attempt to provide fans of the Princeton Tigers and Ivy League basketball with the best on-line source for up-to-date news and information. We have since expanded to launch a companion site, Georgetown Basketball News.
As these sites have continued to grow we have increased our coverage to include additional teams with Princeton connections - the Richmond Spiders, Denver Pioneers, Oregon State Beavers, Fairfield Stags and Mercer County Community College Vikings - plus former Tigers playing professional baseball and basketball all over the world. This site is not directly affiliated with the Friends of Princeton Basketball, Princeton University or the Princeton athletic department.
Sun. 11/10 vs. Florida A&M
Sat. 11/16 at Butler
Wed. 11/20 vs. Lafayette
Sat. 11/23 at Rice
Tue. 11/26 vs. George Mason
Sat. 11/30 at Bucknell
Sat. 12/7 vs. FDU
Wed. 12/11 at Rutgers
Sat. 12/14 at Penn State
Fri. 12/20 vs. Portland*
Sat. 12/21 vs. Pacific*
Tue. 12/31 vs. Kent State
Sat. 1/4 at Liberty
Sat. 1/11 at Penn
Sun. 1/26 vs. Kean
Fri. 1/31 at Harvard
Sat. 2/1 at Dartmouth
Fri. 2/7 vs. Columbia
Sat. 2/8 vs. Cornell
Fri. 2/14 at Brown
Sat. 2/15 at Yale
Fri. 2/21 vs. Dartmouth
Sat. 2/22 vs. Harvard
Fri. 2/28 vs. Yale
Sat. 3/1 vs. Brown
Fri. 3/7 at Cornell
Sat. 3/8 at Columbia
Tue. 3/11 vs. Penn
2,503 - B. Bradley, 1962-65
1,625 - I. Hummer, 2009-13
1,550 - D. Davis, 2008-12
1,546 - K. Mueller, 1987-91
1,451 - P. Campbell, 1959-62
1,441 - C. Robinson, 1979-83
1,428 - B. Earl, 1995-99
1,365 - B. Scrabis, 1985-89
1,321 - G. Petrie, 1967-70
1,292 - H. Haabestad, 1952-55
1,277 - G. Lewullis, 1995-99
1,239 - B. Taylor, 1970-72
1,207 - S. Goodrich 1994-98
1,133 - F. Sowinski, 1975-78
1,130 - R. Hielscher, 1991-95
1,122 - C. Thomforde, 1966-69
1,099 - T. Manakas, 1970-73
1,090 - J. Wallace, 2001-05
1,088 - C. Belz, 1956-59
1,079 - B. Hauptfuhrer, 1973-76
1,076 - B. Roma, 1976-79
1,071 - C. Mooney, 1990-94
1,064 - A. Hyland, Jr., 1960-63
1,062 - L. Brangan, 1957-60
1,057 - A. Hill, 1973-76
1,054 - D. Mavraides, 2007-11
1,044 - S. Johnson, 1993-1997
1,031 - J. Hummer, 1967-70
1,010 - W. Venable, 2001-05
