Sunday, March 4th
Fairfield (4) vs. Iona (1) - 2:00 pm ET - MAAC Tournament - ESPN3
South Alabama (6) vs. Denver (3) - 9:45 pm ET - Sun Belt Tournament
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
Tuesday night's game with Penn has been picked up by ESPN3.
Still alive! By the skin of their teeth (as if they know any other way now) Northwestern (18-12) pulled off a 70-66 win at Iowa. The Hawkeyes missed an open three pointer for the lead with six seconds to go.
Denver faces South Alabama in the Sun Belt Tournament.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (26-4 / 12-2) earned at least a share of the conference crown with a 67-63 win at Cornell (12-16 / 7-7). Penn (19-11 / 11-2) stayed a half game back by rolling Yale (19-9 / 9-5) at The Palestra, 67-48. After so many close conference losses, Columbia (15-15 / 4-10) came out on top by six over Dartmouth (5-25 / 1-13) to end the season.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Douglas Davis & Brendan Connolly:
There was more drama as to if Saturday night’s game would actually take place than in regards to what the result would be.
Delayed 34 minutes by a malfunctioning backboard stanchion and non-synching shot clocks, Princeton took the lead for good with under eight minutes to go in the first half on a Patrick Saunders three pointer and methodically pulled away to go up 10 on Douglas Davis’ righty drive prior to the horn.
When play resumed the Tigers ran off nine straight and cruised to the finish, shooting 64.5% from the floor in the second half. The Bears did not score over the final 5:23.
With no answer by shorthanded Brown for 6’11″ Brendan Connolly inside, the junior center was in control throughout scoring 14 points and handing out six assists along with seven rebounds in 22 minutes of play. Davis added 12 in his penultimate Ivy game and fellow co-captain Patrick Saunders did the same.
“Because he’s running and establishing early position in the post, I think the guys are really looking for him,” head coach Mitch Henderson said of Connolly’s play. “It is such an advantage for us when we can throw the ball in to a center.”
Saunders is shooting 9-12 from three point range the past four contests.
Defined as "In a state of wonder or amazement, as with the mouth wide open," these five letters evoke memories of Princeton players such as Kit Mueller and Steve Goodrich who were never photographed during their playing days with their trap closed.
It is harder to see in real time, but these last few weeks junior guard Jimmy Sherburne is (in addition to super play at both ends) turning in the best reaction shots of any current Princeton player.
Armed with a new camera that possesses better burst speed, an animated tribute like the above is now possible.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Mack Darrow, Ian Hummer & Jimmy Sherburne:
The pressure was on.
For the first time since 4-4, Princeton looked up at a tie score with 11:34 left in the second half. Yale had pulled even from down by as many as 15 on a Greg Mangano drive at and over Mack Darrow.
Reeling, it was Darrow who would smash the cover that seemingly was placed over the rim the prior six+ minutes by connecting from the top of the arc and the Tigers converted on four consecutive subsequent possessions to reinstate a 49-40 advantage.
“Our defense was good enough but, man, we were very fortunate to play like that and be in a situation where if you make a few plays you reestablish control of the game, said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson. “We were sweating it. Yale can do that to you.”
The homestanding Tigers fought off every last push from the Bulldogs, including Patrick Saunders somehow blowing up a four-on-one break with Yale down two in the final four minutes.
“Pat does that,” Henderson said with pride of the senior co-captain who is closing his final season with some of his strongest minutes. “He’s got a good sense for things. That was a great play – just a basketball play.”
Before the present weekend fully gets underway, I wanted to share with you another two dollar eBay steal that arrived in the mail last night. I've noticed more and more newspapers are selling off photographs from their archives and one such image is the above shot of Bill Bradley, Butch van Breda Kolff and Bob Haarlow '66.
Might frame it now that it is scanned. More information after the jump.
Working on his NIT bracket projections, Big Apple Buckets sees the Tigers as the fifth-best team left out of this tournament according to Easiest Bubble Solver.
There is a First Person Singular from John Thompson III in the Washington Post.
Oregon State (16-13) led wire to wire in a 77-67 win over Utah.
Prior to practice this afternoon, Tigers head coach Mitch Henderson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon met at Jadwin Gym to tape their penultimate weekly interview of 2011-12.
Henderson and Solomon reviewed Princeton's split on the road at Harvard and Dartmouth in great detail and previewed the regular season's final trio of games at home versus Yale, Brown and Penn.
During the discussion the pair also talked about T.J. Bray exceeding 100 assists in a season, if Henderson's team is playing its most consistent basketball these last three weeks, each member of this year's senior class and the Tigers' postseason chances.
This exclusive Q&A is 17:00+ in length.
If you have questions for future interviews, please feel free to send them here.
If you enjoyed reading last Thursday's Harvard and Dartmouth updates in our Know! Your! Foe! series we're back once more with Q&As about this weekend's opponents.
After the jump you'll find intelligent overviews by ardent Brown supporter David Wise and Ian Halpern from Ivy Hoops Online.
In their respective unique styles, both update readers on opposition Princeton split with on the road last month.
If you want to read their original takes on these teams, please check out these Brown and Yale K!Y!F! posts.
Additionally, if you cover a team the Tigers will face down the line, let us know. It would be great to talk with you.
In addition to the above video there is an accompanying article about the history of the hook shot at Princeton that talks with Mack Darrow, Mitch Henderson, Pete Carril and Kit Mueller about this staple of a Tiger big man's offensive arsenal.
Down by double digits for most of the night, Northwestern (17-12) staged a ferocious rally against #10 Ohio State. Alex Marcotullio's deep three pointer from the top of the key tied the game at 73 in the waning moments as Welsh-Ryan Arena went berserk. Jared Sullinger spun inside to put the Buckeyes up once more with three ticks remaining and in his final regular season home game John Shurna's half court shot caught only the front of the rim at the buzzer. It was devastating. The Wildcats were outrebounded 44-18.
I can't lie - I was so nervous when I got home late in the second half I couldn't bring myself to watch until the final 20 seconds.
Richmond (16-15) knocked off Dayton on Senior Night, 82-71.
In a meeting between former Tigers of different generations, Judson Wallace scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds as FC Barcelona defeated the Dave Blatt-coached Tel Aviv side in a Euroleague match. Both teams will advance to the playoff rounds, with Wallace's team going undefeated.
Now on his fourth hitting coach, Will Venable is looking to improve his swing.
The Mets are keeping in touch with Chris Young but the oft-injured free agent wants a Major League contract.
Look! It is Armond Hill on the red carpet for the Harold Pump Foundation Gala.
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
