Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson & Maurice Barrow:
Battling back from down 13 points with 14:17 to go, Fairfield (17-13) was able to pull even at 55 against Rider (13-18) on a pair of Maurice Barrow free throws, but could not convert three prime chances in the last minute to either win the game or send the afternoon to overtime.
Barrow missed a pair of free throws – one long, one short - after being fouled on a drop step with :46 remaining and the Stags behind 63-62.
Then, out of a time out nine seconds later the Broncs went immediately inside to Novar Gadson for a quick righty flip and a three point game.
Unlike Princeton at Harvard on Friday, Fairfield opted against the quick two and subsequent foul. Rakim Sanders, who scored 13 of his team best 17 in the second half on a series of strong drives, got a good look on the left wing yet the tying try went in and out.
Rider’s Junior Fortunat was fouled but left both his attempts off the front rim and the Stags got one final opportunities at drawing even. As the clock ticked down from nine Sanders pulled up for a three that sailed long.
The ball bounded into the Fairfield bench while time expired.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Denton Koon, John Comfort & Ian Hummer:
One night after a tough loss at Harvard, there were no slumped shoulders. There was no letdown.
Instead there was no letting up.
Princeton made 12 of 17 three point shots, converted 65.4% of their chances and got a complete team effort in a dominant tip-to-buzzer 24 point victory over Dartmouth in Hanover.
Leading by one 10:30 into the game, the Tigers scored 19 of the next 21 to take control going up 19 on a feed from Ian Hummer to senior John Comfort.
“It was import for us to come out with a lot of energy and stay focused on today’s game, Comfort said. “I think we did that well.”
Their advantage never dipped lower than 14 and three consecutive second half three point shots, the first by Patrick Saunders and the last two from Mack Darrow extended the already sizable margin to 60-31.
Saunders, likely playing in his home state for the final time, was a perfect 4-4 from three point range and had a team best 14. Support came inside from Hummer (11 points, four assists), Brendan Connolly (11 points, five assists) and Denton Koon with 10 off the bench.
Princeton unselfishly dished out 25 assists via 11 different sets of hands.
“We were really trying to emphasize that. I thought across the board everybody shared the ball nicely,” said Tiger head man Mitch Henderson.
All 14 players in uniform saw the court as Clay Wilson and Brian Fabrizius both recorded their first collegiate baskets.
Freshman John Golden has 21 for the Big Green including a series of impressive throw downs.
The nation’s second-longest home winning streak lives on, but barely.
After desperately chasing Princeton since nearly the midway point of the first half, Harvard turned up the pressure and finally passed the Tigers for good during a 6:15 stretch well into the back stanza wherein the orange and black went scoreless.
The Crimson were only able to extend their slim lead to 59-55 on a Brandyn Curry shot that lipped in and were able to hold off every last Princeton push for their 28th consecutive victory in Lavietes Pavilion.
“I was really proud of our guys,” said head coach Mitch Henderson after a defeat that all-but-officially snuffs the Tigers’ hope for a portion of the Ivy title. “I thought the game could have gone a number of different ways.”
A pair of Kyle Casey free throws provided his team with a three point advantage as :34 remained. Princeton went for a quick two but Ian Hummer could not convert over Casey inside and Oliver McNally’s four free throws were enough to offset a T.J. Bray three pointer.
Hummer and Douglas Davis led the way for Princeton with 14 apiece but three of Davis’ total came on a harmless 35′ jumper to halve the Tigers’ deficit at the buzzer. Patrick Saunders scored all 12 of his tallies in the first half on three straight three point shots and a three point play as Princeton turned a 9-1 hole into as wide as a 10 point lead before Harvard closed the half on a 9-0 run.
Casey’s 20 championed Harvard, one of three Crimson starters in double digits.
Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Henry Sims & Jason Clark:
I've never fully understood the "o-ver-ra-ted!" chant. Don't you want the team you're beating to be as good as you expected if not better? Doesn't that say more about the school you support?
Still, such a cheer broke out half-heartedly with 2:04 left in the second half tonight in Newark with Seton Hall (19-9) up 64-49 on #8 Georgetown (20-6).
Perhaps it was deserved. The Hoyas didn't play much like a Top 10 team and Seton Hall performed like a school on the NCAA Tournament bubble desperate for a marquee victory.
Jordan Theodore was magnificent for the Pirates, scoring 29 points on 8-11 shooting including 5-5 from three point range and 8-8 at the free throw line.
John Thompson III's team was holding opponents to 38.0% shooting from the floor and 27.8% from behind the arc in Big East play but Seton Hall lit them up from all over, connecting on 8-13 threes and 61% of all their attempts.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Patrick Saunders, T.J. Bray & Ian Hummer:
Of the 10 sour choices, January 13th was the night this season Princeton wished most they could have back. Missing more than their fair share of clean jump shots and unable to take advantage of late opportunities to rally on the road past the Big Red, the Tigers fell 67-59 to open their Ivy League schedule.
“The guys understood that this was a game up in Ithaca – and all credit goes to Cornell – where we really did not feel good about how we played,” Head coach Mitch Henderson admitted.
This evening at Jadwin Gym was poles apart.
“We looked like a completely different bunch,” Henderson said. “I’ve watched that Cornell game probably five or 10 times now. I just don’t recognize us up there. This was a little bit more of who we really are tonight.”
After scoring on their final 12 possessions to finish Columbia off on Friday night, Princeton picked up right where they concluded. The Tigers had five baskets from five different players their first five times down the court.
“I thought we brought a lot of energy right from the tip,” said junior forward Ian Hummer. “We just kept it going all night and tried not to hit a wall.”
While Cornell was able to keep pace offensively for the initial seven minutes, Princeton never let up as they shot 69.2% in the opening frame and maintained a double digit lead over the night’s final 27:47.
“We knew if we came out in the second half and really put our foot to the pedal we would be fine,” Hummer added.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Douglas Davis & Mack Darrow:
While one of his teammates previously nicknamed him “The Mack-sheen” (which sounds better than it reads) it might be time to start calling Princeton’s junior forward Knack Darrow.
On Friday night versus Columbia, Darrow had the knack in his team’s 77-66 win.
The knack to make big plays, as he did at the end of the first half with a steal and a three point shot in the final 17 seconds to tie the game at 27.
The knack to convert big baskets, like the one he hit from the top of the arc with 12:22 left in the second half to place the Tigers in front for good.
The knack to grab offensive boards to keep possessions alive. Princeton scored a staggering 12 straight occasions with the ball to end the game and Darrow preserved the pill for the orange and black three times due to putbacks crashing the glass.
The knack to make important free throws. Darrow was a perfect 9-9 at the line as Princeton kept Columbia at a three possession length the final 8:55.
By the end Darrow had a career high 19 points and eight rebounds.
“Mack is our most efficient player by far,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson, a self-professed ‘numbers guy.’ “He makes everybody better.”
Lost in this performance was Douglas Davis’ 20 tally output wherein he caught and passed assistant coach Brian Earl for fifth on Princeton’s scoring list.
Ian Hummer started slow but finished with 16 of his own at the close of the night.
Princeton’s defense took center Mark Cisco and guard Brian Barbour’s preferences away. While Barbour was scored 22 they weren’t an easy 22 (eight came during a desperate final three minutes) and Cisco was not a factor either scoring or rebounding.
Freshman center Bobby Garbade's righty hook shot bounced in at the buzzer to give the Princeton J.V. a one point victory over Howie Levy's Mercer County Community College Vikings (4-21).
It was, depending on your point of view, either the Tigers' third chance to win the game or MCCC's third chance to lose the game in the final seconds.
After the Vikings scored seven straight to pull even in the waning moments, Clay Wilson's far baseline pull up broke a 60-60 tie until Armando Davis promptly placed his team up one with a three point shot on the right wing.
Wilson, who connected eight times from behind the arc on his way to a game best 37 points, could not answer with a long trey try of his own and Mercer was fouled grabbing a rebound.
The front end of a one and one by Filip Sekulic with :10.9 showing came up short and the Tigers first nearly threw an inbounds mid court pass away that Chris Clement ran down in the corner fighting off his man with :04.5 on the clock.
After the subsequent time out, a deflected inbounds from Daniel Edwards drew another second down and to finish off a painful season for Levy's team in appropriately agonizing fashion Clement's inbounds lob to Garbade resulted in the game-winner from the middle of the lane.
Garbade had eight points, Edwards nine, Clement and Brian Fabrizus five each. No other Tigers - including Tom Noonan off the bench - scored.
Video of the exhibition's final moments after the jump.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Ian Hummer & T.J. Bray:
Like happened last March in memorable fashion at the end of an Ivy League playoff in New Haven and as even ensued somewhat prematurely when the two teams met further north at Lavietes Pavilion the week prior, for the third consecutive occasion when Harvard and Princeton faced one another in basketball a court was stormed.
The stakes were not as high as they had been in either of these previous two meetings. There was no trip to the NCAA Tournament directly on the line, but as time ran out at Jadwin Gym on Saturday night the hardwood transformed into a sea of orange and black jubilation as the Crimson suffered their first loss in conference play.
Princeton (13-10 / 4-3) was downright magnificent in the final 5:14 on Saturday night versus nationally-ranked Harvard (21-3 / 7-1), first scoring on six straight possessions to turn a 46-46 game into a 10 point Tiger lead and then making nine of 12 free throws in the last 71 seconds to fend off the Crimson’s endless loop of drives to the basket.
Junior forward Ian Hummer clearly was the best player on the floor, recording 20 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing six assists including a pair of jaw-dropping passes. Hummer was one of five Princeton players in double figures. T.J. Bray had all 12 of his tallies in the second half, making his first start in 17 games Brendan Connolly was a needed force inside with 11 as the displaced Mack Darrow and freshman Denton Koon each added 10 from the bench.
Keith Wright had 16 to lead three Crimson starters in double digits.
It was Princeton’s first win over a then-ranked team since besting Wake Forest in 1997 and the first victory versus a team in the AP Top 25 at home since a memorable game against #2 Notre Dame in 1977.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Patrick Saunders & Douglas Davis:
Win or lose, up or down, for 112 games as a Princeton Tiger, senior guard Douglas Davis’ demeanor has remained the same. In his first outing after a 2-12 struggle to connect at Yale, Davis got rolling in the second half, leading his team to a win over Dartmouth.
Davis scored 14 of his game high 20 after intermission, including four three pointers in five tries as the Tigers flipped a two point halftime deficit into a 33-25 lead.
All the while, his expression didn’t change.
“Don’t play poker with Doug,” joked head coach Mitch Henderson.
Princeton had to fight through dreadful 0-12 shooting to open the game and an unexpected 0-11 mark by leading scorer Ian Hummer, but after falling behind by 10 points early the Tigers rallied behind their senior co-captains Davis and Patrick Saunders for the 59-47 victory.
“Doug’s pretty quiet. If he goes 0-11 or 11-11, it looks pretty much the same,” Saunders said of his stoic classmate.
A common thread has connected Princeton’s three Ivy League losses this season: The inability to cut an opponent’s lead down to one possession in the second half when offered repeated opportunity. Tonight’s defeat at Yale was the most bitter of this trio of intertwined results, as the chances were numerous and comparatively the least difficult.
As occurred at Cornell and at Penn, starting with just under nine minutes left in regulation Princeton could not convert six straight shots to turn what had been as deep as a 13 point hole - dug primarily during a 9:20 first half scoreless stretch - into a one possession affair.
“Once again, you’re in a game where have to come back from so far down – that’s tough,” said head coach Mitch Henderson.
Ian Hummer eventually drew his team within 50-47 on a jumper over Greg Mangano before Mangano knocked down the Bulldogs’ only three point shot in 10 second half attempts.
A pair of layups by Mack Darrow had Princeton within two in the final minute, but needing a defensive stop Jeremiah Kreisberg was fouled receiving a wrap around pass and made both his free throws.
Kreisberg (9), Mangano (20 and 12 rebounds) and Reggie Willhite (20 points and nine rebounds) combined for 49 of Yale’s 58. The rest of the Bulldogs shot 2-18 for the game.
“We knew if we contained them we would have a chance of winning and that didn’t happen tonight,” Hummer said of Yale’s frontcourt. “They killed us on the inside.”
Hummer led the way for Princeton with 18 in defeat, eclipsing 1,000 points on a runner that was blocked by Mangano for a goaltending violation. Darrow added 11 but was 1-8 from three point range. Patrick Saunders supported the cause with 10.
Postgame audio - Brendan Connolly, Ben Hazel & Ian Hummer:
It was the proper definition of “a balanced effort.”
Eight Tigers played between 18 and 28 minutes for Princeton on Friday night at Brown. Those eight players each scored between seven and 12 points as the orange and black led by double digits in Providence for the night’s final 30 minutes.
“I thought we definitely had the right attitude tonight,” said head coach Mitch Henderson. “We were just more aggressive on the boards and that created some opportunities for us.”
Trailing 8-5, Princeton hit four straight three pointers and ran off 16 consecutive on the scoreboard, capping this stretch with a Brendan Connolly sky hook and tip follow. Connolly had 11 points off the bench.
Sophomore guard Ben Hazel made four of his seven three pointers for a career high 12, matched by Douglas Davis.
“Hazel was very good tonight,” Henderson acknowledged. “He gave us a lift off the bench.”
The Tigers held a 48-34 advantage at the break, their most first half points against a Division I opponent in at least 13 years. In the back frame this lead extended to as many as 23.
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
