Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Patrick Saunders & Kareem Maddox:
Joel Smith's layup rolled off the rim as time expired and Princeton survived their first night of the UCF Holiday Classic, 65-63 over Northeastern.
Smith's attempt skidded across the iron and nearly rallied the Huskies from down 10 with 80 seconds remaining, as the Tigers turned the ball over twice in the backcourt and made just two of four free throws trying to close out their 10th victory of the season.
After a first half where Princeton's biggest lead was two and Northeastern's largest advantage four, the Tigers' active defense sparked an 18-2 run that seemed to change the game. The second of two Kareem Maddox dunks capped this spurt with 9:59 to go.
However, Princeton's attention to detail waned after they went up 16 and Northeastern hung close enough to make an improbable last second push a possibility.
"I just think that we came to play," said head coach Sydney Johnson of his team's performance during a stretch where Northeastern went 7:16 between field goals. "There's a little bit of a spark in us. I'm disappointed, because I didn't think we did that the entire game. The came after us after that run and we didn't respond well. We've got to learn from that."
Princeton recruit Denton Koon had 13 points in Liberty's victory over St. Pius X.
It was an adventure for Richmond to get home from their Boxing Day matchup at Seton Hall.
Patrick Saunders represents Princeton on Honor Roll of the latest Ivy League Men's Basketball Weekly Release.
Since people seemed to really enjoy listening to them before Christmas, here's one more news story on princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon's marathon radio show, this from WHYY.
Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon shoveled out their respective driveways and met at Jadwin Gym on Monday afternoon to go over Princeton's road victories at Wagner and Towson before Christmas. The pair also previewed the Tigers' trip to the UCF Holiday Classic later this week.
This Q&A is 10:00+ in length.
Interviews with Coach Johnson will appear on this site every week during the 2010-11 season.
In Evanston Northwestern (9-1) scored the game's first 20 points and rolled past Mount St. Mary's, 70-47. John Shurna, the Wildcats' leading scorer, sprained his left ankle in the second half.
Former Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich was courtside for Princeton's win at Towson.
princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon was a guest on PRI afternoon show Here & Now yesterday. For the 22nd year, Solomon can be heard on 103.3 fm WPRB / wprb.com from 6:00 pm ET on Christmas Eve until 6:00 pm ET on Christmas day playing holiday music you won't find anywhere else.
It was a surprisingly easy 20 point victory for Oregon State (5-6) over UIC.
ESPN's Andy Katz writes about the work Northwestern has to do following their loss to St. John's. The Wildcats host Mt. Saint Mary's and former Princeton assistant Robert Burke on Thursday afternoon.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Kareem Maddox & Douglas Davis:
Make it seven straight heading into a brief Christmas break for the Princeton Tigers.
A balanced scoring attack, led by Kareem Maddox and Patrick Saunders in the first 20 minutes - then Dan Mavraides, Ian Hummer and Douglas Davis in the vesper, allowed the visiting Tigers to slowly pull away from the homestanding Towson Tigers midway through the second frame.
"It feels good to go into the holidays with a win," said Davis after his team's ninth success of the campaign and the 50th victory of Sydney Johnson's head coaching career. "It feels good anytime you get a win on the road."
Leading 46-44, Princeton scored 12 of the game's next 16 points, capped off by two Mavraides free throws.
Today's Game:Princeton (8-3 / 0-0) vs. Towson (3-6 / 0-1) Location: Towson Center - Towson, MD Time: 4:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: This is the first meeting between the two schools. Last meeting: This is the first meeting between the two schools.
Princeton
Towson
3-0
Home Record
2-1
4-2
Away Record
1-5
1-1
Neutral Record
0-0
49
RPI
249
71
Sagarin
271
117
Pomeroy
249
72.0
Points / Game
73.7
69.4
Points Allowed / Game
76.1
.472
FG%
.442
.709
FT%
.710
.398
3PT FG%
.348
33.7
Rebounds / Game
39.1
9.1
Off. Rebounds / Game
12.6
+1.2
Rebounding Margin
+5.4
14.5
Assists / Game
12.4
14.2
Turnovers / Game
16.7
3.8
Blocks / Game
2.9
Hummer: 14.8
Points
Philmore: 14.2
Maddox, Hummer: 6.5
Rebounds
Dupree: 9.9
Maddox: 3.0
Assists
Morris: 3.7
Davis: 1.2
Steals
Philmore: 1.1
Maddox: 1.6
Blocks
Dupree: 1.0
Hummer: .596
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Dupree: .575
Mavraides: .800
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Polk: .793
Davis: .421
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3FGM)
Brown .400
Richmond vs. UNC Greensboro - 12:00 pm ET
UIC vs. Oregon State - 10:00 pm ET
Harvard vs. UConn - 7:00 pm ET - SNY
Penn vs. Delaware - 8:30 pm ET
Want to attend today's game FOR FREE? Print out this coupon! You're welcome.
Salem vs. MCCC - 7:00 pm ET
Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Denver - 9:00 pm ET
Northwestern vs. St. John's - 9:30 pm ET - MSG Holiday Festival - MSG
Army vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET
Dartmouth vs. Drake - 7:00 pm ET
Sparked by Drew Crawford and a defense that improved as the game went on, Northwestern (8-0) drubbed St. Francis by 31. The Wildcats play St. John's tonight for the Holiday Festival crown.
There's a short assessment of Princeton recruit Denton Koon from the Hy-Vee Shootout on the Rivals web site.
The Sports Network writes about the staying power of "upset darlings" Richmond.
Min Pts FG FT 3FG Rebs A S B TO PF
28 23 8-12 7-7 0-0 4-5-9 1 1 1 1 3 69-57 W Wagner
Maddox's net points against Wagner (+10.7) were higher than Princeton's total net points (+10.2) and his offensive rating (158.5) exceeded the 157.1 put up last week versus the Tulsa. Maddox's 23 points came in 48 possessions.
In the Bahamas, Richmond (8-3) fell to Georgia Tech by 13. The Yellow Jackets clamped down on the Spiders in the second half.
Freshman Chris Udofia provided a needed spark as Denver (3-9) downed Northern Colorado, 71-68.
Frederick defeated Mercer (5-8) by a 74-59 count. Rodney Walters had 15 for the Vikings.
Oregon State (4-6) trailed for the final 36 minutes of a 87-79 loss to George Washington. Beavers head coach Craig Robinson was in an unforgiving mood after the game.
Princeton recruit Denton Koon had 22 points, six rebounds and three assists in Liberty's win over Shawnee Mission West. Afterwards Koon received the Hy-Vee/Coca-Cola Male Scholar/Athlete award.
Around the Ivy League: Cornell (2-7) lost their sixth straight, 69-68 at Binghamton.
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
