Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Kareem Maddox, Dan Mavraides & Ian Hummer:
It was looking like a loss, a loss full of positives such as improvements on interior defense, collective free throw shooting and overall team toughness.
It was looking like a loss, a loss to the best team that will visit Jadwin Gym this season, determined by a late 8-0 Siena Saints run.
It was looking like a loss, a loss after Princeton had gone up two in the final three minutes and a trio of unfortunate bounces did not reward Tiger defensive hustle.
Then Dan Mavraides changed everything.
The Princeton senior tri-captain hit two three point shots in the final 10 seconds of regulation, including a tightly contested jumper with :0.08 on the clock as the Tigers rallied to force overtime from down six with a minute to play.
"I've had a couple looks at the ends of games throughout my career here and I don't think I've made one of them. Maybe one," Mavraides said with a hint of relief. "It was good for one of those to finally drop."
Princeton scored seven of the extra frame's first eight points, capped off by Kareem Maddox's third dunk of the day to take control and converted nine of their final 10 free throws for an unexpected, significant victory.
Maddox was one of four Tigers in double figures, coming off the bench 71 seconds into Sunday's game for a career high 30 points and 10 rebounds.
Mavraides' heroics were part of a 19 point afternoon.
Center Ryan Rossiter was limited to 14 points on 5-12 shooting for the Saints, but grabbed a ridiculous 21 rebounds in defeat.
Today's Game:Siena (2-3 / 1-0) vs. Princeton (2-3 / 0-0) Location: Jadwin Gym - Princeton, NJ Time: 2:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A 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.
Siena
Princeton
0-2
Home Record
1-0
2-1
Away Record
0-2
0-0
Neutral Record
1-1
53
RPI
119
40
Sagarin
163
89
Pomeroy
155
71.8
Points / Game
67.0
70.8
Points Allowed / Game
71.8
.458
FG%
.448
.694
FT%
.653
.412
3PT FG%
.374
34.2
Rebounds / Game
35.6
10.6
Off. Rebounds / Game
10.8
-1.2
Rebounding Margin
+6.8
12.2
Assists / Game
14.6
16.0
Turnovers / Game
15.0
3.6
Blocks / Game
2.8
Rossiter: 21.4
Points
Davis: 15.4
Rossiter: 13.2
Rebounds
Hummer: 7.0
Brookins: 3.2
Assists
Maddox: 3.8
Brookins: 2.0
Steals
Maddox: 1.2
Rossiter: 1.6
Blocks
Maddox: 1.6
Anosike: .654
FG% (Min: 5 FGM)
Hummer: .644
Griffin: .857
FT% (Min: 5 FTM)
Davis: .900
Jackson: .542
3PT FG% (Min: 5 3FGM)
Mavraides .481
Creighton vs. Northwestern - 8:30 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Colorado vs. Harvard - 1:00 pm ET
Columbia vs. American - 2:00 pm ET
Around the Ivy League: Brown (3-2) lost to New Hampshire on a layup with 2.8 seconds remaining. All five starters reached double figures as Yale (2-3) beat Army 87-79 in the Bulldogs' home opener. Dartmouth (2-4) defeated winless Colgate, 80-63. Cornell (2-4) fell 66-61 at Boston University. Pitt trounced Penn (2-3) by 24.
UNC-Ashville vs. Georgetown - 12:00 pm ET
Oregon State vs. Howard - 4:00 pm ET
Richmond vs. Purdue - 7:30 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Denver vs. Boise State - 9:00 pm ET
Brown vs. New Hampshire - 1:00 pm ET
Army vs. Yale - 2:00 pm ET
Colgate vs. Dartmouth - 2:00 pm ET
Cornell vs. Boston University - 5:00 pm ET
Penn vs. Pitt - 7:00 pm ET - espn3.com
Richmond (5-1) defeated Wright State 71-61 to advance to the finals of the Chicago Invitational Classic. The Spiders play Purdue in the championship game.
No. 16 Georgetown returns from a holiday break for a matchup against UNC Ashville.
The annual Washington, DC business trip for Oregon State sees the Beavers visiting Howard University.
A very good Rider team was up 47-44 on Siena with 14 minutes to go, but a 20-1 Saints run decided a 73-60 evening. Next up, a trip to Jadwin Gym on Sunday.
Through Thanksgiving the 2010-11 Princeton Tigers have five games in the books and sport a 2-3 record that could be 4-1 just as easily as it could be 1-4.
Looking at these five games as a separate entity from the rest of Princeton's non-conference slate, some (potentially fixable) issues become apparent. When watching the Tigers play starting Saturday versus Siena, pay close attention to these five areas - as they may hold the difference between close wins and close losses.
Princeton slides to eighth place in the new edition of the Schuykill 16.
Around the Ivy League: Christian Webster hit a three point shot with 23 seconds left to put Harvard (3-1) back in front and the Crimson escaped Bryant, 69-66. Brown (3-1) is off to their best start in a decade, defeating St. Francis (NY) by four.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Ian Hummer & Douglas Davis:
There was no other way to put it, so Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson didn't put it any other way.
"We flatly just got outplayed. We made it close but clearly they were the tougher team," said Johnson after his team closed out CBE play at James Madison with a 69-67 loss to Presbyterian.
The Tigers trailed 62-55 with 4:48 left in the second half of their third game in three days and rallied to go up one on Douglas Davis' sixth three pointer of the afternoon with :28 still to play but could not stop Blue Hose center Al'Lonzo Coleman as he bumped his way inside for a layup that flipped the lead for the 11th and final time.
"He was a tough out for us," assessed Johnson of Coleman, who finished with 17 points to lead Presbyterian. We tried to mix in some different things but obviously [big men] were trouble for us these last three games."
Coleman scored over Princeton's Ian Hummer, who had a career game of 24 points on 10-13 shooting along with 14 rebounds - the most by a Tiger since Zach Finley grabbed 15 in a 2009 OT loss to Penn and Hummer's first double-double.
Kareem Maddox's potential game-winner from just inside half court did not reach the rim as time ran out.
Davis added 23 in defeat but no other Tiger managed more than five.
Today's Game:Princeton (2-2 / 0-0) vs. Presbyterian (1-4 / 0-0) Location: JMU Convocation Center - Harrisonburg, VA Time: 4:30 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A 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.
Princeton
Presbyterian
1-0
Home Record
0-0
0-2
Away Record
1-3
1-0
Neutral Record
0-1
34
RPI
177
119
Sagarin
281
132
Pomeroy
307
67.0
Points / Game
56.8
72.5
Points Allowed / Game
73.2
.455
FG%
.421
.651
FT%
.667
.411
3PT FG%
.400
35.8
Rebounds / Game
26.6
9.8
Off. Rebounds / Game
7.8
+7.3
Rebounding Margin
-7.0
13.8
Assists / Game
13.6
17.5
Turnovers / Game
13.0
2.0
Blocks / Game
2.4
Mavraides: 15.8
Points
Coleman: 14.0
Maddox: 6.0
Rebounds
Coleman: 7.6
Maddox: 3.5
Assists
Miller: 4.8
Maddox: 1.5
Steals
Coleman: 1.6
Maddox: 1.3
Blocks
Troyli: 0.8
Mavraides, Hummer: .583
FG% (Min: 5 FGM)
Mutakabbir: .548
Davis: .944
FT% (Min: 5 FTM)
Johnson: .857
Mavraides: .632
3PT FG% (Min: 5 3FGM)
Mutakabbir .692
Alcorn State vs. Denver - 9:00 pm ET
Charlotte vs. Oregon State - 10:00 pm ET - FSN Northwest
Harvard vs. Bryant - 4:00 pm ET
St. Francis (NY) vs. Brown - 4:00 pm ET
Not to bring the room down after a nice win, but I've been having difficulty thinking of the last time Princeton had a 20 point lead and lost a basketball game. Does a previous occurrence come to mind? I can recall Tiger opponents that have come back from down 19 and down 18 but never 20 or more.
The 14-Game Tournament looks at some of Princeton's statistical red flags through their first three games.
Did you know Tiger guard Ben Hazel is the grandson of Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey?
Former Sacramento King Doug Christie talks about what Pete Carril taught him.
Mercer (3-3) returned to the win column with an 82-68 decision over Lackawanna. 5'10" Jon Jernigan had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six steals. The Vikings were 9-18 from three point range.
High school basketball is getting underway around the nation. Princeton recruit Bobby Garbade scored 12 points in Seton Catholic's season-opening victory.
Judson Wallace had 14 in Gran Canaria's surprising EuroCup win over Buducnost.
Around the Ivy League: Penn (2-2) outscored Lafayette by 16 in the second half of a 74-65 Quaker win. Noruwa Agho had 25 points as Columbia (2-3) defeated Colgate, 76-63. Quinnipiac put away Dartmouth (1-4) by a 69-52 final. Yale (1-3) fell 73-47 at Illinois.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Mack Darrow & Dan Mavraides:
Returning to the floor of the JMU Convocation Center less than 24 hours after seeing a 20 point lead against James Madison evaporate, Princeton found themselves in a somewhat similar situation versus Bucknell during the second day of their College Basketball Experience subregional.
Holding a 52-39 lead on Douglas Davis' third three point shot of the afternoon, the Bison responded with 11 straight to creep within two at the 4:33 mark.
Fueled by Kareem Maddox in the post at both ends of the arena and supported by sophomore center Mack Darrow's two free throws and critical three point shot in the game's final 78 seconds, the Tigers were able to close out their second victory of the 2010-11 campaign.
Mavraides and Davis each had 16 for the Tigers. Darrow added career bests of 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Asked about an opportunity to atone so soon after a disappointing loss, Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson relished that another contest followed right around the bend without time to dwell.
"It is the best thing from a players' standpoint and also from a coaching standpoint. You want to get back out there," Johnson said. "I was happy with how they bounced back from a tough loss last night."
Bucknell's G.W. Boon led the Bison with 17 points in 26 minutes.
Two of my favorite players of the past 15 years, Oklahoma City forward Jeff Green and former Princeton great Gabe Lewullis at the TD Garden after the Thunder defeated the Celtics 89-84 on Friday night.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Douglas Davis & Dan Mavraides:
Inherently, not being able to hold a 20 point lead against a quality opponent on their home court is frustrating.
In addition to those inherent frustrations connected to what transpired there will be four separate elements of Princeton's 65-64 loss at James Madison that will gnaw in the gut of any Tiger fan between now and tomorrow afternoon's game against Bucknell.
1. You didn't see it coming.
Often, a team will be able to build a lead despite reverting to bad habits because the ball continues to find its way into the basket. Up 45-25 in the first half, the Tigers were marvelous on offense, sharing the basketball beautifully and ending almost every possession with an open shot in rhythm. It was not occurring too easily either, as can sometimes be the case. Princeton made good decisions and rewarded players in the right positions.
2. They were still where they wanted to be when they wanted to be.
After being on the wrong end of a 28-5 run and going the first 10 minutes of the second half without a basket, Princeton somehow sat in a position to win. While the Tigers fell behind by as many four in the final four minutes, Kareem Maddox's one-handed offensive rebound of a missed Ian Hummer free throw and incredible one-handed rifle pass down the baseline to Douglas Davis setting up in the far left corner actually put Princeton back in front by one with :47 left in regulation. It was the third of Princeton's three second half field goals and their only made jumper in the second half.
Today's Game:Princeton (1-1 / 0-0) vs. James Madison (1-1 / 0-0) Location: JMU Convocation Center - Harrisonburg, VA Time: 7:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A 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.
Princeton
James Madison
1-0
Home Record
0-0
0-1
Away Record
1-1
0-0
Neutral Record
0-0
149
RPI
184
149
Sagarin
180
142
Pomeroy
148
69.0
Points / Game
67.5
85.0
Points Allowed / Game
71.0
.476
FG%
.522
.595
FT%
.608
.395
3PT FG%
.381
33.5
Rebounds / Game
35.0
11.5
Off. Rebounds / Game
8.5
+5.0
Rebounding Margin
+3.0
15.5
Assists / Game
11.5
21.5
Turnovers / Game
21.5
2.0
Blocks / Game
3.0
Mavraides: 21.0
Points
Moore: 16.0
Connolly: 7.5
Rebounds
Goins: 11.0
Connolly, Maddox: 3.5
Assists
Bowles, Jackson: 3.0
Maddox: 2.0
Steals
Hitchens: 1.0
Hummer, Maddox, Darrow, Barrett: 0.5
Blocks
Bowles: 1.5
Mavraides: .636
FG% (Min: 5 FGM)
Bowles: .737
Davis: 1.000
FT% (Min: 5 FTM)
Moore: .733
Mavraides: .667
3PT FG%
Goins .333
Cornell vs. Lehigh - 7:00 pm ET
A 15-0 second half run helped Georgetown (5-0) sprint past NC State for the Charleston Classic title. Hollis Thompson scored 18, one of four Hoyas in double figures in the 82-67 win.
Kevin Smith returned from an injury and Richmond (3-1) dropped Charleston Southern, 82-71.
Texas Southern surprised Oregon State (1-2) by a 66-60 score in Corvallis. The Beavers shot 1-13 from three point range in the second half against the Tigers.
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
