Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Douglas Davis, Ian Hummer & Kareem Maddox:
Careless.
Sloppy.
Lifeless.
Nonchalant.
Princeton was all of those things and worse against Duquesne in the first eight minutes of the Tigers’ CBI opener on Wednesday night, but behind the stellar play of Douglas Davis, Ian Hummer and Kareem Maddox off the bench, the Tigers dug themselves out of a 20-11 deficit to lead by five at the break and pull away from the Dukes in the second half.
"There is a part of us that maybe wasn't quite ready to play," admitted Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson. "I think we refocused at some point, the guys got their energy level right and we were able to come back from that."
"We've had times this season where we started out slowly and just kind of figured it out, so I felt like we were going to," Johnson continued. "It probably took a little bit longer than I wanted it to, but I'm just glad we were able to do that and start to play our style of basketball."
Duquesne closed within one early after intermission, before a top flight stretch that saw Maddox feed Zach Finley for a one-handed dunk, gracefully score twice inside and then throw it down with two hands boosted the lead back to eight.
Once Princeton went up double digits with 12:19 left on two Maddox free throws, the Tigers maintained a double figure advantage the rest of the night, with Nick Lake dunking on a backdoor cut to punctuate Princeton’s first postseason victory since 1999.
Davis, his nasal bridge covered in white tape due to a broken nose suffered in practice on Monday, hit four times from outside and had a game-high 16. Maddox added 15 and Hummer provided a much-needed spark with 14 points in 17 minutes, including a 6-6 performance at the free throw line.
Damian Saunders tallied 14 to pace Duquesne.
Princeton advances to play IUPUI on Monday evening in Indianapolis in the quarterfinals of the CBI.
Duquesne's second-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Bill Clark, has been suspended from the team and will not accompany the Dukes to Princeton.
Mercer (20-13) lost to Kishwaukee, 82-73. The Vikings next play on Thursday in the consolation bracket of the NJCAA Men's DII Basketball Championship. Paco Boussougou scored 21 for Mercer, who were unable to stop the Kougars in the second half. Kishwaukee was an unfathomable 18-22 from the field after intermission.
Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon were able to find a free morning in their respective busy schedules to tape a 20:00+ one-on-one interview in advance of tomorrow night's CBI game.
Johnson and Solomon break down Princeton's last three games of the regular season against Dartmouth, Harvard and Penn, then delve into how the team spent their five days in limbo before receiving word about the postseason and conclude by talking about what to expect when the Duquesne Dukes visit on Wednesday.
Tuesday, March 16th
MCCC vs. (6) Kishwaukee - 7:30 pm ET NJCAA Division II Tournament
Wednesday, March 17th
Duquesne vs. Princeton - 7:00 pm ET - HDNet CBI Tournament
(7) Northwestern vs. (2) Rhode Island - 7:00 pm ET - ESPNU NIT
Boston vs. Oregon State - 10:00 pm ET - HDNet CBI Tournament
Harvard vs. Appalachian State - TBA pm ET collegeinsider.com Tournament
Thursday, March 18th
(10) Saint Mary’s vs. (7) Richmond - 2:50 pm ET - CBS NCAA Tournament
(14) Ohio vs. (3) Georgetown - 7:25 pm ET - CBS NCAA Tournament
Friday, March 19th
(12) Cornell vs. (5) Temple - 12:30 pm ET - CBS NCAA Tournament
The postseason starts tonight, with Mercer kicking off round robin play in the NJCAA Division II Tournament against Kishwaukee. You should be able to watch the game here.
Tickets for Wednesday's Princeton/Duquesne game are now available.
Our Facebook invite for the game has over 130 positive RSVPs. Let people know you're going to Jadwin!
In advance of Wednesday night's CBI first round home game against Dusquesne, Princeton held a press conference at Jadwin Gym this afternoon with head coach Sydney Johnson and the Tigers' senior class answering questions from the media about the school's first postseason trip in six years.
Audio - Pawel Buczak, Nick Lake, Marcus Schroeder & Zach Finley:
Tuesday, March 16th
MCCC vs. (6) Kishwaukee - 7:30 pm ET NJCAA Division II Tournament
Wednesday, March 17th
Duquesne vs. Princeton - 7:00 pm ET - HDNet CBI Tournament
(7) Northwestern vs. (2) Rhode Island - 7:00 pm ET - ESPNU NIT
Boston vs. Oregon State - 10:00 pm ET - HDNet CBI Tournament
Harvard vs. Appalachian State - TBA pm ET collegeinsider.com Tournament
Thursday, March 18th
(10) Saint Mary’s vs. (7) Richmond - 2:50 pm ET - CBS NCAA Tournament
(14) Ohio vs. (3) Georgetown - 7:25 pm ET - CBS NCAA Tournament
Friday, March 19th
(12) Cornell vs. (5) Temple - 12:30 pm ET - CBS NCAA Tournament
As you know by now, the Tigers are in the CBI. Read official press releases about Wednesday's home game on the Princeton and Duquesne web sites.
Richmond (26-8) missed a chance to tie with seven seconds left and Temple won their third straight Atlantic 10 Tournament championship, 56-52. The Spiders drew a seven seed and will play St. Mary's in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Providence, RI.
One day earlier and a few miles down the road, Northwestern visits the Rhode Island Rams in the first round of the NIT.
Defending champion Oregon State will get a chance to defend their CBI crown. The Beavers host Boston University on Wednesday night.
Steve Donahue and Cornell were paired against mentor Fran Dunphy's team and Temple in the NCAA Tournament.
Harvard grabbed a CIT bid and will play at Appalachian State.
Today's Trenton Times has a Mark Eckel column on Howie Levy and the Mercer men's basketball team.
A bit more detail about Catholic Memorial's WIAA Division 2 sectional final victory. In the game, Princeton recruit T.J. Bray had 16 points, 15 rebounds, plus five assists and two steals.
Chris Young pitched three solid innings versus the Indians.
The Tigers' season did not end last Tuesday against Penn, as Princeton will be at home versus Duquesne in the first round of the CBI on Wednesday, March 17th.
Tip off is 7:00 pm ET and the game will be televised on HDNet.
The Dukes are 16-15 this season, went 7-9 in the Atlantic 10. They finished 8th in the A-10 and were knocked out by St. Bonaventure in their first A-10 Tournament game.
RPI: 111
Sagarin: 123
Pomeroy: 145
Duquesne has played six overtime games this season (2-4), three of which went double OT.
Five Dukes are averaging double figures, led by Damian Saunders who is putting up 15.0 ppg, 11.3 rpg and three blocks a game. He's a 6'7" 210 lb beast of a forward.
They're 346th out of 347 Division I teams in three point shooting percentage (26.3%). Almost all of their damage comes inside.
Also a poor free throw shooting team (60.8%, 342nd nationally), they play good interior defense and collectively block their fair share of shots.
Building off of our Friday and Saturday updates, here's a third and most likely final look at potential College Basketball Invitational and College Insider Tournament teams.
NIT-ology and The NIT Bracket Project have not been updated for Sunday, March 14th, so some of the teams listed may be bumped up to the National Invitational Tournament's 32 school field.
While I'll be back after the NCAA Selection Show with news of Georgetown, Richmond and Cornell's destinations, I urge you to please follow the site on Twitter for frequent postseason updates about the NIT, CBI and CIT all evening.
Sunday, March 14th
(3) Richmond vs. (1) Temple - 1:00 pm ET - CBS Atlantic 10 Tournament
A week after falling in double overtime to Xavier, Richmond (26-7) returned the favor, getting past the Musketeers 89-85 in OT. The backcourt of Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez combined for 53 points. The Spiders will play in the A-10 Conference championship game this afternoon.
Georgetown (23-10) fell in the final seconds of the Big East Tournament championship to Da'Sean Butler and West Virginia.
Princeton recruit T.J. Bray had 16 points as Catholic Memorial beat Whitefish Bay in the Division 2 sectional finals to advance to Wisconsin's state tournament.
Former Arkansas standout Corliss Williamson has been hired as the new head coach of Central Arkansas. Williamson says one of his mentors is Pete Carril.
Here's an article on Uros Kovacevic and the Mercer men's basketball team. The Vikings are aiming for a JUCO title at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Championships starting Tuesday in Danville, IL.
Two Padres videos, one a season forecast for Will Venable and the other highlights of three shutout spring training innings by Chris Young.
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
