Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Ian Hummer & Dan Mavraides:
Two of the greatest guards in the history of the Ivy League manned the sidelines against one another for the first time on Tuesday night in the 221st hardwood meeting between Penn and Princeton.
It was an evening where both men, each coaching at their alma mater, made it clear where their allegiances stood. Their fashion displayed their passion.
For the first time this season, Sydney Johnson wore a tie from the Princeton Club of Philadelphia embroidered with orange and black crests.
Not to be outdone, Jerome Allen donned a maroon sweater with a dark blue "P" flush in the center.
This first face off for the two went better for Johnson's Tigers than he remembered the pair's on-court encounters in the mid-1990s.
"It was a nightmare," Johnson said of facing Penn's Allen, Shawn Trice and Matt Maloney.
"We competed," Johnson was quick to add about his teams. "We were proud in what we put out on the court. We had our own time. "That's what I'm trying to tell these guys. Just keep grinding and maybe we'll get our own time."
Princeton kept grinding against Penn, never trailing, but never able to push their lead into double digits.
Their leading scorer, Douglas Davis - for the first time in his collegiate career - went scoreless.
Yet at the end of the night, the Tigers had won their second straight at the Palestra behind a career high 24 points from junior Dan Mavraides and 23 points off the bench from the interior combination of Zach Finley and Ian Hummer.
Today's Game:Princeton (14-6 / 5-1) vs. Penn (4-16 / 3-3) Location: The Palestra - Philadelphia, PA Time: 7:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: Penn leads 122-98. Last meeting:Princeton 59 Penn 56 - 3/10/09.
Douglas Davis represents Princeton on the Honor Roll of the new Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report.
For the first time in 24 years, the Richmond men's basketball team has returned to the Top 25.
Mercer (17-11) rolled to their seventh straight, 80-53 over Morris. The Vikings were 17-31 from three point range. Next up, second-ranked powerhouse Harcum on Thursday night.
TigerBlog has a piece about the crowd at Jadwin Gym on Saturday night.
The New York Post places Princeton sixth in their rankings of area teams.
For the latest installment of the site's popular Know! Your! Foe! series, I exchanged emails with Mr. Jonathan Tannenwald (pictured above with a special friend), Sports Producer for Philly.com, editor of the top shelf Soft Pretzel Logic blog and an expert on Big 5 basketball. He was kind enough to provide some knowledge on tonight's opponent, the Penn Quakers.
Penn has only one home win this season (1-7), but it was a stunner against the then-nationally ranked Cornell Big Red on Friday night. What happened at the Palestra?
I still don't really know. I was there, and it definitely happened, and the students rushed the court, and all that. But it still astounds me. Penn played out of its mind. All those shots that have missed over the last two and a half years went in the basket, especially for Jack Eggleston. Penn shot 56.3 percent from the field.
Penn led at halftime even though Cornell shot 56.5 percent in the first 20 minutes. I figured it couldn't be sustained, but the Quakers uncorked a 15-0 run to start the second half.
Then I started getting IMs from Andy Glockner and a Tweet from Pat Forde. I looked across the floor and saw that the usually barren Palestra student section was at least double its regular size. And the crowd was much louder than it had been in a while.
I've been battling a cold for a week or so, and Friday was close to the worst of it. As the second half wound down, part of me honestly wondered if I was seeing things.
In a way, I wasn't absolutely convinced of what happened until Penn came out really sluggish against Columbia on Saturday. Then I - and everyone in the building - knew the team had truly given everything it had against the Big Red.
How have the Quakers changed, either in personality or performance, since Jerome Allen replaced Glen Miller on December 14?
The wins aside, it's hard for me to really quantify what's happened. It's clear though, that the psychological side of the team is way better than before.
Something was broken in the locker room, especially during the first half of the season. It's not that the players didn't play hard for Glen Miller. They wanted to win just as badly in November as they do now.
As soon as I and the other reporters walked into Weightman Hall on the morning of December 15, it was clear that things were different. Then we went to talk to Zack Rosen, and we were hit with the full effect of what had happened.
I asked Rosen whether things felt different than it did before Miller was dismissed.
Rosen paused for a moment, then quickly and quietly answered: "Yes."
It still took a long time for the team to build up to the point where it could win a game. But this team has made more progress since Allen took over than anyone could have reasonably expected. It all built up to last Friday.
Whether or not you think the court-storming Friday night was fair, the emotions that came from the players and coaches were certainly real.
The Penn team defensive numbers on the Pomeroy web site are dreadful. Have they improved on this side of the ball since Allen arrived?
Yes, but I'm not an expert at reading defenses. I'll leave that to Howard Gensler.
Sophomore guard Zack Rosen - as good as advertised?
Without question. He can score and distribute, but his leadership qualities are what has really come through lately. No one in the league that I know sees him as a sophomore, and it would not surprise me if he wins Ivy League Player of the Year. That is not to dimish Lin's incredible talent, but in my opinion, Rosen has done as much if not more with less help than Lin enjoys.
Off the court, the interview I referred to above is one of the most composed and perceptive I've ever seen an Ivy League athlete give, especially given the circumstances of that day.
The other thing I appreciate about Rosen is his understanding of Penn basketball history. I don't root for the team, but I have been concerned for some time now about the low attendances at the Palestra. You and your readers know full well what the place is like when it's full and rocking, and Penn hasn't had that for a few years now.
It's worth noting that Rosen has an op-ed in today's Daily Pennsylvanian encouraging the students to come to tonight's game. That's the first time I've ever seen something like that in the DP.
Rosen has spoken a number of times of wanting to experience the kind of atmosphere that Allen enjoyed when he played at Penn. For as far as Penn and Princeton have fallen in recent years, it would be great if tonight can be a step towards bringing the crowds back to 33rd Street.
Mike Howlett has grabbed a whole lot of rebounds when healthy. How much of a difference does he make?
I suspect Steve Donahue and Joe Jones can answer that question better than I. Howlett's impact was certainly a big reason why Penn won Friday. The offense flows much better with him (and Dan Monckton) on the floor.
Howlett is a better rebounder and ballhandler than Conor Turley, and Howlett's movement around the floor forces opposing defenses to account for him. That frees up more space for Jack Eggleston, and it also gives Rosen another receiver of the ball in the post.
You were at the Penn/Brown buzzer-beater. What did you see?
I saw Dan Monckton release his shot after the light went on. I can't tell you when the horn sounded. It was all very fast, of course. But I also saw Matt Mullery release his buzzer-beating layup before the light went off at the end of the first half, and a few people told me afterwards the basket was fair.
So don't take my word for it.
Describe how Penn beats Princeton tonight.
They could shoot 56.5 percent from the field again, and Princeton could play rather like St. Joe's did when the Tigers went to Hagan Arena. A big student turnout would also probably give the players a boost.
There isn't much else I can think of. Even the ghosts (if you believe in them) can only do so much with how well Princeton has been playing lately.
What occurs for the Tigers to trip the Quakers?
I was really impressed by how Princeton played at Harvard. The defense was strong, the passing was crisp and the scoring was efficient. Most importantly, though, I felt like Princeton could easily continue to play at that level. It seems that they have, save for the hiccups against Columbia.
I also don't think Penn's defense is ready for the Princeton offense's cuts and movement, especially given how young many of the regular players are. Fran Dunphy rarely played underclassmen against Princeton because of the amount of work that is required to follow the movements for all 35 seconds of the shot clock.
Sydney Johnson's interpretation of the system seems more liberal to me than the interpretations of some of his predecessors, Joe Scott in particular. But the Tigers' discipline has really impressed me, and if they play to their capability tonight I expect them to win.
You've seen a lot of Penn basketball and a fair amount of Princeton over the past decade. Is there a single moment that stands out, either on the court or in the stands?
If I may, I'd like to offer one of each. My moment on the court was the Big 5's 50th Anniversary celebration in 2006. Every living City Series player and coach was invited, and many turned out. I got to meet such legends as Bob Weinhauer, Corky Calhoun and Bill Melchionni. It was a really amazing experience.
My moment in the stands was the first Penn-Princeton game I ever attended, in 2003. It remains near the top of the list of the loudest atmospheres I've heard in the Palestra. Only the 2006 and 2008 Villanova-St. Joe's games have matched it.
Plug time! Let people know about your web sites!
As long as your readers are still awake, I'd be happy to. My primary job is overnight editor of the sports page of Philly.com, the shared website of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News.
I write two blogs for Philly.com: Soft Pretzel Logic, covering college sports, and The Goalkeeper, covering soccer. The latter blog launched in January of this year to coincide with the arrival of Philadelphia's new Major League Soccer and Women's Professional Soccer teams.
For many Tiger undergraduates, Saturday night was the first time they had been to a men's basketball game at Jadwin Gym. People are still buzzing about the atmosphere you were able to create, giving the arena life it hadn't seen in ages. You did an amazing job.
From the web traffic stats since the final buzzer, it looks like Sunday and Monday are the first times many of you have visited princetonbasketball.com looking for more information on the team.
Welcome!
We're an independent subscription-based site that provides unparalleled coverage of the Princeton Tigers.
I'd like to offer any interested students the (poorly-publicized) student subscription discount rate of $15 if you're interested in becoming a member. That's 50% off our base rate.
-Full access to the complete site through the end of September 2010.
-Weekly interviews with Tiger coach Sydney Johnson that you can submit questions for.
-Postgame audio from players and coaches after every contest.
-The ability to read detailed recaps and exclusive statistical analysis for each game.
-Photo essays.
-Updates on recruiting classes, including interviews with all five 2010 recruits' high school coaches.
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-You'll learn about Princeton basketball history, the other branches of Pete Carril's coaching tree, get to interact with other Tiger fans in our comments and become part of a group of dedicated fans and alums. Have questions about the past, the present and the future? Someone here can answer'm.
With your subscription, you'll be able to take advantage of our Facebook fan page and Twitter feed, which are set up to relay new posts and member comments as they happen.
I've had many people tell me over the years that following Princeton basketball was the best part of their four years at Princeton. I hope this site can help enhance and improve that experience for you.
Filmed courtside to start, but primarily high up in the stands, showing most of the crucial plays down the stretch. That wild triple deflection with 14 seconds left still haunts me.
If you didn't make it out last night and Stephen Goldsmith's photos weren't enough to capture the mood during yesterday's game against Cornell for you, here's video of the Tiger band and student section in action.
Despite a New York Times report to the contrary, Beaver coach Craig Robinson denies that a representative of his has approached DePaul about their head coaching position.
Denver (14-11) played well on the road but fell 64-59 at North Texas.
Princeton recruit T.J. Bray had 25 points as Catholic Memorial clipped Milwaukee Pius, 60-48.
Newman Smith won versus Highland Park, 46-39. Future Tiger Daniel Edwards had 18 points and eight rebounds in defeat.
The Reading Eagle has named Pete Carril one of Berks County's four most famous sports figures.
Georgetown visits a Rutgers team that has won three of four. Look for full coverage on the site after this game.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (17-5 / 6-2) tied the school record for road wins in a season, winning 81-67 at Brown (8-17 / 2-6). Niko Scott scored a career high 29 as Columbia (9-13 / 3-5) won at Penn (4-16 / 3-3). Yale (10-15 / 4-4) held Dartmouth (4-18 / 0-8) to 18.8% shooting in the second half, rallying for the 69-56 triumph.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Zach Finley & Douglas Davis:
Douglas Davis’ tying try from the top of the arc sailed beyond his target at the horn and Cornell gutted out a 48-45 win over Princeton to move back into a first place tie atop the Ivy League.
"I let it go and it felt a little long but I knew it was on line. I needed the backboard [for] it to go in," Davis said of one of his few second half misses. "I was praying that it would go in somehow, some type of way, but it didn't."
Ryan Wittman’s catch and shoot three with 1:38 remaining - his only triple of the night - looked like it had iced the game for the Big Red and silenced the packed house at Jadwin Gym, sending Cornell up 44-38, but Davis scored the Tigers’ last 11 points, putting them in the position to force overtime.
David finished with a game-high 20 on 6-10 shooting.
Wittman had 13 for Cornell and fellow senior Jeff Foote added 11 inside, perfect from the field.
"I thought it was a terrific basketball game. It was pretty physical. There was a fair amount of stuff going out there that wasn't smooth and pretty but I thought it was pretty intensely played," Princeton coach Sydney Johnson summarized. "I thought these guys really put their heart out. I was really happy with the effort of our team and certainly they should feel good about their effort. It's just a shame we couldn't win the game."
His first two seasons at Princeton, Kevin Steuerer wore it.
As a junior, it went to freshman Zane Ma.
Finally as a senior, Zach Finley could have it.
For his final year as a Tiger, Finley made the decision to switch uniforms from 30, which he had donned in his first 82 collegiate games, to his high school number of 24.
The reason why Finley wanted this integer is the same reason his brother Rhett wore it before him at St Thomas Moore High School in Rapid City. A tribute to South Dakota basketball legend Derek Paulsen, who died in a automobile accident on July 30, 1999.
Paulsen - who wore 24 when playing at home for the Custer Wildcats - and his girlfriend Eva Wahlstrom were hit head on by a car going the wrong way in the wrong lane a few months after he had led his team as a junior to a third place finish in the state tournament.
Both had their seat belts on. Both were killed.
Paulsen's too brief life touched many throughout the state, including both Finley boys. Since 2001 the Derek Paulsen Inspiration Award has been handed out each year to a member of the Dakota Schoolers Basketball Club.
This tragedy was the subject of a 2000 Sports Illustrated piece by E.M. Swift, one that mentions Paulsen drew recruiting interest from both Northwestern and Princeton.
A life cut short over a decade ago, honored for a season 1,743 miles east of Custer. A small, meaningful gesture happening every game this year, unbeknownst to everyone but Zach Finley.
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
