Stanford vs. Northwestern - 2:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Louisiana-Monroe vs. Denver - 6:00 pm ET
Richmond vs. Florida - 6:30 pm ET - Orange Bowl Classic - Sun Sports
Old Dominion vs. Georgetown - 7:00 pm ET - MASN
Mississippi Valley State vs. Oregon State - 10:00 pm ET
FIT gave Mercer (5-8) fits on Thursday. The Vikings fell 83-75 despite 19 points and 14 rebounds from Paco Boussougou.
Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon met at Jadwin Gym this afternoon to record another installment in their weekly interview series. Audio from their Q&A runs 12:00+ in length.
Johnson and Solomon discuss a number of topics this time out, including the differences between Princeton's wins over UNC Greensboro and Monmouth, the 15-4 run that opened up last Sunday's game versus the Spartans, the early open shots Princeton found versus the Hawks and the difficulty scoring after that point, what it is about Monmouth's defense that gives the Tigers fits, an update on Jimmy Sherburne's shoulder injury and Penn's recent coaching change. They also preview this weekend's trip to snowy Maine.
Postgame audio - Douglas Davis, Marcus Schroeder & Ian Hummer:
"We set the game of basketball back a little bit, but we tend to do that every time we play them anyway." - Monmouth basketball coach Dave Calloway.
When the final buzzer sounded, there was silence.
No applause, just the sound of several hundred people standing up throughout the arena, grabbing their belongings and heading for Jadwin Gym's doors.
It was a sedate end to a troublous fourteenth meeting between Monmouth and Princeton.
While the Tigers led almost the entire way, from Douglas Davis' opening three point shot through the final buzzer, the crawling pace of the game and the wide intervals between field goals left those in attendance detached, notwithstanding Princeton's third straight win.
Davis scored 20 points as Princeton eked out the murky four point victory over the visiting Hawks.
Despite shooting 0-7 from the floor in the first half, Dan Mavriades tallied 11 for the Tigers and added a career best nine rebounds.
Whitney Coleman missed a three off the right wing following a steal that would have tied the game for the Hawks and Mavraides' subsequent free throw with ten seconds left made it a two possession game, providing the final margin of victory.
Monmouth finished 0-11 from three point range.
Travis Taylor led the Hawks with 17 points, nine rebounds and six turnovers.
"I don't think it was a flawless [defensive effort], but I think that [our] focus was very, very good," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson after the game's conclusion. "There were very few times where I felt like we had major breakdowns."
Ian Hummer was named Rookie of the Week in the latest Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report.
A career high 35 points and eight three pointers versus North Carolina A&T earned Northwestern freshman Drew Crawford the title Big Ten Player of the Week.
More accolades! Georgetown big man Greg Monroe was rewarded as Big East Player of the Week.
Andy Glockner has a piece on the Sports Illustrated web site about Coach Mooney and Richmond.
From the vault, here's a article on Sydney Johnson and his brother that ran in the Baltimore Sun after Princeton defeated UCLA in 1996.
TigerBlog offers his?their?its? a take on Jerome Allen coaching against Sydney Johnson.
If you're curious, read the official Penn press release about Glen Miller's dismissal.
For the second straight year, Mercer County Community College scrimmaged the Princeton JV at Jadwin Gym. It was a great opportunity to watch two teams who run similar offenses face off and also a chance to observe several Tigers in action that have seen very limited playing time this season.
While the scrimmage was scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm ET, the two teams started early. Mercer had opened with a 10-0 and Princeton had answered with 10 straight by the time I arrived.
Someone I had not seen play previously was freshman forward Mack Darrow - who showed a quick first step to the basket and scored 17 points. Darrow wore #34 on Monday night instead of his varsity jersey number of #41. The Tiger JV was outfitted with Princeton's 2008-09 uniforms, complete with VBK memorial patches.
Scott Greenman is coaching the Princeton JV this year. Greenman sported a shirt from a Princeton summer camp with the mantra "One Goal. Make Shots" printed on the chest.
Greenman's offensive strategy was to put four players around the perimeter and repeatedly lob the ball inside to Brendan Connolly (#45). The Tigers' freshman center showed why he scored so many points back in Tennessee, finishing well when surrounded and making all three of his free throw tries.
Connolly ended the exhibition with 20 points.
Junior guard Bobby Foley, who hit seven three pointers the last time these two teams met, scored 11 for the Tigers. Foley was a surprising 1-5 at the free throw line.
John Comfort (#15, shooting) scored 13 points in the first half and 16 points in the second half, including six three pointers. His 29 led all scorers.
Comfort also had...
...an explosive breakaway dunk.
Back-to-back Comfort triples made it a 73-57 Tiger lead late in the second half.
Coach Levy joked that Greenman's strategy to play man on defense after missed Tiger shots and zone on defense after made Princeton baskets threw his team off.
The Vikings went on a 22-6 run to close within two in the final minute.
Javis Williams had a pair of impressive dunks during the run...
...plus a ridiculous 360 move to score inside.
Two Darrow free throws iced the win for the Princeton JV.
Greenman, assistant coach/shot clock operator Brian Earl, Levy and Roger Gordon talk after the scrimmage's conclusion.
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
