Kentucky 59 Princeton 57.

March 17, 2011 at 6:21 pm
Filed under 10-11, Audio, Basketball, Princeton

Box Score : HD Box Score

Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Dan Mavraides, Kareem Maddox & Douglas Davis:

Locker room audio - Kareem Maddox:

Locker room audio - Dan Mavraides:

Locker room audio - Coach Sydney Johnson:

When it ended, one basket shy of all they had worked for, the man who profoundly despised losing as both a player and a coach did something unexpected and beautiful.

He allowed his team to say goodbye.

Before heading back into the depths of the St. Pete Times Forum after a two point defeat in the final two seconds against the SEC champion Kentucky Wildcats, Princeton coach Sydney Johnson motioned his players not to the locker room but towards the Tiger faithful sitting across from his team's bench.

First came senior Dan Mavraides, having just concluded his final collegiate contest wherein he led his team with 14 points and tied the game on a step back jumper in the lane that hung, hoped and stuck with 34 seconds remaining for a 57-57 score.

Mavraides blew kisses with both hands, his teammates joining him pointing to family and friends applauding in the stands.

"It was hard to do that. But I felt like we owed it to our fans. We didn't want to celebrate a loss in any way, shape or form," Johnson said of the gesture. "That's not what it was about."

"As much as I love our guys, they have to realize that we're all people and we've all got to do things the right way. When someone is giving you the support that our fans have given us, you've got to say thank you," Johnson added.

"You can't take that for granted."

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Video: Coach Johnson talks Kentucky.

March 17, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Filed under Basketball, Princeton, Video

Bloomberg interviews Sydney Johnson at the St. Pete Times Forum yesterday.

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Tampa team photo.

March 17, 2011 at 10:37 am
Filed under Basketball, Photos, Princeton, Stephen Goldsmith

Your 2010-11 Princeton Tigers as photographed by Stephen Goldsmith outside a reception held for the team at Jackson's Bistro last night.

A fitting final image before I head to the arena.

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NCAA Public Practice video.

March 17, 2011 at 10:21 am
Filed under Basketball, Princeton, Video

Forced to make their St. Pete Times Forum debut accompanied by a Black Eyed Peas jam (compared to the rousing school fight song Kentucky would enter to 90 minutes later) and walking into the arena a minute before their cue to kick off the day's open to the public event, Princeton held a 40 minute practice on Wednesday morning in front of 100 or so spectators - the majority of whom were older members of Big Blue Nation reserving their seats for when the Wildcats would take the floor almost two hours later.

The free shootaround consisted primarily of traditional Princeton layup, three point shot and passing drills as the Tigers revealed little to those watching and got accustomed to the sightlines and angles of the home for both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Big East's USF Bulls.

Princeton looked exactly as their coach Sydney Johnson wants them to play on Thursday - loose but focused. There were smiles to be shared but none of the "I can't believe we're here" variety.

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Thursday News:

March 17, 2011 at 9:28 am
Filed under Basketball, Craig Robinson, Mike Brennan, Northwestern, Princeton, Recruiting, Richmond, Today's News

Today's Game: (13) Princeton (25-6 / 12-2) vs. (4) Kentucky (25-8 / 10-6)
Location: St. Pete Times Forum - Tampa, FL
Time: 2:45 pm ET (estimated)
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: CBS
Internet: ncaa.com/mmod
Series History: Kentucky leads 2-1.
Last meeting: Kentucky 72 Princeton 58 - 3/12/78.

Thursday, March 17th
Southwest region – Denver, CO
(12) Richmond vs. (5) Vanderbilt – 4:10 pm ET – TBS
NCAA Tournament

Friday, March 18th
Southwest region – Chicago, IL
(11) VCU vs. (6) Georgetown – 9:50 pm ET – TBS
NCAA Tournament

Saturday, March 19th
(4) Northwestern vs. (1) Boston College – 11:00 am ET – ESPN
NIT

Previews of today's game can be found on the Princeton Alumni Weekly web site, in the Star Ledger, in the Trenton Times, on CBS Sportsline, courtesy of the Associated Press and in the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Kentucky players tell the Lexington Herald-Leader that they do not believe their youth is an issue.

Sydney Johnson was a guest on WFAN (.mp3) late Sunday night. The Princeton coach stopped by Sporting News Radio for a spell and was also named PAW's Tiger of the Week.

TigerBlog offers keys to today's game.

Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune exchanged emails with Coach Johnson about his days with the Moorhead Spuds.

As a companion to yesterday's Know! Your! Foe! interview, here are my answers about Princeton on Kentucky sports site Tailgate Review.

Douglas Davis tells Yahoo! Sports he would change one thing about his shot versus Harvard, a basket that still resonates five days later.

Davis is the subject of an article in the Trentonian, as is Kareem Maddox.

Bloomberg has an interesting hodgepodge of notes from Tampa, including what books Kareem Maddox brought with him to Florida and what John Bogle '51 thinks of the matchup with Kentucky.

The Trenton Times and the Tampa Bay Tribune pick up on the Tigers' relationship with Christian "Crunch" Regulski.

Enjoy video of Kareem Maddox talking about playing the Wildcats.

Patrick Saunders, Will Barrett, Jimmy Sherburne and John Comfort all get written up in their local papers.

The Daily Pennsylvanian asks a pair of Quaker players about Princeton's chances today.

There's a Town Topics story on the Ivy League playoff.

The Daily Princetonian has a great piece about Bill Greenfield, the man who created the handwritten record book for Princeton basketball.

Monmouth is narrowing their search for a new head coach and Mike Brennan remains in the picture.

John Shurna scored 25 points as Northwestern (19-13) won their first postseason game in 17 years, 70-61 over UW Milwaukee. The Wildcats travel to Boston College on Saturday.

Richmond tips against Vandy in Denver about an hour after the start of Princeton's game in Tampa.

Craig Robinson breaks down his brother in law's NCAA bracket.

Princeton recruit Bobby Garbade was named to the BCANY All-Section 4 team.

I was interviewed by Newsworks for a piece on local college basketball writers during the NCAA Tournament. Looking for audio of the piece as it sounded on WHYY. Thanks to those who wrote saying you heard me on the radio.

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"How Princeton became Princeton again."

March 17, 2011 at 8:35 am
Filed under Basketball, Princeton, Video

Filmmaker Phil Wall and the Wall Street Journal take you inside Princeton basketball.

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Calipari on Princeton.

March 16, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Filed under Basketball, Princeton

Here's a transcript of Kentucky coach John Calipari's quotes about Princeton from this afternoon's press conference.

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NCAA Public Practice pictures.

March 16, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Filed under Basketball, Photos, Princeton, Stephen Goldsmith

Photos from today's open practice in Tampa courtesy Stephen Goldsmith.

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Video: Mavraides talks Kentucky.

March 16, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Filed under Basketball, Princeton, Video

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Princeton NCAA Press Conference.

March 16, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Filed under Audio, Basketball, Princeton

The afternoon before Princeton's NCAA Tournament game against Kentucky, Tigers Ian Hummer, Dan Mavraides, Kareem Maddox and Douglas Davis answered the media's questions.

Princeton's four double digit scorers were soon followed to the podium by their head coach Sydney Johnson.

Photos and videos from the Tigers' just-concluded open practice on the floor of the St. Pete Times Forum are coming soon.

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Know! Your! Foe! - Kentucky.

March 16, 2011 at 10:02 am
Filed under Basketball, Know Your Foe, Princeton

Our Know! Your! Foe! interview series is back with a special NCAA Tournament "Second Round" edition. Rob Pedigo from Kentucky sports site Tailgate Review and I will be trading Q&As on the eve of the Wildcats' first meeting with Princeton since 1977.

To kick things off, Rob answers to my questions. I'll send him responses to his inquiries about the Princeton Tigers later this afternoon.

Is it fair to say Kentucky is playing their best basketball of the season heading into the NCAA Tournament?

Yes, as a team, Kentucky played as well as they have all year in the SEC Tournament. Freshman Terrence Jones did not play as well as he has during the season, but the team was as good as a whole as it has been all year.

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Wednesday News:

March 16, 2011 at 8:38 am
Filed under Baseball, Basketball, Chris Young, Georgetown, Northwestern, Pete Carril, Princeton, Recruiting, Sean Gregory, Today's News

Wednesday, March 16th
(5) UW Milwaukee vs. (4) Northwestern – 8:00 pm ET – ESPN3
NIT

Thursday, March 17th
East region – Tampa, FL
(13) Princeton vs. (4) Kentucky – 2:45 pm ET – CBS
NCAA Tournament

Southwest region – Denver, CO
(12) Richmond vs. (5) Vanderbilt – 4:10 pm ET – TBS
NCAA Tournament

Friday, March 18th
Southwest region – Chicago, IL
(11) USC/VCU vs. (6) Georgetown – 9:50 pm ET – TBS
NCAA Tournament

Princeton will meet the media this morning in Tampa and then hold a public practice at the St. Pete Times Forum. Look for coverage of both events later today on the site.

The Daily Princetonian writes about how different styles obscure the similarities between Princeton and Kentucky.

There are two articles in the Princeton Packet: One on Douglas Davis' shot to vanquish Harvard and one on the Tigers' return to the NCAA Tournament.

There are also two articles in the Trentonian: One profiling Ian Hummer making a name for himself and one on head coach Sydney Johnson.

The Ventura County Star talks to Kareem Maddox about his first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Advocate-Messenger has quotes from John Calipari after watching tape of Princeton.

The Tampa Bay Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times introduce the Tigers to a new audience.

In addition to his great piece on Princeton/UCLA, Sean Gregory also talks at length about and with his former coach Pete Carril.

A junior forward from New Jersey is focused on Princeton.

Northwestern hosts UW Milwaukee tonight. Bill Carmody is picking up the tab for all the student tickets.

In advance of his NCAA Tournament return on Friday, Chris Wright is practicing with Georgetown.

Rush The Court wraps up the 2010-11 Ivy League season and hands out some awards.

Mets starter Chris Young pitched 5 1/3 innings of one run baseball versus the Nationals. Might Young make the trip west to Tampa from Port St. Lucie on Thursday?

A new Schuylkill 16 has dropped, with Princeton in fourth place. More importantly, I won Comment of the Week.

Around the Ivy League: Well-traveled Harvard (23-7) saw their season end with a 71-54 NIT loss at Oklahoma State.

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