Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon met at Jadwin Gym this afternoon to tape their weekly interview. The pair went over Princeton's split at Yale and Brown and previewed the final home games of the season versus Cornell and Columbia.
The discussion concluded with talk about the three seniors playing at Jadwin for the last time and Coach Johnson's first thoughts on the school's decision to reinstate early admission.
This Q&A is 21:00+ in length.
Interviews with Coach Johnson will appear on this site every week during the 2010-11 season.
Denver vs. Louisana-Lafayette - 8:00 pm ET
Penn State vs. Northwestern - 9:00 pm ET - ESPN2
Stanford vs. Oregon State - 9:00 pm ET - FSN Northwest
Steve Goodrich is quoted extensively in a Daily Orange story about the "Princeton Offense."
Georgetown (21-7) not only suffered through an awful 25% shooting night in a 58-46 loss to Cincinnati, but senior point guard Chris Wright broke his left hand early in the second half. Hoya Hoops was first with the postgame audio.
Princeton recruit Denton Koon scored 11 as Liberty opened postseason play with a 86-54 win over William Chrisman.
Dan Mavraides is called “an active contributor to trash talking within the league" by another Ivy player in a Daily Pennsylvanian article about smack talk.
Princeton recruit Brian Fabrizius had a big game in Kimball Union's win over Kents Hills.
Morris vs. Mercer - 7:00 pm ET - Region XIX Playoffs
The Daily Princetonian and the Yale Daily News summarize this weekend's games. If there's a piece in the Brown student paper, I couldn't find it.
It was a happy Senior Day for for five Richmond (21-7) players in their final home game at the Robins Center. The Spiders bested St. Bonaventure by 15.
Denver (13-14) lost their first home game to a conference foe in two years in painful fashion. South Alabama rallied from 14 down at halftime and took their first lead with 1:25 to go. The loss hurts the postseason plans of the Pioneers.
Denver and South Alabama round out the Pioneers' home slate.
Breaking news: Happy birthday, dad.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (20-4 / 9-1) moved a half game ahead of Princeton with a 61-42 win at Columbia (14-10 / 5-5). Zack Rosen scored in the lane with :02.3 seconds left to give Penn (11-12 / 5-4) the 60-58 decision at Yale (12-12 / 5-5). Cornell (7-17 / 3-7) made 16 three pointers in their 96-76 victory over Dartmouth (5-19 / 1-9).
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson & Kareem Maddox:
Brown had the gameplan - clog the lane with five defenders planting at least one leg in the paint at all times and make Princeton's outside shooters beat the Bears. The strategy was not dissimilar from last season's second meeting at Jadwin where Brown dared Marcus Schroeder to beat them from behind the arc.
The approach was a successful one.
Douglas Davis went 0-7 from three point range. Dan Mavraides missed both his attempts. Patrick Saunders was 1-6, his conversion ending a stretch of 12 straight off-target triples to open Princeton's night. The Tigers hit 4 of 21 as a team, with two of the makes coming in the last minute.
Brown freshman guard Sean McGonagill was able to penetrate effectively and the Tigers' help defense was inadequate. The Bears opened up as large as an 11 point lead on Garrett Leffelman's left corner rainbow late in the first half, before Princeton scored six straight in the final 1:18 to close within five.
"We got a little bit scrappier and used our defense to get back into the game," said head coach Sydney Johnson about how his team ended the opening frame. "We converted well offensively on our last possession but we didn't really apply ourselves they way we needed defensively long enough to make it a win for us."
The Tigers' lone lead came at the 12:28 mark of the second half on a short Ian Hummer jumper. It didn't last long - one possession to be specific. Leffelman out of the left corner returned the edge to Brown, which they held to the horn.
Converting their first 23 free throws, the Bears were able to withstand each and every Princeton push.
With 5:28 to play, Dan Mavraides found Mack Darrow for a three on the right wing that drew Princeton within 58-55. A driving Tucker Halpern kicked to McGonagill open on the left side for three and the Bears' lead stayed at two possessions.
Senior Peter Sullivan completed his return from a shoulder injury at Jadwin with a game-best 26 points and 16-16 shooting at the line.
Kareem Maddox dropped 19 battling multiple defenders inside and Hummer added 18 points and 12 boards in defeat.
Today's Game:Princeton (20-4 / 8-0) vs. Brown (9-14 / 2-7) Location: Pizzitola Sports Center - Providence, RI Time: 6:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: Princeton leads 94-25. Last meeting:Princeton 78 Brown 60 - 1/28/11.
Princeton
Brown
10-0
Home Record
6-4
8-3
Away Record
3-10
2-1
Neutral Record
0-0
47
RPI
232
71
Sagarin
246
89
Pomeroy
249
69.4
Points / Game
70.4
62.6
Points Allowed / Game
72.7
.465
FG%
.438
.719
FT%
.735
.366
3PT FG%
.336
35.2
Rebounds / Game
34.3
9.8
Off. Rebounds / Game
8.0
+3.9
Rebounding Margin
-1.7
13.4
Assists / Game
13.8
12.8
Turnovers / Game
12.9
4.5
Blocks / Game
2.8
Hummer: 13.8
Points
P. Sullivan: 13.3
Maddox: 7.3
Rebounds
P. Sullivan: 5.4
Mavraides: 2.9
Assists
McGonagill: 5.0
Davis: 1.4
Steals
Halpern: 1.0
Maddox: 2.0
Blocks
McCarthy: 0.8
Maddox: .578
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Walker: .581
Mavraides: .783
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Leffelman: .854
Mavraides: .405
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3FGM)
Williams .389
Oregon State vs. Oregon - 4:00 pm ET - FSN
Northwestern vs. Indiana - 7:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Georgetown vs. USF - 7:00 pm ET - ESPN+
Dartmouth vs. Cornell - 7:00 pm ET
Penn vs. Yale - 7:00 pm ET
Harvard vs. Columbia - 7:00 pm ET
Bill Cloutier of the New Haven Register has a "live blog" and some additional words here.
I missed two late previews yesterday. Here's what the Trenton Times and the Trentonian had to say.
Pete Carril stopped by the final practice of McClatchy High School women's basketball coach Harvey Tahara. After 40 seasons of coaching, Tahara's final game is today at Sacramento High.
Princeton recruit Denton Koon had 27, including a sweet left-handed dunk in the face of a Grandview defender, as the BlueJays won their final game of the regular season.
48 hours after hosting Iowa, Northwestern travels to Indiana. Bill Carmody is less than thrilled about this Big 10 scheduling quirk.
Round two of the Civil War sees Oregon State visit Oregon.
Mercer will host Morris in the first round of the Region XIX tournament on Monday night. The Vikings' Gary Carthan was named 2010-11 All Region Second Team.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (19-4 / 8-1) defeated Cornell (6-17 / 2-7) by 13 in Ithaca. Penn (10-12 / 4-4) got 26 points from Tyler Bernardini in a 70-62 Quaker win at Brown (9-14 / 2-7). Columbia (14-9 / 5-4) knocked off Dartmouth (5-18 / 1-8) at home, 67-60.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Dan Mavraides & Kareem Maddox:
Princeton did just about everything well but shoot and it was enough.
The Tigers led the entire way, fending off a pair of Yale second half rallies, holding the Bulldogs to 37.8% from the floor.
With their advantage cut to 52-49 in the final two minutes on Reggie Willhite's explosive left baseline dunk, Kareem Maddox posted up inside, spun into the lane and hung in the air as Greg Mangano fouled him on the elbow while the ball floated through the netting. Maddox's three point play doubled the Tiger lead - which stayed at two possessions through the final buzzer.
"This game was an absolute dogfight," said head coach Sydney Johnson. "I'm not saying we were going to win [after Yale drew within three], but we had been in those moments before."
"We weren't afraid of the moment."
Maddox finished with 16 points and nine rebounds on 5-12 shooting. Fellow senior Dan Mavraides put up 15 and a career best 10 boards despite going 4-14 on the evening.
Mangano ended Friday with his traditional double-double (15 and 12) but was bothered by an assortment of Princeton defenders (Maddox, Patrick Saunders, Brendan Connolly and Mack Darrow) so that when the ball went inside to the likely All Ivy center it could not come back to the perimeter. Mangano had six turnovers and no assists. The Tiger guards sagged but were still able to cover the arc - both of Yale's three pointers (2-9) belonged to Mangano - one a wild bank with the shot clock expiring.
The Tigers hit a season low 31.6% of their attempts (18-57) but stellar defensive possessions and a 19-25 clip at the line (76.0%) aided the cause.
Today's Game:Princeton (19-4 / 7-0) vs. Yale (12-10 / 5-3) Location: John J. Lee Amphitheater - New Haven, CT Time: 7:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: YES Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: Princeton leads 142-81. Last meeting:Princeton 67 Yale 63 - 1/29/11.
Princeton
Yale
10-0
Home Record
7-2
7-3
Away Record
5-7
2-1
Neutral Record
0-1
52
RPI
142
73
Sagarin
162
91
Pomeroy
168
69.9
Points / Game
68.5
69.3
Points Allowed / Game
67.0
.472
FG%
.445
.717
FT%
.737
.376
3PT FG%
.355
35.0
Rebounds / Game
34.0
9.6
Off. Rebounds / Game
9.1
+3.8
Rebounding Margin
+0.2
13.6
Assists / Game
12.8
13.0
Turnovers / Game
14.0
4.5
Blocks / Game
4.5
Hummer: 14.0
Points
Mangano: 16.0
Maddox: 7.2
Rebounds
Mangano: 9.7
Mavraides: 2.9
Assists
Morgan: 3.3
Davis: 1.4
Steals
Willhite: 1.3
Maddox: 2.0
Blocks
Mangano: 2.9
Maddox: .588
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Grace: .541
Mavraides: .786
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Braswell: .821
Mavraides: .415
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3FGM)
Morgan .459
Penn vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET
Harvard vs. Cornell - 7:00 pm ET
Dartmouth vs. Columbia - 7:00 pm ET
ESPN's Jay Bilas named Kareem Maddox one of the "most respected players" in college basketball.
The Harvard Crimson compares each Ivy League team to a 2011 Academy Awards nominee for Best Picture.
Bob Nuse of the Princeton Packet could get his long-called for "Pete Carril Classic" - in the NCAA Tournament.
Will Venable traveled to watch his younger brother play in the Las Vegas Bowl and filmed highlights of his trip.
Georgetown big man Henry Sims is running for vice president of the school's student body.
Temple shot 55.6% from the field and bested Richmond (20-7) by 20.
Northwestern (15-10) held on to defeat Iowa, 73-70.
With a 65-37 win over UL-M, Denver (13-13) returns to first place in the Sun Belt West. The Pioneer Post has more on the game.
Mercer (14-15) was outscored by 29 in the second half of a 85-55 loss to Lackawanna. The Vikings will play a Region XIX playoff game versus an as-yet-unknown opponent on Monday.
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
