Two Justin Harper dunks.
A jump step and an alley oop helped the Spiders blow by St. Bonnies in the second half.
Cornell 48 Princeton 45.
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."
Zach Finley, #24.
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.
Finley and Paulsen were each MVPs of the Lakota Nation Invitational, eight years apart.
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.
Saturday News:
Today's Game: Cornell (20-4 / 6-1) vs. Princeton (14-5 / 5-0)
Location: Jadwin Gym - Princeton, NJ
Time: 6:00 pm ET
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: Verizon FiOS 1
Internet: goprincetontigers.com
Series History: Princeton leads 134-76.
Last meeting: Cornell 60 Princeton 51 - 3/7/09.
| Cornell | Princeton | |
| 9-1 | Home Record | 6-1 |
| 8-3 | Away Record | 8-4 |
| 3-0 | Neutral Record | 0-0 |
| 64 | RPI | 124 |
| 52 | Sagarin | 129 |
| 72 | Pomeroy | 114 |
| 76.2 | Points / Game | 59.3 |
| 64.3 | Points Allowed / Game | 52.5 |
| .471 | FG% | .432 |
| .719 | FT% | .736 |
| .412 | 3PT FG% | .362 |
| 35.8 | Rebounds / Game | 29.9 |
| 11.3 | Off. Rebounds / Game | 8.3 |
| +3.7 | Rebounding Margin | +0.1 |
| 17.1 | Assists / Game | 11.7 |
| 12.7 | Turnovers / Game | 13.8 |
| 4.0 | Blocks / Game | 3.4 |
| Wittman: 17.2 | Points | Davis: 13.4 |
| Foote: 8.7 | Rebounds | Mavraides: 4.8 |
| Dale: 5.1 | Assists | Schroeder: 3.3 |
| Dale: 1.6 | Steals | Schroeder: 2.0 |
| Foote: 1.9 | Blocks | Maddox: 0.9 |
| Foote: .601 | FG% (Min: 10 FGM) | Finley: .611 |
| Wroblewski: .917 | FT% (Min: 10 FTM) | Schroeder: .889 |
| Groebe: .583 | 3PT FG% (Min: 5 3PTM) | Saunders: .472 |
Richmond vs. St. Bonaventure - 2:00 pm ET - CBS College Sports
Del Tech Stanton vs. MCCC - 3:00 pm ET
Denver vs. North Texas - 8:00 pm ET
Oregon State vs. Arizona - 9:30 pm ET - FCS Pacific
Columbia vs. Penn - 7:00 pm ET - The Comcast Network
Dartmouth vs. Yale - 7:00 pm ET
Harvard vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET
In addition to our recap, read about Princeton's rally past Columbia on goprincetontigers.com, in the Trentonian and on gocolumbialions.com.
Frank Sowinski is the subject of a Home News Tribune piece about his work with the Pingry School basketball team.
The Princeton Packet posted their article about the Tigers' sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth.
Richmond looks for win number 20 at St. Bonaventure.
North Texas is where Denver can be found.
Oregon State visits Arizona.
Around the Ivy League: Penn (4-15 / 3-2) shocked #22 Cornell (20-4 / 6-1), 79-64. The Quakers started the second half on a 15-0 run. Harvard (16-5 / 5-2) escaped New Haven with a wild 82-79 overtime win versus Yale (9-15 / 3-4). Brown (8-16 / 2-5) shot 33-37 from the free throw line and defeated Dartmouth (4-17 / 0-7) by 15.
Princeton 55 Columbia 45.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Zach Finley, Kareem Maddox & Ian Hummer:
All Princeton wanted was to get to Saturday with a puncher's chance.
Eclipsed by Jeremy Lin's story and Cornell's rise to the Top 25, the Tigers have won 12 of 13 about as quietly as a basketball team can.
The Big Red's shocking loss at The Palestra on Friday night combined with the Tigers' defense-driven rally over Columbia up the road has changed the complexion of tomorrow night's title fight.
To reach this position as the only remaining unblemished Ivy team, Princeton had to shut down the Lions for the last 13:00+ of the second half, allowing just one meaningful field goal as they reversed a four point deficit with an 18-2 run.
"I'm proud that we took a couple punches but we didn't fall down, we didn't stumble," said Tiger head man Sydney Johnson. "We just kind of cleared our head and got back to doing what we do. It was pretty effective."
Friday News:
Today's Game: Columbia (8-12 / 2-4) vs. Princeton (13-5 / 4-0)
Location: Jadwin Gym - Princeton, NJ
Time: 7:00 pm ET
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: N/A
Internet: goprincetontigers.com
Series History: Princeton leads 137-84.
Last meeting: Columbia 58 Princeton 44 - 3/6/09.
| Columbia | Princeton | |
| 6-5 | Home Record | 5-1 |
| 2-7 | Away Record | 8-4 |
| 0-0 | Neutral Record | 0-0 |
| 249 | RPI | 126 |
| 291 | Sagarin | 130 |
| 297 | Pomeroy | 114 |
| 62.7 | Points / Game | 59.6 |
| 67.2 | Points Allowed / Game | 52.9 |
| .416 | FG% | .429 |
| .673 | FT% | .739 |
| .384 | 3PT FG% | .361 |
| 33.7 | Rebounds / Game | 29.9 |
| 11.1 | Off. Rebounds / Game | 8.4 |
| +0.7 | Rebounding Margin | -0.2 |
| 10.3 | Assists / Game | 11.9 |
| 14.8 | Turnovers / Game | 13.6 |
| 2.0 | Blocks / Game | 3.3 |
| Agho: 17.7 | Points | Davis: 13.4 |
| Grimes: 6.0 | Rebounds | Mavraides: 4.8 |
| Foley: 2.8 | Assists | Schroeder: 3.3 |
| Agho: 1.5 | Steals | Schroeder: 2.1 |
| Grimes: 0.6 | Blocks | Buczak: 0.8 |
| Cisco: .600 | FG% (Min: 10 FGM) | Finley: .571 |
| Barbour: .824 | FT% (Min: 10 FTM) | Schroeder: .875 |
| Agho: .516 | 3PT FG% (Min: 5 3PTM) | Saunders: .486 |
Harvard vs. Yale - 7:00 pm ET
Cornell vs. Penn - 7:00 pm ET - The Comcast Network
Dartmouth vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET
The Star Ledger visited Princeton practice.
The Trentonian talks with Zach Finley and Pawel Buczak.
The Trenton Times spoke with Sydney Johnson about his team's improvements on defense.
The Daily Princetonian, the Columbia Spectator and the Cornell Daily Sun preview this weekend's games.
A second Spectator piece focuses on Dan Mavraides.
The Town Topics reports on Princeton's sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth.
Andy Katz has a feature on Chris Mooney and Richmond.
Denver (14-10) fell on the road to Middle Tennessee, 57-50. The Pioneers are 1-9 away from home this season.
A late first half 12-0 run helped Arizona State get past Oregon State (10-13) by a 56-46 score.
Last night's Mercer game at Morris was postponed until Monday.
Coach Sydney Johnson - 2/11/10.
Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon both shoveled out in time to meet on Thursday afternoon at Jadwin Gym for their weekly one-on-one interview. This Q&A is 19:00+ in length.
Johnson and Solomon break down Princeton's sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth in detail and preview this weekend's Ivy homestand versus Columbia and Cornell.
Thursday News:
MCCC vs. Morris - 7:00 pm ET
Denver vs. Middle Tennessee - 8:00 pm ET
Oregon State vs. Arizona State - 9:30 pm ET
Richmond (19-6) moved into a tie for first in the Atlantic 10 with a 69-67 win at Rhode Island.
Pop. You might have heard the sound of the Northwestern (16-8) bubble bursting late Wednesday night, when the Wildcats lost 78-65 at Iowa.
Denver visits Middle Tennessee.
Arizona State hosts Oregon State.
Will Venable and Chris Young talk to the North County Times from offseason workouts at San Diego State.
Catholic News Agency has a piece on former JV Princeton player turned bishop John Barres.
Princeton sits in fifth place after this week's Schuylkill 16 votes were tabulated.
Marcus Schroeder - career steals leader?
Perusing the Princeton athletic department's game notes in advance of this weekend's games versus Columbia and Cornell, I noticed that guard Marcus Schroeder is climbing the charts for both most career assists and most career steals.
Assists:
413 William F. Ryan, 1981-84
381 Christopher J. “Kit” Mueller, 1987-91
358 John R. Thompson III, 1984-88
304 Mitchell G. Henderson, 1994-98
280 Sydney A. Johnson, 1993-1997
270 Nathan W. Walton, 1996-2001
265 Marcus Schroeder
263 Brian W. Earl, 1995-99
260 Armond G. Hill, 1975-76
253 William D. Venable, 2001-2005
With a minimum of 10 games left in his senior year, Schroeder (3.3 assists per game this season) has an outside chance of becoming just the fifth Tiger to record 300+ assists.
Steals:
169 Sydney A. Johnson, 1993-97
167 William F. Ryan, 1981-84
167 George H. Leftwich, 1988-92
156 William D. Venable, 2001-05
144 Gabriel E. Lewullis, 1995-99
144 Joseph W. Scott, 1984-87
142 Mitchell G. Henderson, 1994-98
142 Marcus Schroeder
140 Brian W. Earl, 1995-99
136 Armond G. Hill, 1975-76
Schroeder (2.1 steals per game) also could make a run at Coach Johnson's career steal mark if the right number of strips, deflections and official scoring decisions go his way between now and his final game.
