Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Jason Clark & Chris Wright:
Watching Georgetown endeavor to catch Temple at the Liacouras Center on Thursday night, unable to pull in front of the Owls for the duration of the game, I was reminded of a moment shared with then-Princeton assistant Mike Brennan after the Tigers defeated Columbia 49-48 on the road to earn a share of the 2001-02 Ivy League title.
In that contest, Princeton trailed for the entire evening before a wheel play to Mike Bechtold set the Tiger guard up for a deep three point shot from the top of the key that placed Princeton in front for the first and final time with 33 to go.
Seeing a relieved Brennan after the game, I said "well, if you've only going to lead for 33 seconds, might as well make it the last 33 seconds."
This evening in Philadelphia, Georgetown faces Temple. The Washington Post has a preview. Full coverage of the game will follow on the site late tonight.
Princeton leaps up to fifth place in the latest Schuylkill 16.
Happy 21st birthday, Kareem Maddox.
Around the Ivy League: Yale (5-4) routed Bryant, 75-53. Penn (4-4) lost 65-53 to Villanova at the Palestra.
Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson, Kareem Maddox & Douglas Davis:
Princeton did not trail for the final 37:25 of Wednesday night's game at Monmouth, but the last three minutes of the second half saw the Tigers barely hold off a frantic Hawks comeback that nearly rallied the home team into the win column from down 15.
The long arms of Kareem Maddox forced Monmouth's James Hett into a less-than-ideal double clutch three point attempt with three seconds left and this tying try came up harmlessly short and wide of the rim over the baseline.
In the box score it went down as the Tigers' 11th block of the game, equaling a school record, but possession was given to the Tigers, implying the shot was altered but not deflected.
Princeton escaped their trip to West Long Branch with a 64-61 victory.
The Tigers were 1-5 from the free throw line in the final 31 seconds of the second half, similar to their ugly 1-4 performance at the stripe in the final four seconds of the first half.
Douglas Davis was set up six times on the perimeter for three point shots, leading to a game-high 18. Maddox added 13 with nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks. A two-handed offensive board by Maddox with the lead down to two allowed Princeton to run 17 seconds off the clock before Dan Mavraides split a pair of late free throws.
Eight of Mavraides' 12 came in the game's first four minutes. Ian Hummer contributed 10 on 5-10 shooting. These five were the only five Princeton players to score.
"You see so many kids on our team making plays that helped us," said Tiger head coach Sydney Johnson. "I was glad to see that because it really was a team effort."
7'0" center Phil Wait had 12 points off the bench for Monmouth and Hett also went for 12.
Today's Game:Princeton (5-3 / 0-0) vs. Monmouth (3-4 / 0-1) Location: The MAC - West Long Branch, NJ Time: 7:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: Princeton leads 10-4. Last meeting:Princeton 46 Monmouth 42 - 12/29/10
Princeton
Monmouth
3-0
Home Record
1-1
1-2
Away Record
0-3
1-1
Neutral Record
2-0
91
RPI
283
119
Sagarin
274
125
Pomeroy
298
72.1
Points / Game
58.3
70.6
Points Allowed / Game
60.9
.476
FG%
.402
.707
FT%
.588
.406
3PT FG%
.281
33.9
Rebounds / Game
34.7
9.4
Off. Rebounds / Game
12.7
+2.1
Rebounding Margin
+0.6
15.4
Assists / Game
11.0
14.4
Turnovers / Game
14.3
3.1
Blocks / Game
1.6
Hummer: 16.0
Points
Campbell: 11.0
Hummer: 7.0
Rebounds
Waite: 6.7
Maddox: 3.1
Assists
Hett: 3.3
Davis: 1.3
Steals
Waite: 1.7
Maddox: 1.6
Blocks
Wait: 0.6
Hummer: .631
FG% (Min: 5 FGM)
Hett: .519
Mavraides: .867
FT% (Min: 5 FTM)
Myers Keitt: .875
Mavraides: .476
3PT FG% (Min: 5 3FGM)
Myers Keitt .471
Denver vs. St. Mary's - 10:00 pm ET
Yale vs. Bryant - 7:00 pm ET
Villanova vs. Penn - 7:30 pm ET - Comcast
The next Know! Your! Foe! for 2010-11 is up, previewing a future Princeton opponent with someone who knows the team well. This time out I exchanged emails with Monmouth beat reporter Tony Graham, who covers the Hawks for the Hawks Nest. My questions and his answers follow in advance of Wednesday night's intrastate matchup at the shore.
The Hawks appear to have had some difficulty putting the ball in the basket through seven games. How much of that is pace-related and how much of that is an inability to shoot well?
This team does not have a "pure shooter.'' Frankly it just is not a good shooting team. MU shoots 40.2% from the floor and a miserable 28.1% from three point range.
WPI vs. Harvard - 7:00 pm ET
Wagner vs. Columbia - 7:00 pm ET
Judson Wallace is blogging again for the Eurocup web site. Wallace suffered a muscle contusion over the weekend and his status going forward is in doubt.
We're far enough into the 2010-11 season that KenPom is able to add individual player stats. With 345 DI basketball teams that each start five players and each receive various levels of contribution from bench players, it is impressive that Ian Hummer is in the Top 500 for 11 of the 15 solo stats Pomeroy tracks.
Around the Ivy League: Providence hit Brown (4-4) with a 23-5 run to open the second half of a previously close game and defeated the Bears, 91-64. Yale (4-4) had a similarly big 26-2 burst a few minutes after intermission versus Albany on their way to the 74-53 victory.
SportsProf was at Sunday's game and shares his thoughts.
Some details about Princeton recruit Denton Koon's first three games of his senior season at the Kickapoo Classic can be found on the Liberty men's basketball site.
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