Georgetown (19-5) never trailed against St. John's, but was unable to take their lead to double digits until the final three seconds. Hoya Hoops provides postgame audio from a 71-61 final and Hoya Prospectus runs the numbers.
It was a very impressive fifth straight win for Fairfield (15-10), who went to league leader Loyola (Md.) and returned north with a 17 point triumph.
Every time Northwestern (15-9) took the lead in the second half, it seemed like Purdue answered with a three pointer. The Boilermakers hit back to back treys with six minutes left to break the game's eighth tie and defeated the Wildcats 87-77.
I'm reposting because Bob Ruxin informs me he's come into ~50 additional tickets for this game. I'm guessing yesterday's result will lead to increased interest in attending from Princeton followers.
This is something I genuinely look forward to every year. Bob always packs the Harvard gym with several hundred Tiger fans. If you're going to attend this game, get your tickets from him and enjoy an excellent reception afterwards. You'll have the chance to mingle with fellow fans plus the current coaches and players. - JS
Princeton Men's Hoops at Harvard
Friday, February 24th, 2012 - 7:00pm
The reception will be in the Gordon Mezzanine (indoor track) - and begins immediately following the game. Head coach Mitch Henderson and the team will attend the party. Refreshments and a light buffet of sandwiches, salads and cookies catered by Nellios Gourmet Kitchen of Lexington will be served.
Tickets purchased in advance for the game and party are as follows:
$25 for members of princetonbasketball.com, PANE, PVC or Friends of Princeton Basketball and their guests.
$20 for young alums ('07 - '11) and undergrads.
$10 for children under 18.
Add $10 per adult / $5 for young alums and child for non-members. Tickets to the party only are the same price.
Note: The Harvard box office is SOLD OUT for this game.
Please send a check payable to PANE to Bob Ruxin '76 at 12 Nickerson Rd, Lexington, MA 02421 with a self-addressed, stamped envelope to secure your seats. The deadline is February 15th or when tickets are gone.
St. John's vs. Georgetown - 1:00 pm ET - ESPN
Fairfield vs. Loyola (Md.) - 4:00 pm ET - ESPN3
Washington vs. Oregon State - 5:30 pm ET - FSN
Purdue vs. Northwestern - 6:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Around the Ivy League: Yale (16-6 / 6-2) came from 21 down with 11:30 to play, shocking Columbia (14-10 / 3-5) by one. Zach Rosen hit from roughly 27' out with three seconds remaining as Penn (13-11 / 5-2) finished Dartmouth (0-8 / 4-20) in a 58-55 final. Cornell (10-12 / 5-3) ran away from Brown (7-18 / 1-7) to sweep their homestanding weekend.
While I wait for my dad to finish editing tonight's photos, here's the first of what I'm sure will be several videos from the Jadwin stands of the final seconds. Enjoy.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Ian Hummer & T.J. Bray:
Like happened last March in memorable fashion at the end of an Ivy League playoff in New Haven and as even ensued somewhat prematurely when the two teams met further north at Lavietes Pavilion the week prior, for the third consecutive occasion when Harvard and Princeton faced one another in basketball a court was stormed.
The stakes were not as high as they had been in either of these previous two meetings. There was no trip to the NCAA Tournament directly on the line, but as time ran out at Jadwin Gym on Saturday night the hardwood transformed into a sea of orange and black jubilation as the Crimson suffered their first loss in conference play.
Princeton (13-10 / 4-3) was downright magnificent in the final 5:14 on Saturday night versus nationally-ranked Harvard (21-3 / 7-1), first scoring on six straight possessions to turn a 46-46 game into a 10 point Tiger lead and then making nine of 12 free throws in the last 71 seconds to fend off the Crimson’s endless loop of drives to the basket.
Junior forward Ian Hummer clearly was the best player on the floor, recording 20 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing six assists including a pair of jaw-dropping passes. Hummer was one of five Princeton players in double figures. T.J. Bray had all 12 of his tallies in the second half, making his first start in 17 games Brendan Connolly was a needed force inside with 11 as the displaced Mack Darrow and freshman Denton Koon each added 10 from the bench.
Keith Wright had 16 to lead three Crimson starters in double digits.
It was Princeton’s first win over a then-ranked team since besting Wake Forest in 1997 and the first victory versus a team in the AP Top 25 at home since a memorable game against #2 Notre Dame in 1977.
Here's the latest collection of videos from various corners of the Princeton basketball family. Above, John Thompson III meets the press in advance of Georgetown's game against St. John's.
I'll post about this tomorrow in greater detail, but PANE had come into ~50 additional tickets for Princeton's trip to Harvard in less than two weeks. If you are interested in going, don't hesitate to contact Bob Ruxin as the Crimson box office remains sold out.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (21-2 / 7-0) won their ninth straight, 56-50 at Penn (12-11 / 4-2). Johnathan Gray had a career high 29 as Cornell (9-12 / 4-3) upended Yale (15-6 / 5-2) by one in overtime. Columbia (14-9 / 3-4) made 16 three pointers and destroyed a Sean McGonagill-less Brown (1-6 / 7-17) squad, 86-60.
Postgame audio - Coach Mitch Henderson, Patrick Saunders & Douglas Davis:
Win or lose, up or down, for 112 games as a Princeton Tiger, senior guard Douglas Davis’ demeanor has remained the same. In his first outing after a 2-12 struggle to connect at Yale, Davis got rolling in the second half, leading his team to a win over Dartmouth.
Davis scored 14 of his game high 20 after intermission, including four three pointers in five tries as the Tigers flipped a two point halftime deficit into a 33-25 lead.
All the while, his expression didn’t change.
“Don’t play poker with Doug,” joked head coach Mitch Henderson.
Princeton had to fight through dreadful 0-12 shooting to open the game and an unexpected 0-11 mark by leading scorer Ian Hummer, but after falling behind by 10 points early the Tigers rallied behind their senior co-captains Davis and Patrick Saunders for the 59-47 victory.
“Doug’s pretty quiet. If he goes 0-11 or 11-11, it looks pretty much the same,” Saunders said of his stoic classmate.
As I mentioned last month, a subscriber handed me a stack of late 1970s and early 1980s Princeton basketball programs, which I'll be scanning portions of as time allows. The plan was to do one program every seven days, but I missed last week's scheduled scan in lieu of this incredible archive of David Zeft's photographs.
Seeing how we're on the brink of this year's Dartmouth/Harvard weekend, the latest review is of a program from the same visit by these northern travel partners in 1980. That's Randy Melville on the reverse halftone cover. A curious design decision to say the least...
Click on select pictures to enlarge. Check out the site's extensive Programs category for past scans.
Harvard may return everyone of import from the team Princeton beat at the buzzer in 2011's Ivy League playoff, but they're actually quite different in several respects. To discuss the Crimson in detail for the site's Know! Your! Foe! series, I hit up Michael James of the @ivybball Twitter account. James is also a Rush The Court contributor and once the brains behind The 14-Game Tournament.
My questions and his answers follow after the jump.
If you cover a team the Tigers will face down the line, let us know. We'd love to talk with you.
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
