At a sold out Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern hosts Illinois as Bill Carmody just keeps plugging away.
Around the Ivy League: Cornell (13-12 / 5-3) won 69-66 at Brown (9-13 / 3-5). Yale (10-15 / 4-4) had an easy 75-56 time versus Columbia (10-12 / 2-6). Penn (6-18 / 3-4) came from down 30-18 midway through at Dartmouth (6-16 / 2-6), outscoring the Big Green 49-27 in the final 20 minutes.
"Sometimes you talk about '50/50' balls. It was like '90/10' [Harvard] tonight." - Princeton coach Mitch Henderson
The Crimson did all the little things better than the Tigers at Lavietes Pavilion, translated all the small plays into huge ones and on the heels of consecutive three point shots by Laurent Rivard that were both set up via controlling loose balls before the Tigers could snare them, took a lead late in the first half they would sustain throughout the final 20 minutes.
Rivard's second jumper was an absurd corkscrew blind turn-around three as time expired, but it would not have occurred if Princeton had been able to grab an Ian Hummer block that hung in the air pleading for two hands to snatch it. Rivard's unbelievable shot made it 32-28 Crimson at intermission.
The Harvard lead would extend to as many as 11 before five straight by the Tigers midway through the back stanza put them in position to make a run. However Princeton had three tries at the rim roll off and missed the front end of a one-and-one before the unexpectedly poised Crimson responded with four straight points from Kenyatta Smith and the Tigers were slowly submerged.
Smith, making his second straight start after 15 consecutive games coming off the bench, was 5-5 from the field with seven rebounds and six blocks, all in just 20 minutes. In addition to 14 points Saturday he swatted an unreal 16 shots on the weekend.
Steve Moundou-Missi added 14 off the pine, the only player on either side to score who wasn't a starter. Rivard's four threes gave him 12 and freshman Siyani Chambers added 11.
For Princeton, Ian Hummer fought his way to 18 somewhat quietly with T.J. Bray and Will Barrett adding 11. Hans Brase also had 10 before fouling out.
The rest of this recap plus postgame audio from Coach Mitch Henderson & Ian Hummer can be found after the jump.
Egads. I nearly missed Rush The Court checking in on the Ivy League.
Princeton recruit Spencer Weisz had 14 points and seven steals in Seton Hall Prep's victory over the Fighting Schulers of Columbia High.
Future Tiger Steven Cook and New Trier fell in a battle for the CSL South conference title versus Maine South.
Well, well, well. Georgetown (19-4) now sits alone atop the Big East table after gutting out a 62-55 win at Cincinnati.
Games on the docket include Richmond hosting St. Bonaventure, Denver traveling to San Jose State and Oregon State visiting Washington.
Around the Ivy League: Harvard (14-7 / 6-1) blocked a program record 15 shots, Kenyatta Smith came one rebound away from a triple double and the Crimson topped Penn (5-18 / 2-4) by a 73-54 final. Cornell (12-12 / 4-3) got even overall with a 68-61 win at Yale (9-15 / 3-4). Behind a career high 27 from Matt Sullivan, Brown (9-12 / 3-4) defeated a Brian Barbour-less Columbia (10-11 / 2-5) side, 58-55.
Princeton scored on 10 of their opening 11 first half possessions, shot 56.3% as a team on the night and were never legitimately challenged by Dartmouth after an even 10 minutes in Hanover.
Tied at 19 following a three point shot by Malik Gill, the Tigers went on a swift 15-3 run and made it to halftime up by 14.
To start the second half the Tigers again were exceptionally potent across the board with the ball, converting on five of their initial six times up the floor concluding with a Hans Brase two-hand slam that provided the visitors a 53-33 margin.
There was no subsequent drama. The lead from this point would not drop under 15 and extended as high as 25.
“I think it started off just with us taking care of the ball offensively. In the second half I think we showed the picture a little bit better defensively,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson.
Four Tiger starters hit double figures, led by Denton Koon with 18 points. Ian Hummer had 14 plus a 6:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, Brase totaled 12 and Will Barrett 11.
T.J. Bray missed out on joining his fellow starters by a digit but did add six assists.
The one Big Green player the Tigers could not stop was Gabas Maldunas who scored 16 inside.
The rest of this recap plus postgame audio from Coach Mitch Henderson & Denton Koon can be found after the jump.
Today's Game:Princeton (11-8 / 4-1) vs. Dartmouth (6-14 / 2-4) Location: Leede Arena - Hanover, NH Time: 7:00 pm ET Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB TV: N/A Internet: goprincetontigers.com Series History: Princeton leads 142-61. Last meeting:Princeton 85 Dartmouth 61 - 2/25/12.
Princeton
Dartmouth
7-4
Home Record
4-5
4-3
Away Record
2-9
0-1
Neutral Record
0-0
146
RPI
296
107
Sagarin
306
103
Pomeroy
293
63.5
Points / Game
60.9
57.5
Points Allowed / Game
65.8
.461
FG%
.399
.710
FT%
.726
.385
3PT FG%
.328
31.5
Rebounds / Game
32.9
8.9
Off. Rebounds / Game
10.9
+2.1
Rebounding Margin
-1.3
14.8
Assists / Game
10.4
12.6
Turnovers / Game
14.4
3.3
Blocks / Game
1.9
Hummer: 15.7
Points
Mitola: 10.4
Hummer: 6.5
Rebounds
Maldunas: 6.0
Hummer: 4.5
Assists
Mitola: 2.0
Bray: 2.0
Steals
Gill: 1.8
Hummer: 0.8
Blocks
Maldunas: 0.9
Koon: .553
FG% (Min: 10 FGM)
Boehm: .486
Bray: .771
FT% (Min: 10 FTM)
Mitola: .861
Koon: .526
3PT FG% (Min: 10 3PTM)
Melville: .469
Georgetown vs. Cincinnati - 9:00 pm ET - ESPN
Cornell vs. Yale - 7:00 pm ET
Penn vs. Harvard - 7:00 pm ET
Columbia vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET - MyRITV
Join fellow site members in the forum during the action from Hanover, whether you're in the stands or listening at home. You must be subscribed and logged in to participate.
Depleted Northwestern (13-12) played valiantly at Ohio State but a late 17-5 Buckeyes run with the Wildcats up two entering the game's final five minutes was the difference.
Derek Needham knocked down eight three pointers as Fairfield (16-11) topped Siena, 74-52.
Mercer (18-9) fell 74-59 to undefeated Brookdale.
A wild overtime affair went 63-60 to Denver (16-8) over Utah State on Brett Olson's three point shot at the buzzer. The final play is available as an animated .gif below.
Michael James of the @ivybball Twitter account joins us this afternoon to discuss the Harvard Crimson for the seventh of this site's Know! Your! Foe! conference previews.
My questions and his answers follow after the jump. I have a great deal of respect for the time and detail James puts in to his Ivy League analysis and I think you'll feel similarly after reading his in-depth responses.
I should also mention that James is a Rush The Court contributor.
Did you miss our Dartmouth K!Y!F! that was published yesterday? Check it out here.
If you cover a team the Tigers will face down the line, let us know. We'd love to talk with you.
Northwestern vs. Ohio State - 7:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network
Brookdale vs. MCCC - 7:00 pm ET
Siena vs. Fairfield - 8:30 pm ET - ESPN3
Denver vs. Utah State - 9:00 pm ET - ESPN3
The Town Topics finally gets to the Tigers' loss versus Yale. The Princeton Packet was also at the game and files their first story in a goodly while.
Richmond (14-11) could not sustain a nine point halftime lead and fell 61-55 at St. Joe's.
For the first time in the past six contests, Oregon State (13-12) won a game decided by eight points or less. The Beavers topped Washington State, 67-66.
Princeton heads all the way up to Hanover on Friday as they begin an Ivy League stretch run that includes seven of their final nine contests played away from home.
To learn more about a youthful Dartmouth squad for today's Know! Your! Foe!, the only person to talk with was writer Bruce Wood, founder of Big Green Alert, who has been covering Dartmouth athletics for as long as I can remember.
Our conversation follows after the jump. Look for a Harvard edition of K!Y!F! on Thursday.
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