Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson:
Postgame audio - Dan Mavraides & Nick Lake:
Army coach Zach Spiker may only have been hired away from Cornell for his first head coaching position on October 3rd of this year, but the deft defensive game plan he drew up for the Black Knights against Princeton on Sunday was work traditionally crafted by someone with more than seven weeks on the job.
The strategy to double and occasionally triple-team Princeton's big men in the low block forced both the resurgent Zach Finley (0-0 from the field, four turnovers) and fellow senior Pawel Buczak (five points, three turnovers) into mistakes. Neither was able to feel pressure coming from behind them or dribble out of trouble and quickly locate the open man.
Because Princeton was unable to score inside, Army began trapping Tiger guards on the wings. Removing the three point shot as a viable weapon. When Princeton's ballhandlers would attempt to penetrate, the Black Knights doubled the potential recipient of a pass inside, swatting the ball loose.
Army recorded the game's first 10 points and built an insurmountable advantage. Princeton was unable to score until 12:19 remained in the first half.
"We got outplayed. They had a good scouting report that we've actually seen in the past. This early in the year, that threw us off," said Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson. "We do have experienced guys I thought that possibly could play through that and that didn't prove to be the case. We got out-competed. I'm heartbroken, to be honest. That's hard to reconcile."
A smaller Princeton lineup of Nick Lake, Marcus Schroeder and Dan Mavraides plus freshmen forwards Ian Hummer and Will Barrett led a frantic comeback from down 20 with less than 12 minutes remaining and the Tigers were able to close within three points two times in the final minute but never had possession with a chance to tie.
Mavraides had a chance to cut the lead down to just two with :44 on the clock, but made just one of two free throws after being fouled on a drive.
After Army's Julian Simmons made one of his two chances at the line, Mavraides was whistled for an offensive foul as he pushed into Chris Walker sliding over to cut off the path to the rim. Two Josh Miller free throws made it a 56-50 game and Marcus Schroeder's putback provided the game's final margin.
"There was some fire there in order to come back. It wasn't like [Army] stopped playing, so for us to come back it showed something," Johnson said of his team's rally. "The youngsters that were out there on the floor - they ought to be proud of their minutes, but as a team we weren't as strong as we needed to be."
The numbers on the scoreboard and the box score were too difficult to overcome, especially when saddled with 27 turnovers - the most since Princeton gave the ball away 29 times at #5 Maryland in December of 1998. Of the 11 Tigers to see the floor, Mavraides was the only one with a positive assist to turnover ratio (5:3).
Senior Black Knight forward Cleveland Richard was the game’s high man with 18 points and a school record eight steals.
Mavraides had 14 for Princeton, all in the second half. Nick Lake added 10 and grabbed seven rebounds.
"I think [Army] did a lot of different types of defenses and they switched from zone to man throughout possessions and on every other possession," analyzed Mavraides following Princeton's first loss of the season. "That's one thing, but I think they just gutted us and we did not compete as hard as they did."
Like against Manhattan on Wednesday, Princeton struggled to score when play began. Unlike against Manhattan, however, the Tigers did not get the shots they wanted - they were sloppy, foolish with their possessions and out of sync.
Princeton turned the ball over nine times before they found the bottom of the basket when Douglas Davis faked a pull up jumper in the lane and threw the ball down to a flashing Buczak from mid-air. Without a sturdy defensive performance of their own, Princeton could easily have trailed by more than 13 points at the break.
Now without any momentum generated by wins over Central Michigan and Manhattan, the 2-1 Tigers head on the road to face George Washington two days before Thanksgiving. "There has to be a real commitment to come back on Tuesday and compete," assessed Johnson.
"That's where we let Princeton down [today]."
Notes:
-The two teams combined for 50 turnovers as Army gave the ball away 23 times, 14 in the first half. Princeton had 16 first half miscues.
-Princeton did not shoot a free throw in the first half but finished 10-12 for the day (83.3%). The Tigers were able to get close down the stretch thanks to 9-17 second half shooting at the stripe by Army (52.9%).
-To follow up on a post from this morning about Ian Hummer's +/- numbers, it appears Hummer had a +5 for today's game. It was the play of Hummer and Barrett that helped spark the comeback, a decent counter by Johnson and his staff to alter Army's defensive strategy. Without a traditional post presence, Princeton moved the ball from point to point faster and Barrett's length guarding smaller men helped deflect passes on three separate occasions. Neither dribbled aimlessly in the paint, which made Army call off their double team.
-John Comfort saw his first playing time of the season with :01.2 left in the second half, brought in for his outside shooting ability. Instead it was Nick Lake who took the final shot of the game, a three that hit high off the backboard and away from the rim. Despite grabbing the ball well after time ran out, Comfort was generously credited with an offensive rebound.
-Princeton outrebounded its opponent for the third straight game, 34-28 and grabbed 12 offensive boards (including Comfort's dubious final rebound).
-In attendance on Saturday afternoon: Former Tigers Matt Eastwick, Noah Savage, Jesse Rosenfeld, Ed Hummer, John Hummer and ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson.
