Jaelin Llewellyn

Princeton men best Marist, 80-61

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The Princeton Tigers concluded a very busy opening week of the new season tonight, entertaining the Red Foxes of Marist and coach John Dunne. It was the fourth contest for coach Mitch Henderson’s club in eight days. Tiger fans will remember Dunne from his days at St. Peter’s whom he coached in a game played at Dillon Gym, the only time the old gym was used for Division I men in over 50 years.

Princeton expected an exciting game. Marist lost its season opener in overtime against American, which is coached by former Tiger Mike Brennan, On November 12, the Foxes thrashed Ivy foe Columbia by 15.

The Tigers put together their best outing thus far, administering a sound beating to the visitors, 80-61. Although the Tigers (3-1) posted four players in double figures the real story tonight was written at the defensive end. Princeton’s harassing swarms, featuring a lot of doubling down low was reminiscent of the 2017 Ivy champions. The Foxes (1-2) were forced to settle for a lot of uncomfortable shots. For the evening Marist shot 36% from the floor and 30% from deep. These percentages were higher in the second half when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

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Ivy League men’s basketball Media Day roundup

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Two days after the Media Day for Ivy women’s hoops, the men had their turn at the virtual podium.  A day prior, the results of the preseason poll were released.  While five different teams earned top votes, the overall totals showed no changes from the last day of competition in 2020.

Yale, two-time defending Ivy champion, was again picked to come in first with 115 points and seven first-place votes.  Harvard, the 2019 co-champion, was close behind, tallying 110 points and four first-place votes.  Princeton, the 2017 title winner, closed out the top tier with 108 points and two first-place votes.

Penn, the 2018 co-champion, secured the last slot in the upper division with 93 points and two first-place selections.  Brown, which last held the title in 1986, again found itself behind the Quakers for fifth place with 79 points and a pair of title votes.

Dartmouth, which last entered the winner’s circle in 1959, was tabbed in the six slot with 43 points, four points more than Cornell, which last held the top spot in the Sweet Sixteen season of 2010.  Columbia, the 1968 champion, was projected to finish last with 25 points.

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Q&A with Princeton men’s coach Mitch Henderson

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Princeton men’s coach Mitch Henderson weighed in on how the Tigers are tackling the challenges of competing after the 2020-21 season that wasn’t, making up for the loss of Richmond Aririguzoh in the frontcourt and other challenges. (Princeton Athletics)

Editor’s note: Our George Clark (Toothless Tiger) recently caught up with Princeton men’s coach Mitch Henderson, who discusses how the Tigers recalibrated during the COVID-19 layoff and recruiting challenges amid the pandemic, previews members of the team’s first-year and sophomore classes, looks ahead to Jaelin Llewellyn’s senior season, the new Ivy schedule format and much more:

Part 1

Part 2

IHO 2019-20 Men’s All-Ivy Awards

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Here’s what you’ve all been waiting for: the 2019-20 Ivy Hoops Online All-Ivy Men’s honorees as selected by IHO contributors, which are quite bit different from the selections that the Ivy League released:

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Princeton men falter versus Cornell, but Tiger senior class still shines

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The final regular season game followed a great storyline. One of my favorite coaches spurred his team to its best offensive showing of the season, 60% shooting from the field, 64% from deep, five players in double figures and 85 points in a win. The problem for me is the favorite coach is Brian Earl, skipper of the Cornell Big Red, who masterminded a terrific game plan in the 85-82 Cornell victory.

Although the Tigers mounted a heroic late comeback effort, make no mistake about it: This was a convincing and highly deserved win by the visitors from high above Cayuga’s waters.
For Tiger fans the highlight of the evening was the more emotional than usual senior night sendoff to three great Tigers: Richmond Aririguzoh, Jose Morales and Will Gladson.

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Princeton men roll over Columbia amid coronavirus threat

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The mood in Jadwin Gymnasium last evening as the Tigers squared off against the Columbia Lions was different than usual, almost subdued. Perhaps it was the miserable weather, or perhaps it was the prospect of a meaningless game against the cellar-dwelling Lions.

In reality, the distracted atmosphere in the building was the product of the minute-by-minute developing story of the nationwide spread of the coronavirus, which has now reached the east coast and central New Jersey.

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Yale men continue success against Princeton, remain atop Ivy standings

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NEW HAVEN – The hegemony over Princeton continues for Yale at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
The Elis defeated the Tigers, 66-63, Yale’s sixth straight win in the series. The win also marks the ninth home weekend sweep of Princeton and Penn. To put this into historical context, Penn leads the overall series by 151-82 and Princeton leads it now 150-84.

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Princeton men’s defense stifles Brown as Tigers’ depth bodes well for Ivy League Tournament run

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The Tigers claimed one of the four slots available in the Ivy League Tournament with a 71-49 thrashing of the Brown Bears in Providence last night. The key to the win was a signature defensive effort reminiscent of some of the best Tiger teams in the long and illustrious history of the program.

Princeton focused on the Bears’ formidable “Big Three” of Brandon Anderson, Zach Hunsaker and Tameneng Choh, holding the talented trio to a combined 33 points on 12-for-39 shooting from the field. No other Bear player scored more than six.

Brandon Anderson posted 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting as Brown struggled to score in a 71-49 home loss to Princeton Friday night. | Photo by Erica Denhoff

The game did not start out as a Tiger rout. Brown jumped out to a 5-0 early lead, but two Jaelin Llewellyn threes restored order after five minutes. Jerome Desrosiers and Drew Friberg came off the bench to spark a 9-0 Tiger surge giving the visitors an 18-10 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the opening period. Later, Desrosiers would feature prominently in a 13-0 Tiger run leading to a 40-28 halftime advantage.

Drew Friberg continued his hot streak in the second half. His long three at the 17:05 mark maintained the 12-point Tiger lead, but sparked a 14-0 run to put the game away. With eight minutes left and the score 56-33, Princeton coach Mitch Henderson was able to reach far down the bench.

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Jaelin Llewellyn shines as Princeton escapes Dartmouth with 65-62 win

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The typically wild weekend road trip to Boston and Hanover is over, and the Tigers survived with one of their goals, a berth in Ivy Madness, well within their grasp. We may well look back on this trip as the time Jaelin Llewellyn’s total game was on display at an absolutely crucial juncture for his team. Recognizing the need to step up in the absence of Ryan Schwieger, Llewellyn courageously embraced the challenge and, to put it mildly, delivered.

On Friday at Harvard, Llewellyn almost single-handedly kept the Tigers in the game to the last seconds, leading the scoring with 22 points. If he has had a weakness this season, it has been his inefficiency from deep. He takes more three-pointers than anyone else, but came into the weekend converting an unacceptable 25%. His 21 points on Saturday night gave the Tigers the spark they needed, and included 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. The final score, 65-62 Princeton, tells very little about the game.

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Princeton bounces back with 73-54 victory over Brown

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Last night’s contest between the Tigers and the Brown Bears matched two clubs apparently heading in different directions. The Bears, winners of five straight, including a win the previous night in Philadelphia, came in focused on a shot at the league title. The Tigers, on the other hand, had squandered their hot start by failing to be competitive in two of their last three outings. The humiliating loss to Yale was galling in every way. The question for Mitch Henderson was how his kids would respond just 22 hours later.
The winner of this one would at least maintain a hold on second place and move a step closer to Ivy Madness.

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