Princeton men’s coach Mitch Henderson watched his shooters misfire repeatedly in the Tigers’ first two games, both close losses. Henderson wasn’t worried.
“I know these kids can shoot, and I know the shots will start to fall,” Henderson said.
The dam broke for the Tigers Monday night at Maryland-Baltimore County of the America East Conference.
Shooting at an incredible 62% clip from deep (12-for-19), the Tigers matched that mark in overall field goal production, 37-for-65.
The result was a 94-64 blowout for Princeton’s first win of the season.
Things started slowly for the Tigers (1-2) against the Retrievers (1-2), as they dug themselves into an early 14-4 hole. Order was quickly restored when the Tigers managed to get within two at 14-12.
This game featured the return of the devastating three-point game, which has figured prominently in the program’s recent successes. The matchup also yielded the emergence of two rookies as sparkplugs at both ends.
Deven Austin and Xaivian Lee are both listed at 6-foot-6 and both are wiry, feisty and fearless.
Austin entered the game with his team trailing. He immediately canned a corner three and followed it by a nifty reverse layup to give Princeton a lead at 17-15 with 12:06 remaining. The Tigers would not trail again.
Lee came into the game to hit a gorgeous layup that sparked a 14-0 run. Matt Allocco’s trey at the 4:38 mark ran the score to 36-19. The half ended with the Tigers up 41-27.
Allocco’s 18 first-half points followed his career-high 19 at Navy on Friday. Tosan Evbuomwan and Keeshawn Kellman were quiet in the first period. Evbuomwan, the reigning Ivy Player of the Year, turned things around in the second half, scoring 15 of his 17 after intermission.
Senior Ryan Langborg, generally considered one of the Ivy League’s premier three-point artists, was a perfect 3-for-3 from deep. Blake Peters nailed three of four triple attempts, adding 11 points to join Allocco (18), Evbuomwan (17) and Kellman (12) in double figures.
The two rookies played with poise, each showing quickness and court awareness. Each has earned more playing time and it should be exciting to see. Another rookie, Caden Pierce, has started all three games, playing 27 minutes Monday night. He hasn’t produced a lot on offense, but he does a lot of things Henderson likes to see.
All in all, this game should give the Tigers a tremendous lift. Henderson was prescient about the shooting, but he doesn’t expect his team to shoot 62% every night. But he does expect production from beyond the arc to keep defenses from concentrating on the big men.
The Tigers are back in action Saturday night at Marist.