Princeton men’s basketball is poised to enter what promises to be an eventful Ivy League campaign beginning Saturday against the Harvard Crimson at Jadwin Gym.
Skipper Mitch Henderson has compiled an enviable record of 208 wins against 116 losses, a winning percentage of 63%. Since he took the helm in 2011, he has won four Ivy titles and two Ivy tournament crowns. His record playing Ivy teams is a glittering 111-48. He joins Pete Carril, who recruited him as a player, as the only two Tiger coaches to have amassed more than 100 league wins. In 2017, after a 16-0 run through the league and the inaugural Ivy tourney, he was named Ivy League Coach of the Year.
Against Harvard, the Tigers are 10-12 under Henderson, but most of those losses came early in his tenure when Harvard was an Ivy juggernaut. Last season, the Tigers swept the Crimson.
Princeton completed the nonconference portion of its schedule last Saturday at Delaware. Holding on against a furious but ultimately unsuccessful Blue Hen second-half rally, the Tigers ran their record to 12-1. The lone loss came at St. Joseph’s last month in a 74-70 contest that was not decided until the final seconds.
Henderson’s club is very definitely an effective shooting team from beyond the arc. The Tigers have made 53 more three-pointers than the opponents, attempting 121 more and making about 36% of them.
In rebounding the Tigers, usually at a height disadvantage, have nevertheless grabbed 60 more caroms than their taller opponents.
To Henderson’s delight, the Tigers make 15.5 assists per contest while turning the ball over a stingy nine times on average.
Looking at the players’ stats establishes very quickly that Caden Pierce, the multi-talented sophomore from Illinois, has become the MVP in a Tiger uniform. He has started every game in his season-and-a-half, itself a unique stat. This year he has played 30.5 minutes per game. The minutes per contest numbers would be higher for all five starters but for the two Division III games in which the starters were on the bench most of the time.
Pierce is scoring 14 points per game, second on the squad. His field-goal percentage is a stellar 56%, influenced by the fact that he does most of his work at or near the rim. But it is his uncanny, out-of-this world production on the offensive and defensive glass that truly defines Pierce as a player. His 118 rebounds are more than twice the combined total of any two other starters. His per game average is a gaudy 9.1. Pierce has grabbed double-digit caroms 16 times in his brief career. In those games, the Tigers are 15-1.
The last out-of-conference game at Delaware offers a perfect illustration of Pierce’s talent. In the last minute of the nail-biter, the Blue Hens were about to take control. Their best player, Jyáre Davis, had the ball in his hands determined to get to the hoop for the go-ahead score. Pierce was just as determined to deny him.
When the inevitable collision occurred, it was Pierce who got to the spot first. Whistled for an offensive foul, Davis was clearly deflated, as was his team. At the end of the game, the Blue Hens, down by two, intentionally missed the second of two free throws. Pierce muscled his way across the lane to grab his 10th rebound of the game and held on until the final buzzer sounded.
After the St. Joseph’s game, a Tiger loss in which Pierce not coincidentally fouled out, Hawks skipper Billy Lange stated flatly that Pierce “could play for any program in the country.” It was not hyperbole.
Xaivian Lee, the other sophomore starter, showed occasional flashes of brilliance coming off the bench as a freshman. No one worker harder in the offseason than he did. He returned this year as an incredibly better version of himself. The Toronto native gained considerable strength and added even more speed, if that is possible. He gained valuable game experience as a member of the traveling Canadian National Team in the summer. Right from the start of this campaign, he has been the Tiger most difficult to defend, leading the team in scoring with 17 points per game, hitting the 30-point mark last month.
He is second in rebounds and shoots field goals at a 47% clip, making 25 of 65 attempts from deep. He is an incredible passer with an unselfish streak – in short, a coach’s and teammate’s delight. Oh, there is also an 83% free throw rate!
Lee usually has at least one “SportsCenter Highlight” in every game. Lange described him as “an NBA-level point guard.”
Tiger captain and senior Matt Allocco has often been described, very aptly, as a coach on the floor. Allocco leads the team in minutes played and is never on the bench for more than a possession or two. He usually draws the toughest defensive assignment and is rarely beaten on the defensive end.
I have followed Tiger hoops for a very long time. No player in my experience has gotten more out of his ability than Allocco. The Hilliard, Ohio native has a fierce will to win and, even more importantly, wants the ball in clutch situations, never fearing the responsibility. He relishes it.
Allocco is third on the team in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game with astonishing shooting percentages of 56% overall and 44% from deep. His leadership skills don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet, but wins do, and that’s what he is all about. He enjoys the complete trust of his coach who knows this is a vastly different, and weaker, team without him.
Allocco’s 45-foot bomb to beat Cornell two years ago will go down in Tigers history. This year against Furman, the Tigers trailed for almost the entire second half. Down by two in the final five seconds, Pierce grabbed an offensive rebound and found Allocco on the perimeter. The captain did not hesitate. The ensuing three-pointer gave the Tigers a remarkable comeback win.
Zach Martini, a junior forward, has started all 13 games this year. Martini came into this season with the unenviable task of filling the void created when Tiger all-time great Tosan Evbuomwan departed for the NBA. Martini has been a pleasant revelation as a starter, handling the job quite capably. He is not the first or second option on offense but he has emerged as a reliable scorer, shooting 54% from the floor and 44% from deep. On defense he is a rugged presence in the paint, often grabbing rebounds that Pierce can’t.
The fifth starter, Blake Peters, is in the lineup primarily for his prowess from beyond the arc. He has attempted more than 100 three-pointers and has made more than anyone else. He is a tough, if undersized, defender. Lately, he has shown some inconsistency in his shooting, but Henderson’s faith in his player has been unwavering. Peters made three deep balls in his last start, vindicating his coach’s trust.
Fortunately, the Tigers have remained mostly injury free through the first half of the season. Deven Austin showed tremendous potential as a freshman until tearing his ACL in February. He is not expected back until late January at the earliest. Jackson Hicke, a freshman guard who was seeing considerable action of late, is sidelined with an injury to his right arm.
Henderson has used his starters for about 30 minutes per game. Whether this pace is sustainable remains to be seen, but the revamped Ivy schedule should help. Ivy teams no longer face four back-to-back weekends. Henderson has cultivated several bench players who have emerged in key roles in important situations. Rookie point guard Dalen Davis, a very heavily recruited player from Chicago, has drawn a lot of attention from his coach in recent weeks. The diminutive Davis is adept at using his tremendous speed to create shots for himself at all three levels. He is a tough defender, using his quickness to harass opponents unmercifully.
Jack Scott, a junior forward, is usually the first guy off the bench in the frontcourt. The son of former Princeton player and coach Joe Scott, Jack has the same relentless style as his father. He has excellent mobility and a deft shooting touch.
The program’s recruiting system, in which associate head coach Brett MacConnell plays a key role, is paying great dividends, particularly lately as Henderson has matured as a coach, as a man and as the father of three young children. He looks for character, integrity and intelligence as much as basketball ability. The way his players care about each other, up and down the bench, is a hallmark of his teams’ success. He is in full stride now and enjoying his prime years.
As always, the Ivy League season will be full of upsets and surprises. It appears that seven teams can hold legitimate hopes of filling the four slots in the Ivy tournament, hosted this season by the Columbia Lions, who are off to a great start of their own. Only Dartmouth appears overmatched based on the season so far. Enjoy the action, now just days away.
Great analysis, George. I agree with you that Caden Pierce is the MVP of this team even though Lee and Allocco are also outstanding and indispensable players. From day 1 of the season, my biggest concern has been the lack of depth on this team. The starting 5 have come together as a unit and are playing the best basketball of any quintet in the League right now. But I think it’s going to take more than 5 players to win the League. To earn their third consecutive League title, the Tigers are going to need Jack Scott and Daylen Davis to step up unless and until Devin Austin can return to action.