CONWAY, S.C. – The woes continued on Friday night for the Princeton men’s basketball team as the three-time defending Ivy League champions dropped a hard-fought contest to the Texas State Bobcats, 83-80, in a consolation bracket matchup at the Myrtle Beach Invitational tournament in South Carolina.
For the second night in a row, Princeton (4-3) lost to a program it had never faced before. After falling hard to Wright State on Thursday night, Princeton coach Mitch Henderson could summon only one consoling thought: At least his Tigers would have a chance to respond right away with a back-to-back contest against Texas State (3-3), a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
And for a while, the Tigers did respond.
After defending hard on Texas State’s opening possession and forcing a turnover, sophomore sensation Dalen Davis got the Tigers on the scoreboard with a signature three from the right wing. It was Princeton’s first lead of the tournament.
With strong encouragement from a boisterous bench, Princeton built an early lead. A nice pivot in the paint by sophomore swingman Jackson Hicke resulted in a bucket. A strong rebound on the defensive end by Philip Byriel resulted in a drive to the hoop by Xaivian Lee, and suddenly the Tigers were up 11-4 with 15:51 to play in the first half.
After a media timeout, the good vibes continued for the Tigers. Caden Pierce, who suffered one of the worst games of his collegiate career against Wright State, stormed into action, going strong to the hoop for a layup to make it 13-5 in favor of the Tigers. Several possessions later, Pierce got the roll on a contested shot in the paint to keep the Tigers on top, 20-12, with 12:21 to go in the first half.
Princeton’s superior energy and physicality were a key factor in the first quarter of the game, as the Tigers established an early advantage on the boards, 7-4, and also in the paint, where they out-scored the Bobcats, 12-8.
Texas State came roaring back behind the play of Tyrel Morgan, a 6-foot 10 senior from Atlanta. With Henderson resting most of his starters, Tyrel went to work, rising up for a jumper and then outmaneuvering Princeton’s front court to put back a Bobcats miss to cut Princeton’s lead to 24-19 with 9:37 to play in the half. Morgan led Texas State with 27 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
A displeased Henderson reinserted his starters.
But the Texas State comeback continued. A three-pointer by Joshua O’Garro made it a one-possession game. The 6-foot-6 senior from the Cayman Islands finished with nine points and six rebounds.
The Bobcats took their first lead when Drue Drinnon drew a foul on Blake Peters on a drive to the basket. Drinnon, a senior guard from Smyrna, Georgia, hit both free throws to put the Bobcats on top, 25-24 with 8:19 to play.
The Tigers fought back with an 11-0 run sparked by the play of Lee. The junior guard from Toronto took the ball aggressively to the hoop on two consecutive possessions and converted on both, the second on a put back of his own miss. The Tigers again led by eight, 41-33, with a little over two minutes to play in the first half.
A 6-0 run by Texas State eroded most of Princeton’s lead, but a Lee drive and underhanded scoop finish gave the Tigers a 43-39 lead with 31 seconds remaining.
A pull-up jumper by Kaden Gumbs with two second on the clock left the Bobcats feeling good as the first half came to an end with Princeton clinging to a two-point lead, 43-41.
Although Texas State had momentum, the Tigers had reasons to feel good about their first-half performance. For starters, they had a lead at the break for only the second time in seven games this season. Even more importantly, the Tigers had won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Bobcats 16-14. Unfortunately, that trend would not continue in the second half.
The Tigers came out in a zone defense to start the second half, but Texas State handled it easily with Garro canning an open corner three. A 6-0 run gave the Bobcats a 47-43 lead.
Lee responded for Princeton with a drive to the hoop that resulted in free throws. Then, a steal by Pierce led to a transition runout by Lee, who slammed the ball through the hoop to tie the score at 47 with 17:47 to play. The flashy playmaker repeatedly delivered when Princeton needed a boost.
But then the game went south for Princeton. A dunk by Tylan Pope sparked a 19-6 run for Texas State as the Bobcats began to wear down the Tigers. Back-to-back layups by O’Garro and Morgan put the Bobcats ahead, 66-53, with 10:48 to play. For the seventh consecutive game to start the season, the Tigers had fallen behind by double digits.
But if these Tigers have demonstrated anything this season, it’s that you should never count them out, especially with Xaivian Lee on the floor.
Over a six-minute span, Lee took over the game with a 14-point outburst from all over the court. The run began with a drive to the hoop and two made free throws. Lee took it to the tin three more times and converted each attempt. He then showed off his three-point shooting touch, hitting two stepbacks from distance and suddenly the Tigers were within two, 72-70, with 4:39 to play. Lee finished with a game high 30 points on 11-for-20 shooting.
The Tigers’ rally continued when Blake Peters hit a three to tie the game at 74 with 3:28 to play. The Tigers finally seized the lead, 75-74, when Lee converted one of two free throws at the 2:48 mark. Two more free throws by Pierce stretched the Tigers lead to 77-74 and it looked like Princeton was going to complete yet another improbable comeback.
It was not to be. Five straight points in the paint by Pope, the last an and-one free throw after an offensive rebound and put back, put Texas State back in front, 79-77, with under two minutes to play.
The Tigers still had a chance to tie or win the game, but back-to-back misses from beyond the arc by Peters extinguished the Tigers’ chances and Texas State closed out the hard-fought contest with an 83-80 triumph.
Considering how unstoppable Lee had been down the stretch, Tigers fans may wonder whether Peters’ attempted threes in crunch time were the right option for Princeton. Henderson thought they were.
“Xaivian did a lot to get us back into the game, but I thought he made the right passes out,” Henderson said. “Blake had a good look. Those are good looks for us.”
Although Princeton demonstrated resiliency in coming back late in the game, the Tigers lost this one in the paint, where they have struggled in nearly every game so far this season.
Princeton’s first-half success on the boards evaporated in the second half as Texas State out-muscled the Tigers on the boards, 20-12. Overall, the Bobcats outrebounded Princeton in the game by 34-28 and outscored the Tigers in the paint, 42-28.
A clearly frustrated Henderson reflected on Princeton’s uneven start to the season.
“We’re not very good right now. We’re not stringing together 40 minutes, and we have some fight in us. So, you know, I’m looking at all the different parts of it. And, you know, we just haven’t come together. But, you know, [it’s] far too early, not even a quarter through the season, for us to be pushing the panic button. [There’s] a lot of room for improvement. I think that’s a very good Texas State team. They challenged us . . . they’re really, really difficult to guard, and we’re a little off, and to put it, you know, nicely, we have a lot of work to do.”
The Tigers will have one more chance to get a win in South Carolina on Sunday morning when they take on the Portland Pilots at 10:30 a.m. ET in a clash for seventh place in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Mitch did not prepare this team properly over the summer. This is the softest Princeton team I’ve ever seen. And lazy to boot. They don’t box out. They don’t fight for loose balls. They just stand there and ball watch, hoping the other team misses.
Today’s Portland win was a decent sign. The freshmen were impressive. But Pierce and Davis need to play with a lot more urgency. It can’t just be Lee’s individual brilliance with some Blake Peters 3s.