Princeton men’s basketball’s clash with Rutgers was great drama on many levels

Rutgers went undefeated in the regular season in 1975-76. The following fall, I ran into then-Michigan coach Johnny Orr and asked him why his team thrashed Rutgers, a one-point favorite in the national semis. His response was to the effect that Michigan guard Rickey Green was faster than the Rutgers star who was known as fast Eddie Jordan. He was right.

Mitch Henderson entered the Rutgers game Saturday tired of having to talk Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper pregame.

“I wanted to talk (Xaivian) Lee and (Caden) Pierce,” Henderson said postgame.

Well, on Saturday, Princeton junior guard Xaivian Lee and junior forward Caden Pierce were better than projected lottery picks Bailey and Harper as Princeton edged its New Jersey rival, 83-82, in the Never Forget Tribute Classic before 10,148 fans at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Actually, Lee and Pierce were spectacular. The acrobatic Lee had a slow start but ended up with 21 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. Pierce, who couldn’t be denied on the boards by the taller Knights, delivered 21 points and 14 rebounds, of which seven were on the offensive glass.

Princeton outrebounded Rutgers, 43-36.

Harper had 22 points and Bailey 16.

Pierce won the game with a drive to the basket with five seconds left to put the Tigers up by one. Harper missed a shot at the buzzer.

Former Princeton captain and current Rutgers captain Zach Martini had seven points — and friendly banter with Lee and Pierce on the floor.

The crowd was well over 90% behind Rutgers, and the game was aired nationally on Fox Sports 1.

On message boards, throngs of Rutgers fans want the series, in which Princeton has won five of the last six and three in a row, to disappear. No upside and plenty of downside is the sentiment.

Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell vowed to continue to play Princeton, “any time, anywhere.” That could and should mean alternating games at the RAC (Jersey Mike’s Arena) and at Jadwin in the future.

 

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