Some thoughts from Princeton men’s basketball’s 76-60 win over Yale at Jadwin Gym Saturday:
No team is invincible
To those who thought that Yale would waltz through the Ivy, sorry. No team will go undefeated this crazy season.
More physical
Who would have thought that Princeton would have been more physical than Yale in a basketball game? It was today.
Defense
Yale sits at a No. 237 KenPom defensive ranking and has had difficulty all season in defending the three. Even in a great November win over Akron, Yale allowed a gaudy 12-for-23 showing from long range. Saturday, Princeton was 11-for-27 and had many open looks.
The halftime swing
The Tigers are now outscoring opponents 108-82 in the second half of Ivy games, including 54-38 Saturday.
Use a pencil and not a pen (yet)
The Tigers were 4-for-11 out of conference, and many wrote them off for Ivy Madness. They now sit at 2-0 atop the conference along with Dartmouth and are playing their best basketball of the season.
Double Nick Townsend
Others have tried it, but Princeton did it more effectively than anyone today, holding the Yale leading scorer to 13 points and no treys. He had 22 triples entering the game and was shooting them at almost 50%.
Free throwing woes
Yale entered the game shooting 77% from the charity stripe, second only to Harvard. Saturday, the Bulldogs were 9-for-15, as Samson Aletan went 1-for-6.
How important is Riley Fox? Very.
The Yale sharpshooter entered the game averaging 12.7 points per game, shooting almost 50% from the field. The Princeton defense held him to seven points on 3-for-11 shooting, 1-for-8 from long range.
Phew
Isaac Celiscar went down in some ankle pain at 11:23 of the first half, but was able to return in the second stanza.
Agree the Tigers are playing their best basketball of the season, and yet that was far from a perfect game for Princeton. I see plenty of room for continued growth and improvement.
Also, I thought the game was terribly officiated and largely in favor of the road team. Princeton wasn’t awarded a free throw in the first 31 minutes of the game.
This sets up an intriguing rematch on March 7 to close out the Ivy season. Might that game determine the regular season champion? I’m sure Yale will shoot the ball better in that game.