Princeton done in by second-half collapse at Duquesne

The Ivy League launched the 2019-20 campaign with an impressive 5-2 men’s record on opening night, highlighted by Penn’s nail-biter at Alabama, 81-80. (Dartmouth was idle.)

The evening’s lowlight occurred at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, where the Tigers collapsed in the second half, losing to A-10 foe Duquesne, 94-67.

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Q&A with Princeton coach Mitch Henderson

Mitch Henderson enters his ninth season as Princeton coach. (Ivy League Digital Network)

Our George Clark (Toothless Tiger) caught up recently with Princeton coach Mitch Henderson, who is entering his ninth season at the Tigers’ helm. 

In Part 1, Henderson reflects on last season, what Myles Stephens said to the team after their Ivy League Tournament appearance at Yale, Jaelin Llewellyn pushing through injury and fatigue to have a “great year” as a first-year last season, Richmond Aririguzoh’s work ethic and much more:

In Part 2, Henderson talks about Ryan Schwieger being able to do a little bit of everything, discusses the incoming class of first-years, previews the team’s 2019-20 schedule, looks ahead to including an upcoming change to Princeton’s academic calendar that will impact future Ivy League scheduling and much more:

Q&A with Princeton coach Carla Berube

First-year Princeton coach Carla Berube went 384-96 (.800) in 17 seasons at Tufts. (Princeton Athletics)

Our George Clark (Toothless Tiger) caught up recently with first-year Princeton coach Carla Berube. Berube talked about why she left Tufts after 17 years to come to Princeton, introduced her all-new coaching staff, touted the importance of facing power-five competition and much more:

Princeton men release 2019-20 schedule

Princeton Athletics on Tuesday released the men’s basketball schedule for 2019-20, one of the last Division I members to do so. It is expected that this will be the final season when Princeton will conduct first-semester finals in January, meaning no more nearly three-week hiatus for the team in the middle of the year.

The nonconference portion of the schedule kicks off on November 5 as the Tigers travel to Pittsburgh to meet Duquesne. Early highlights include visits to the Dons of San Francisco and Indiana’s Hoosiers, as well as a home rematch with Arizona State, upset victims in Tempe last year. The Tigers will once again play in the Barclays Center in a December 17 matchup with Iona.

The Ivy season begins at The Palestra on January 4. Again this season the Tigers will play the Quakers in back-to-back Saturday games, entertaining Penn at Jadwin on January 11. The complete schedule:

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Ivy 60 for 60: Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley was featured on the cover of the Dec. 7, 1964 edition of Sports Illustrated. Bradley later recalled realizing as a high school freshman that an Ivy League education could coexist with basketball excellence when he saw Yale standout John Lee on the cover of Sports Illustrated. (Neil Leifer)

Ivy Hoops Online is excited to announce the return of Ivy 60 for 60, a run-through of 60 of the greatest players in Ivy League men’s basketball history after a hiatus to continue celebrating the 60th anniversary of modern Ivy League basketball. An Ivy 60 for 60 for Ivy women’s basketball will follow.

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Princeton men’s basketball 2018-19 season recap

I attended the University of Virginia during the Barry Parkhill era, earning a law degree in 1972. Needless to say I was elated when my “borrowed heroes” captured the Cavaliers’ first national championship. Their “worst to first” turnaround brought to mind the Miracle Mets’ run to the World Series in 1969 while I was in Charlottesville.

It is time, however, to return my attention to my real heroes, the Princeton Tigers, the season just concluded and the prospects for the future.

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Q&A with Princeton associate head coach Brett MacConnell

In an in-depth interview, Princeton associate head coach Brett MacConnell talks about filling in for an ill Mitch Henderson during Princeton’s win at Dartmouth last weekend, the Tigers’ many personnel changes this season, another Ivy Defensive Player of the Year-caliber campaign for Myles Stephens and why Jaelin Llewellyn could be a future Ivy Defensive Player of the Year, Richmond Aririguzoh’s development and impact guarding the post, his own path to becoming associate head coach and much more:

Princeton bows to Brown, 67-63

A depleted and dispirited Tiger squad faced off with an amped up Brown Bear quintet last night at Jadwin. The Bears came in with a chance to play themselves into next week’s Ivy Madness. Their 67-63 wire-to-wire smackdown of Princeton sends them to The Palestra with their tourney aspirations very much alive. The winner of tonight’s Brown-Penn meeting will be in the tournament. Their wins on Friday night against teams already in the field eliminated Cornell, an ironic end for Brian Earl’s dreams on the night his Big Red defeated Harvard, the probable No. 1 seed.

The Tigers took their floor without Ryan Schwieger, their leading scorer over the last four games. He is reportedly “day-to-day” under concussion protocol. Of course, the season’s leading scorer, Devin Cannady, took a leave of absence from the university.

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Princeton ekes past Dartmouth, bows to Harvard

With a record of 7-3, the Tigers headed to New England for the Dartmouth-Harvard trip needing a win on the weekend to punch its ticket to Ivy Madness. The fact that the Tigers’ record against their four remaining opponents contained all three of those losses and only one of the wins was a matter of grave concern to the Tiger staff. The lone win was a 69-68 nail-biter in Jadwin against the Friday foe, Dartmouth’s Big Green.

The staff itself suffered an unexpected loss when its head coach was unable to answer the bell in Hanover. Mitch Henderson was forced to scurry from the floor just prior to tip-off, suffering from what we shall describe as “flu-like symptoms.”

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