ivy league conference tournament

Princeton reloads in quest for second straight Ivy League championship

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If Tiger fans are reluctant to turn the page after last year’s historic run through the Ivy season and the first-ever Ivy Tournament, we can readily understand. After a so-so 4-6 start and the loss of two All-Ivy caliber starters, Princeton went on a 19-0 tear, including 16-0 in the Ivies, culminating in a championship and a berth in the NCAA’s March Madness. A close loss in the Big Dance to Notre Dame hardly diminished the accomplishments of a truly phenomenal season.

Tiger skipper Mitch Henderson has clearly come into his own, joining James Jones and Tommy Amaker as elite coaches, not only in the League, but in Division I. Having more than survived the loss of Hans Brase and Henry Caruso, the Tigers must figure out how to replace POY Spencer Weisz and fellow first team All-Ivy selection Steven Cook. It won’t be easy, and most handicappers pick the Tigers to finish no better than third behind Yale and Harvard in the coming campaign. Among Henderson’s strengths is his ability to recruit players who buy into his scheme right away. His teams are usually much more than the sum of their individual parts. As a result, the cupboard is hardly bare heading into the new season.

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Columbia women’s basketball looks to create a strong foundation in ‘17-’18

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Former Columbia star and Princeton assistant coach Megan Griffith was hired in March 2016 to rebuild the Lions women’s basketball program.  In her first season, the team opened up the season with a school record winning percentage in nonconference play (10-3, .769) and a program first-ever victory over a Big East opponent (66-64 in overtime over Providence).  Ivy League play, though, was not as kind to the Lions, as they ended up losing eight of their last nine and finished tied for seventh place with a 3-11 conference record.  As the new season approaches, Griffith has unveiled an ambitious schedule that seeks to toughen the team for league action.

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O Tannenwald

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Jonathan Tannenwald’s been an insightful reporter on Ivy League and Big 5 basketball for Philly.com, and before that, The Daily Pennsylvanian, for 15 years. He’s been a guest multiple times on our On the Vine podcast and he’s been a generous resource, mentor and friend to many at The DP, Penn’s student newspaper, over the years.

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Ivy League Tournament to return to the Palestra in 2018

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The Ivy League’s athletic directors just couldn’t pass up the Palestra – again.

They announced Thursday that the 2018 Ivy League Tournaments will be held at the Palestra in Philadelphia, the same site that hosted the inaugural league men’s and women’s tournaments in March.

The 2018 Ivy tournaments will be featured on the ESPN family of networks, the league announced, adding that ticket and specific broadcast information will be announced at a later date.

“The Inaugural Ivy League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments were an unequivocal success,” conference Executive Director Robin Harris said in the league’s press release. “We featured the tremendous talent of our basketball student-athletes in an electric atmosphere, and we look forward to an even better event in 2018.”

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Grading the inaugural Ivy League Tournament

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After years of debating and voting on the efficacy of an Ivy League Tournament, the first one is in the books.

And it certainly has engendered much discussion amongst the Ivy faithful, given its prominence on the ESPN family of networks this past weekend (ESPNU for the semifinals and ESPN2 for the final).

From a national perspective, not so much, despite the fact that the venerable college basketball writer John Feinstein was one of the media members in attendance for the Saturday session. With that said, here is an attempt to grade the event in different categories:

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On the Vine – Mar. 15, 2017

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Joining hosts Peter Andrews and Mike Tony for a special Ivy League Tournament recap and NCAA Tournament preview edition of On the Vine are special guest Bobby Norell of One Foot Down (SB Nation’s Notre Dame site), and IHO writers Rob Browne and George Clark.

(Here’s Norell’s Princeton-Notre Dame preview for One Foot Down.)

The panel gets a detailed breakdown of Notre Dame’s team, season and program from Norell and then reflects extensively on the ups and downs of the inaugural Ivy League Tournament and the future of the tourney.

Myles Stephens: The silent assassin

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The silent assassin strikes in one of his louder moments. (Princeton Athletics)

Just moments after his Yale Bulldogs were eliminated by the Princeton Tigers in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament, James Jones faced a contingent of media reps seeking his analysis of the tourney final.

Jones does not parse his words. He said that during a timeout in the second half, called to halt the gathering Tiger momentum, he noticed on the stat sheet that Myles Stephens, the Tiger sophomore, had scored 18 points. He turned to an assistant and asked, “How did that happen? That’s the quietest 18 points I have ever seen.” He described Stephens as “the silent assassin.”

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No. 12 Princeton to play No. 5 Notre Dame in NCAA Tournament Thursday

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Less than four hours after Princeton defeated Yale to clinch in the Ivy League Tournament final to clinch its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011, the Tigers (23-6, 14-0 Ivy) learned they will play Notre Dame (25-9, 12-6 ACC) in the NCAA first round Thursday in Buffalo, in the West region.

The matchup will tip off at 12:15 p.m. on CBS, with Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel and Allie LaForce on the call, per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.

The Tigers’ last NCAA Tournament victory came in 1998, when they defeated UNLV in the Big Dance as a No. 5 seed.

Princeton’s last NCAA Tournament appearance six years ago was a 59-57 first-round loss to Kentucky as a No. 13 seed.

Like Princeton, Notre Dame prefers to play a slower pace and shoot a lot of three-pointers, and the Fighting Irish rank first in the nation in free throw percentage and 16th in adjusted offensive efficiency.

Notre Dame lost to North Carolina in the Elite 8 last season at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, and the Fighting Irish also made the Elite 8 the previous season.

Notre Dame is led by junior forward Bonzie Colson, who has averaged 17.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, junior guard and Bridgewater, N.J. native Matt Farrell, who has contributed 14.2 points and 5.5 assists per game, senior forward V.J. Beachem and his 15.0 points and 4.1 rebounds, and senior guard and Medford, N.J. Steve Vasturia and his 13.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.

The Fighting Irish are 9-8 against top 60 KenPom competition and are ranked No. 25 in KenPom. Princeton is ranked No. 59 by KenPom.

Princeton defeats Yale, 71-59, clinches NCAA Tournament berth

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16-0.

Princeton cemented itself as one of the Ivy League’s most impressive basketball teams ever with a 71-59 victory over Yale at the Palestra to win the inaugural league men’s basketball tournament, clinching a 16-0 record in league competition and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011.

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2016-17 Ivy League Tournament Semifinals roundup

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Everybody can take away from the inaugural Ivy League Tournament semifinals what they wish. Anti-tournament folks can point to the folly of a team that finished 6-8 in league play essentially hosting a squad that went 14-0. Pro-Palestra Ivy observers can point to what was a rollicking atmosphere with a mostly full arena during the first men’s semifinal. Pro-tournament, anti-Palestra fans can look to the dip in attendance following Penn-Princeton to make the case for a tourney at a neutral location more geographically equidistant for all the Ivies.

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