Jadwin Gym

A paean to Princeton’s triumphant Ivy League Tournament and season

by
Pictured here during the Ivy League Tournament Saturday, the Princeton women have made a habit of lining up single file behind each other with their arms draped over each other’s shoulders during the national anthem. (Steve Silverman)

The Princeton men’s and women’s basketball teams did more than punch tickets for the NCAA Tournament by winning championships at the Ivy League Tournament over the weekend.  They also made history for the university and the Ivy League.  

By winning both the men’s and women’s regular season and tournament titles, Princeton became the first school in Ivy League history to win four conference basketball championships in the same season. It’s a record that may be tied someday, but it can never be broken. 

As the Princeton basketball community basks in the glory of this unparalleled success, here are three reflections from the perspective of a long-time follower and admirer of Princeton basketball:

Read more

Princeton men triumph over Yale to win Ivy League Tournament, clinch NCAA Tournament berth

by
Princeton men’s basketball celebrates winning the Ivy League Tournament on its own floor at Jadwin Gym to clinch the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017 Sunday. (Steve Silverman)

Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps Princeton’s 74-65 win over Yale at Jadwin Gym to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament:

And the Ivy Madness Oscar goes to …

by
The Princeton Tiger flexes at Jadwin Gym Saturday. (Photo by Steve Silverman)

Since the 95th Academy Award airs Sunday night, here are my choices for the Ivy Madness Oscars from day two of the Ivy League Tournament:

Read more

Princeton women take fourth straight Ivy League Tournament after 54-48 win over Harvard

by

Princeton overtook Harvard, 54-48, at Jadwin Gym Saturday to claim its fourth straight Ivy League Tournament final. Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps the action:

Three Quakeaways from Penn men’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal loss to Princeton

by
Ivy Player of the Year Jordan Dingle’s 19 points and six assists in 37 minutes weren’t enough to push Penn past Princeton in their Ivy League Tournament semifinal clash at Jadwin Gym Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

PRINCETON, N.J. — Penn and its fans will be replaying the final two minutes of Saturday’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal against Princeton for a long time.

What was setting up to be a thrilling finish ended only in deflation and disappointment, as a late series of critical 50-50 situations all broke the wrong way in a 77-70 loss to the hated Tigers.

Penn had the ball down 71-70 with 90 seconds left when junior guard Jordan Dingle made a pass out of a double team to sophomore forward Nick Spinoso at the top of the key.

Spinoso faked a pass to a cutting Dingle, then tried to spin off Princeton senior forward Keeshawn Kellman in the lane. Kellman flew backwards as if he had been hit by sniper fire, and the officials obliged with a charge call that mystified even the ESPN broadcast team. Penn never had the ball with a chance to take the lead again.

One call, of course, does not define a game. Penn had plenty of self-inflicted wounds on Saturday, one of many dispiriting Quakeaways:

Read more

Yale handles Cornell in Ivy League Tournament men’s semifinal

by
Yale coach James Jones lauded his team’s execution after the Bulldogs’ 80-60 win over Cornell in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal Saturday. (James Jones’ Twitter page)
PRINCETON, N.J. – A 12-0 run at the start of the second half fueled No. 1 Yale to an 80-60 win over No. 4 Cornell to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final Sunday.
Yale had difficulty with the Cornell press in the first half, especially without sophomore guard Bez Mbeng, who picked up two early fouls.
“[I’m] really happy how we executed,” Yale coach James Jones said.

Read more

Harvard women stun Columbia to advance to Ivy League Tournament final

by
Sophomore guard Harmoni Turner contributed 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in 44 minutes in Harvard’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal upset of Columbia at Jadwin Gym Friday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Harvard Crimson put an abrupt end to anticipation of a rubber match between regular-season co-champions Princeton and Columbia by defeating the latter in the second of two Ivy League Tournament semifinal games played at Jadwin Gym in an overtime thriller, 72-65.

The No. 3 Crimson advance to face No. 1 Princeton, which defeated Penn earlier Friday, 60-47.  The tournament final will be played Saturday  at 5 p.m. at Jadwin Gym.  

Read more

A banner(s) weekend for Princeton basketball

by

Thanks to a weekend sweep of Penn, the Princeton men’s and women’s basketball programs both won Ivy League titles this weekend, meaning that two more banners will soon be added to the crowded rafters at Jadwin Gym.  Here are four takeaways from Princeton’s historic basketball weekend:

Read more

Script flipped: How Princeton men pulled off Ivy title-clinching comeback over Penn

by

Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps what Princeton coach Mitch Henderson called the best win he’s ever had, a 76-69 victory over archrival Penn to clinch a second straight Ivy League title and the 29th in program history:

Three Quakeaways from Penn men’s colossal collapse at Princeton

by
The plan Penn coach Steve Donahue oversaw to limit reigning Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan’s effectiveness worked Saturday at Princeton, but his team still lost to the Tigers for an eighth straight outing. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

PRINCETON, N.J. — It is hard to envision a more disheartening end to an Ivy League regular season than the collapse Penn orchestrated on Saturday at Jadwin Gymnasium.

The Quakers (17-12, 9-5 Ivy) squandered a 17-point second-half lead before falling in overtime to Princeton (19-8, 10-4), 77-69, handing a share of the Ivy regular season title to their most bitter rivals.

Penn’s undoing was an offensive outage when it mattered most. After sophomore guard George Smith hit a contested layup to extend the Quakers’ edge to 66-58 with 4:16 to go, the team did not make a shot from the field for the remainder of regulation or overtime, a 9:16 stretch.

The Quakers are now locked into the No. 3 seed for next Saturday’s Ivy League Tournament, which will also be held at Jadwin. They will either get a third crack at Princeton or a rubber match against Yale, depending on the result of Yale’s Saturday night road game against Brown.

All the good feelings from Penn’s eight-game winning streak have disappeared in a flash, replaced by a handful of mostly painful Quakeaways:

Read more