For the second year in succession Princeton faced off against the Iona Gaels on a neutral court. Last season in Atlantic City, the Tigers overcame a double-digit Iona lead in the second half when then-freshman Drew Friberg came off the bench to make three long-range bombs. Last night, at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, with Net-In-Waiting Devin Cannady at courtside, the Tigers followed a similar script in even more dramatic fashion.
Jaelin Llewellyn
Princeton dominates in second half to nab 80-65 win at Fairleigh Dickinson
Two struggling New Jersey clubs squared off Saturday afternoon in Stratis Arena on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University. The Knights, defending champions of the Northeast (NEC) Conference, had stumbled to a 2-7 early record. The visiting Princeton Tigers sported a similarly dismal 1-7 mark, including two buzzer-beating losses at home to ASU and Monmouth.
Analytics guru Ken Pomeroy projected a one-point Princeton win. The Tigers may have blown a Pomeroy circuit board as they pulled away in the second half, cruising to an 80-65 win, the 150th in Mitch Henderson’s head coaching career.
Princeton loses to Monmouth in another heartbreaker at home
PRINCETON – The Tigers welcomed intrastate rival Monmouth to Jadwin Gym Tuesday evening in what has become a most entertaining series.
Last year, these two teams struggled to score against each other in what looked at times more like a street fight than a basketball game. A late Devin Cannady three-pointer gave the Tigers a 60-57 win. Mitch Henderson and his Hawk counterpart, King Rice, each arrived in their current positions in 2011. They have become good friends over the years as well as rivals on the court.
Princeton men’s basketball searching for consistency, identity and leadership
One month into the 2019-20 season, the Princeton men’s basketball team is off to its worst seven-game start against Division I competition since the 1984-85 season, in which it started 0-6 and then 1-6 against Division I teams. The Tigers opened their 2019-20 campaign with five straight losses before finally shooting their way to a win at Bucknell last Saturday. Princeton fell flat in the second half against the Drexel Dragons Wednesday night and lost again on the road. The Tigers’ 1-6 start echoes the frustrations of the 1979-80 team, which also struggled out of the gate at 0-5 and finished the nonconference schedule with a 4-11 record.
However, that Tigers squad of 40 years ago scratched its way to a tie for the Ivy League title before falling in a playoff game by a single point to Penn. Can this year’s team come together in similar fashion once Ivy League play begins? Here is my assessment of what ails the Tigers at the halfway mark of the nonconference season.
Clearer picture of Princeton’s rotation emerges in first win of season
The Tigers’ prospects entering Saturday’s road game at Bucknell were not bright. Ken Pomeroy’s analytics suggested a six-point Bison triumph. Princeton fans, while not at all pleased with the 0-5 start, were quick to point out that their opponents were a collective 27-4. While Bucknell is projected to finish second in the Patriot League, the Bison are off to a mediocre 3-5 start, including most recently a 20-point thrashing by Yale.
Princeton is still searching for a rotation after Indiana loss
The Tigers arrived in Bloomington to meet the Indiana Hoosiers as 18-point underdogs. Off to a 4-0 start under Archie Miller, the Hoosiers have fired up their rabid fan base fueling hopes of a return to contention at the top of the Big Ten. With low expectations regarding the outcome, Princeton coach Mitch Henderson was prepared to use the game as an opportunity to continue his search for a reliable rotation.
Princeton rally falls short versus Lafayette with stiffer competition straight ahead
On Tuesday the stage was set for the Tigers to make a positive early-season statement, a home opener in a “winnable” game against nearby Patriot League rival, Fran O’Hanlon’s Lafayette Leopards.
The Tigers made a statement, but it was a decidedly negative one.
Princeton comes up short at San Francisco, 82-72
Still smarting from the second-half smackdown at Duquesne on Tuesday, the Tigers packed their bags for a Saturday tilt at San Francisco’s Chase Center, the new home of the Golden State Warriors, in the first men’s college basketball game there. While the Tigers’ injury woes are not as serious as the Warriors’, they would miss Ryan Schwieger, who left Tuesday’s game after six minutes, amid an 82-72 defeat.
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.
Q&A with Princeton coach Mitch Henderson
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: