Jersey Mike’s Arena

Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 70-69 loss at Rutgers

by

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Penn’s first game against Rutgers in 50 years should have been a statement win.

It wound up becoming a collapse right up there with the worst losses of the Steve Donahue era.

Plagued by a toxic combination of fouls, turnovers, mental mistakes and poor free throw shooting, the Quakers frittered away the 66-59 lead they held with 2:24 to play against the Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike’s Arena Saturday night.

The coup de grâce in a 70-69 loss came when junior forward TJ Power missed two free throws with eight seconds left that would have effectively iced the game. After the second miss, Rutgers (6-6) guard Tariq Francis capped off a career-high 34-point evening by draining a pull-up game-winning three-pointer with 0.9 seconds to play over a good contest from freshman guard Jay Jones.

For Penn (6-5), the only saving grace about the loss is that it occurred in nonconference play and means nothing for the team’s Ivy and postseason ambitions. It’s better for this young team to learn a harsh lesson like this now when it can still be used as a learning experience.

So, about that learning experience. What did fans learn on Saturday night?

Read more

Princeton men’s basketball’s clash with Rutgers was great drama on many levels

by

Rutgers went undefeated in the regular season in 1975-76. The following fall, I ran into then-Michigan coach Johnny Orr and asked him why his team thrashed Rutgers, a one-point favorite in the national semis. His response was to the effect that Michigan guard Rickey Green was faster than the Rutgers star who was known as fast Eddie Jordan. He was right.

Mitch Henderson entered the Rutgers game Saturday tired of having to talk Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper pregame.

“I wanted to talk (Xaivian) Lee and (Caden) Pierce,” Henderson said postgame.

Read more

Princeton women’s basketball routs Rutgers, 66-49

by

Princeton women’s basketball beat up Rutgers Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena, 66-49, before a crowd of 2,281.

The Tigers were tasked with having to take Rutgers senior guard Destiny Adams out of the game. Adams was averaging 21.7 points and 12 rebounds per game, the latter clip good for third in the country.

Princeton coach Carla Berube called Adams “a monster inside” to the Big Ten Plus announcers before the game.

The Tigers tamed the monster.

Read more