Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps Princeton’s 77-70 Ivy League Tournament semifinal win over Penn at Jadwin Gym Saturday:
Two takeaway quotes:
Princeton men overpower Penn in Ivy League Tournament semifinal
Keeshawn Kellman
Three Quakeaways from Penn men’s Ivy League Tournament semifinal loss to Princeton
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:
Ivy League Tournament men’s semifinal preview: No. 3 Penn vs. No. 2 Princeton
Ivy League Tournament – at Jadwin Gymnasium (Princeton)
Saturday, March 11: Semifinal at Jadwin Gym
No. 2 Princeton (19-8, 10-4 Ivy) vs No. 3 Penn (17-12, 9-5 Ivy) at 11:00 a.m. (available on ESPNU and ESPN+)
Game #1, 1/16/23: Princeton over Penn (home), 72-60
Game #2, 3/4/23: Princeton (home) over Penn, 77-69 (OT)
To win another Ivy League title, Princeton men’s basketball must re-establish its identity
The Princeton men’s basketball team enters the final three weekends of the Ivy League regular season in an enviable position. At 7-3 in conference play, the Tigers are tied for first place in the conference standings with Yale and host three of their final four regular season games at home, including two season-defining matchups against Brown and Yale this weekend.
Yet there are some reasons for concern as Princeton prepares to make a final push to defend its league title. The Tigers have struggled recently with consistency, losing three of their last seven games, including losses at Brown, Yale and Dartmouth.
Princeton men outlast Dartmouth in 93-90 overtime thriller
Ivy Hoops Online writer George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reflects on an instant classic in which the Princeton men pulled out a 93-90 overtime victory over Dartmouth at Jadwin Gym Saturday, including clutch plays by Princeton freshmen down the stretch and one of the most impressive performances by a visiting player that our Toothless Tiger has ever seen:
Three Quakeaways from Penn men’s loss at Yale
Penn squandered a golden opportunity to gain position in the race for Ivy Madness on Saturday after another brutal second-half offensive performance led to a 70-63 loss at Yale.
The Quakers (9-11, 2-4 Ivy) lost despite a 27-point performance from superstar Jordan Dingle in which the guard hit six three-pointers. After a nice hook shot from Penn sophomore forward Nick Spinoso tied the game at 49 coming out of the under-12 media timeout in the second half, the Red and Blue promptly committed turnovers on their next seven offensive possessions over nearly four minutes of game time.
Dingle, as great as he was on Saturday, committed turnovers on three of those trips, including an offensive foul.
Despite that brutal stretch, Penn still nabbed a 54-53 lead with roughly 5:50 remaining after guard George Smith hit an open three-pointer off an inside-out feed from center Max Lorca-Lloyd. But Yale (13-6, 3-3) immediately responded with a go-ahead jumper from junior guard August Mahoney.
Mahoney would later stick the dagger in the Red and Blue with roughly 90 seconds left. After Dingle hit a tough three to draw Penn within 62-60, Mahoney responded out of a Bulldogs timeout with an and-one finish over Spinoso which extended the Yale lead to five and effectively ended the game.
The Quakers lost a game which KenPom and Vegas expected them to lose. But the way they got there should leave fans with reason for both consternation and hope.
Princeton men hold off Harvard, 69-66, in Ivy opener
Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reports on an Ivy-opening 69-66 win Saturday for Princeton (10-4, 1-0 Ivy) over Harvard (9-6, 0-1) in front of a raucous Jadwin Gym crowd:
Princeton men nicked late in 70-64 loss at Iona
Princeton faltered late in a 70-64 loss at Iona, dropping the Tigers to 8-3 with only one nonconference game remaining against Division I competition. Ivy Hoops Online writer George “Toothless Tiger” Clark breaks down how the Gaels outlasted the Tigers at Harwood Arena:
Observations from Princeton men’s 91-54 thrashing of Monmouth
Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark offers takeaways from the Princeton men’s 91-54 romp over a green Monmouth squad at Jadwin Gym Saturday night, including the impressive athleticism of rookie guard Xaivian Lee:
Princeton women and men keep rolling after tussles with other Tigers, Leopards
In his latest report, Ivy Hoops Online writer George “Toothless Tiger” Clark breaks down how the development of rookie Madison St. Rose helped the Princeton women triumph over the Towson Tigers on the road Monday and weighs in what’s driving the Princeton men’s success after they topped Lafayette Tuesday: