Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps a 60-58 loss for Princeton men’s basketball (3-7) to Saint Joseph’s (4-3) Sunday in Trenton, N.J.:
St. Joseph’s
Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s big Big 5 win over Saint Joseph’s
PHILADELPHIA — With 15:51 to play last night, Penn held a 48-46 lead at the Palestra on Saint Joseph’s and former coach Steve Donahue. The Quakers entered Monday as a six-point underdog, but the small lead clearly wasn’t enough for Penn coach Fran McCaffery — or anyone on the bench, for that manner.
One benefit of my seats behind the scorer’s table is that I can pick up bits and pieces of what’s said on the Penn bench or in the huddle. You can see players get coached up as they come off the floor, or hear an assistant demanding someone on the court cut or help.
I didn’t pick up a ton of what McCaffery was saying during that timeout, but one sentence aimed at the Hawks came through perfectly clear.
“They ****ing can’t defend!”
A few minutes later, Penn proved its new coach right. A 5-0 Penn run — capped by a wing three from Ethan Roberts in transition — would force Saint Joseph’s into a timeout and help lift the Quakers to a thrilling 83-74 win.
Penn (2-2, 1-0 Big 5) was physically overwhelmed by Saint Joseph’s (2-2, 1-1) on the same floor last year, the first big red flag in a season that got Donahue fired. Not so on Monday. The Quakers put up 1.11 points per possession and played at times brilliant offense against an ostensibly superior opponent.
Where do they go from here?
Steve Donahue takes over as Saint Joseph’s head coach after Billy Lange’s exit
Well, that didn’t last long.
With Billy Lange moving on to a player development role with the New York Knicks, Saint Joseph’s has appointed former Cornell and Penn head coach Steve Donahue as the program’s new head coach, the school confirmed Wednesday. Donahue joined Lange’s staff as associate head coach back in May after being fired by Penn.
LISTEN: Reflection on Princeton men’s basketball’s 77-69 win over Saint Joseph’s
Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reflects on a 77-69 win for Princeton men’s basketball over Saint Joseph’s at Hagan Arena Tuesday night that yielded the first triple-double in program history, courtesy of junior guard Xaivian Lee:
LISTEN: Sizing up Princeton men’s basketball after a 6-3 start
Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark takes stock of where Princeton men’s basketball stands after a 6-3 start replete with white-knuckle finishes and newly emerging linchpins:
Penn women’s basketball picks itself up after falling to Saint Joseph’s
No matter what sport you’ve been around, you’ve probably heard it said: A W is a W. An ugly win counts just as much in the record books.
But the opposite isn’t necessarily true, and the Penn women’s basketball team recorded a pretty good loss Friday night to an excellent Saint Joseph’s squad, 68-57, at the Palestra.
For context, look back a year and a day to the last time the two teams met: a 77-49 blowout for the Hawks on their way to a 28-win season (and a Big 5 championship). If anything, the Hawks are stronger this year, while the Quakers are trying to compensate for the loss of All-Ivy forward Jordan Obi to graduation and spark plug guard Ese Ogbevire to injury.
Quakeaways from Penn men’s basketball’s 86-69 loss to Saint Joseph’s
PHILADELPHIA — There are losses, and then there are capital L “Losses” that are so embarrassing and so complete that they force you to reevaluate your priors about the team you cheer for.
The 86-69 beating Penn took at the hands of Saint Joseph’s on Friday night at the Palestra falls into the latter category.
The Quakers (2-2, 0-1 Big 5) were never seriously competitive against the Hawks (3-1, 2-0) in their sole nonconference home game against a premier opponent. The Hawks used a 14-2 run early in the first half to break a 9-9 game wide-open, then tacked on a 15-2 run midway to expand its lead to a high of 32 points.
As of early Saturday, Penn has fallen nearly 75 spots in KenPom’s rankings in less than two weeks of play, plunging from 186 to 260.
Red flags abounded on Friday, starting with how …
Princeton men’s basketball putting it all together heading into Ivy League play
Princeton men’s basketball is poised to enter what promises to be an eventful Ivy League campaign beginning Saturday against the Harvard Crimson at Jadwin Gym.
Skipper Mitch Henderson has compiled an enviable record of 208 wins against 116 losses, a winning percentage of 63%. Since he took the helm in 2011, he has won four Ivy titles and two Ivy tournament crowns. His record playing Ivy teams is a glittering 111-48. He joins Pete Carril, who recruited him as a player, as the only two Tiger coaches to have amassed more than 100 league wins. In 2017, after a 16-0 run through the league and the inaugural Ivy tourney, he was named Ivy League Coach of the Year.
Thoughts on Princeton men’s basketball falling to 9-1 with loss at St. Joseph’s
The Princeton men’s basketball team had a chance to make history on Sunday afternoon in a matinee matchup with St. Joseph’s at Hagan Arena. A win and the 9-0 Tigers would have started the season 10-0 for the first time in the illustrious history of Princeton basketball.
It didn’t happen. The Hawks defended their home court, 74-70, in front of a raucous crowd and halted Princeton’s nine-game winning streak, the second longest in the nation.
Here are three takeaways from Princeton’s first setback of the season:
LISTEN: Postgame press conferences from Princeton men’s basketball’s 74-70 loss at St. Joseph’s
Princeton men’s basketball suffered its first loss of the season Sunday in a 74-70 defeat at St. Joseph’s. Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark brings us the audio of the press conferences that followed and a recap of the action between Princeton (9-1) and St. Joseph’s (8-2):
St. Joseph’s coach Billy Lange comments on the future of the series with Princeton, why his program scheduled the Tigers and more —
Princeton coach Mitch Henderson, Xaivian Lee and Dalen Davis reflect on the Tigers’ first loss of the season —
Our George Clark recaps the action and puts it in context —