Coming off an appearance in the Sweet 16 in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Princeton men’s basketball has announced its schedule for the upcoming season. The Tigers will play a slate of 13 nonconference games against Rutgers, Hofstra, Duquesne, Monmouth, Old Dominion, Northeastern, Bucknell, Furman, Drexel, St. Joseph’s, Bryn Athyn, Delaware Valley and Delaware. Princeton’s 14-game Ivy League schedule begins on Jan. 6, 2024, at home against Harvard.
Here are three thoughts about the schedule and opponents awaiting the two-time defending Ivy League champions:
Lucas Monroe was one of three Quakers to play 40 or more minutes for Penn in its 85-80 loss to Big 5 foe Saint Joseph’s at the Palestra Wednesday night. Monroe logged a team-high 43 minutes, posting 16 rebounds, seven points, three blocks and two steals. But it wasn’t enough to keep Penn from running out of gas down the stretch. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)
It’s not often that a team manages to lose a game in which it goes on a 21-2 run, but Penn did just that on Wednesday night, dropping its Big 5 opener to Saint Joseph’s in overtime at the Palestra, 85-80.
The Quakers (5-5) dominated the Hawks for 25 minutes, but that simply wasn’t enough. Saint Joseph’s (3-3) clawed back from a 14-point second half deficit on the back of some ramped-up defensive intensity, using ball-side pressure to disrupt Penn’s dribble handoffs and passing. Couple that with some three-point shooting progression to the mean, and you have a recipe for a comeback.
Despite everything, Penn held leads with 77 seconds left in regulation, 1:55 left in overtime and 1:00 left in overtime. Even after giving up the lead for good, the Quakers had four possessions in the final 56 seconds of overtime with a chance to win or extend the game.
Three open looks from long range did not go down for Jonah Charles or Clark Slajchert, while a fourth chance was wiped away by a debatable charge call on sophomore swingman Eddie Holland III.
What did Penn fans learn from an excruciating defeat?
It turns out that getting the gang together again wasn’t enough to solve Penn’s problems. Not even 31 points from Kayla Padilla could do it.
In their second game back after the rolling four-game suspensions of all their juniors and seniors over the season’s first eight games, the Penn women dropped their fifth straight, falling to St. Joseph’s at the Palestra, 83-70. Penn (4-6) has lost three Big 5 games, with one to play next month against Temple.
Princeton did not expect its second straight contest against an A-10 foe to go as well as the first. St. Joseph’s, picked preseason number 2 in the conference and winner of three straight versus the Tigers, promised much stiffer competition than the 13th-ranked George Washington Colonials.
Princeton’s expectations were fulfilled.
Phil Martelli’s club, behind Lamarr Kimble’s 22-point second-half explosion, raced past the Tigers, 92-82, Wednesday in an intensely fought and entertaining battle.
PHILADELPHIA – The Tigers invaded the decidedly unfriendly confines of Hagan Arena on the otherwise welcoming campus of St. Joseph’s University on Saturday evening. Mitch Henderson continues his search for an effective rotation, realizing that his freshmen will need to undergo an ordeal by fire early in this new season.
He chose a veteran-laden starting lineup in Philadelphia, going with seniors Amir Bell, Alec Brennan and Mike LeBlanc, along with juniors Devin Cannady and Myles Stephens. Will Gladson, the 6’10” sophomore, missed his third game due to injury.
Following last night’s devastating 80-78 loss to Saint Joseph’s, Columbia (4-5) has now lost three out of its last four games by a combined four points.
Each time, the Lions have had the ball in their hands with a chance for the tie or victory on the last possession. Each time, they’ve come up short.
Last night, it was the Lions’ defense that surprisingly gave them a chance to win late in the second half after largely going missing for much of the second frame. Saint Joseph’s shot 59.4 percent in the second half after missing 22 of its first 33 shots, but Columbia’s press defense came up huge in the final two minutes, forcing a five-second call and a turnover on the sideline that set up the final play.
With 5.3 seconds to go, the Lions had a golden opportunity, inbounding in the Hawks’ half of the floor. Everyone knew where the ball was going — especially Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli.
