Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reflects on an unforgettable 83-82 win for Princeton (9-4) over Rutgers (7-5) Saturday at the Prudential Center:
Steve Pikiell
Princeton men’s basketball’s clash with Rutgers was great drama on many levels
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.
“Should be fun to watch”: Princeton men’s basketball set to face Rutgers
Princeton and Rutgers are separated by 17 miles on Route 1 in New Jersey. Rutgers is one of Princeton’s most familiar foes. The Tigers lead the overall series, 77-45, but Rutgers has won six out of the last 10 meetings.
The game has held major significance for Princeton and Rutgers players across the decades, a history sure to grow when the teams play Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark at noon.
“It was for the establishment of New Jersey dominance,” former Princeton star and athletic director Gary Walters said.
Why the Ivy League isn’t getting fair NCAA Tournament consideration
Princeton coach Mitch Henderson was asked after the Tigers’ 73-62 win over Yale Saturday night by Asbury Park Press college basketball writer Jerry Carino what it says about the NCAA’s system for selecting NCAA Tournament teams that there’s no hope for an at-large Ivy League bid.
“These guys signed up knowing we’ve got to win the league and we’ve got to win the [Ivy League] Tournament,” Henderson said.
Perhaps Henderson was trying to be politically correct or keep his team’s focus on winning the Ivy tourney. But the discussion about a two-bid Ivy is far from closed.
“Can’t wait till tip-off”: Rutgers men poised to finally play Princeton again
Missing a decade of games is a long time for the Rutgers-Princeton basketball rivalry.
The series began in 1917 and has resulted in 120 games played, many of them memorable.
Separated by only 15 miles and both original colonial colleges, played virtually every year and sometimes twice a year from 1917 until 2013, when new Rutgers basketball coach Eddie Jordan put the games on hiatus.
Jordan was fired in 2016 after only three seasons, and new Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell chose not to play the Tigers. That policy has come to an end.
“Leper treatment” for top Ivy men’s teams needs to stop
What do Hofstra, Colgate, Siena, Loyola Chicago, UMass and Vermont all have in common? They are all solid mid-major men’s basketball programs and willing to travel to the home gym of a top Ivy team.
It doesn’t seem like a big deal on the surface, but it is.
Consider Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have one natural rival in their 153 years of playing college sports. Not Penn State. Not Syracuse.
Princeton.