The Princeton Tigers men’s basketball team opened the 2023-24 season with a statement win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 68-61, in front of more than 6,000 fans at CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton in what was dubbed the “Jersey Jam.” Here are four observations about the Tigers’ triumph over their in-state rival:
Tosan Evbuomwan
2023-24 Ivy men’s media day recap and season preview
With the season a few weeks away, the Ivy League hosted its Men’s Basketball Media Day on Thursday. the second of two hoops-themed media availabilities. The event was hosted over Zoom for media members and is available on the conference’s YouTube channel.
The preseason media poll was released on Tuesday with Yale, last year’s regular season co-champions, securing the top spot. Princeton, which used its Ivy League Tournament title victory as a springboard to a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament run, was picked second.
The Bulldogs received 14 of 16 first-place votes, while the Tigers earned the other two top votes.
Ivy hoops roundup – July 1, 2023
As we enter the July 4th holiday weekend, we at Ivy Hoops Online wanted to round up some postseason updates:
Tosan Evbuomwan declares for NBA Draft: The way forward for the point forward
Newcastle, United Kingdom / D.O.B: 02.16.2001 / 6-foot-8, 219 pounds
2022-23 stat line: 15.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.9 apg / 51.5% FG, 32.4% 3P, 65.5% FT, 1.68 A-TO ratio / 31.4 min in 32 GP
Bankable skills: versatile tweener, playmaking
Defensive matchup versatility: 2 to 4 spots
Swing factor: 3pt-ball + jump shot
They say March is Madness, and we couldn’t agree more watching Princeton going to the Sweet 16 in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017. Great news for the Ivy League champions and for Tosan Evbuomwan, the senior from Newcastle, England, who just declared for the NBA Draft after powering the Tigers’ Sweet 16 and Ivy Madness runs.
Evbuomwan has deservedly gained the national attention amid that run, but his performances in the spotlight shouldn’t have been a surprise given that the wing/forward has been a genuine offensive motor for the last couple of seasons and earned almost every award available in the Ivy League in the process.
What’s to like about Evbuomwan? Everything, starting with his physical profile.
Road to redemption: A look ahead to 2023-24 for Penn men’s basketball
March is defined by thin margins.
Penn’s season collapsed with the blow of a referee’s whistle with 90 seconds to go in its Ivy League tournament semifinal against Princeton. If Nick Spinoso’s charge on the Tigers’ Keeshawn Kellman in a one-point game had been ruled a no-call or a flop, would Penn have advanced?
Yale can ask itself a similar question. If August Mahoney — the third-best free throw shooter in the country — converted his one-and-one with 2:18 to go in a three-point game in the Ivy League Tournament final against Princeton, would the Bulldogs have completed their furious second-half rally?
Both those teams could only watch as Princeton went on to go on a magical run to the Sweet 16, the deepest an Ivy League champion has gone in the NCAA Tournament since 2010.
Plenty of Penn fans are probably still bitter, and could you blame them?
But a look at the Quakers’ returning roster indicates that fans’ high expectations for redemption in 2023-24 will be well-justified:
Q&As with Princeton men’s coaches Mitch Henderson and Brett MacConnell
Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark caught up with Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson and associate head coach Brett MacConnell at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville ahead of No. 15 Princeton’s Sweet 16 matchup with No. 6 Creighton slated for 9 p.m. ET on TBS:
Eight reasons to savor Princeton men’s NCAA Tournament run with Elite 8 a win away
With the Elite 8 just a win away for No. 15 Princeton as it prepares for No. 6 Creighton in Louisville Friday, here are eight reasons for not only Tiger folk but the entire Ancient Eight to savor the Tigers’ historic Sweet 16 run:
How Princeton men’s basketball made its stunning run to the Sweet 16
As the Princeton men’s basketball team was coasting past the Missouri Tigers on Saturday en route to the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in the modern NCAA Tournament era, my phone began to buzz with text messages from friends and family members, many of whom were asking the same question: How is Princeton doing this?
No. 15 Princeton men dominate No. 7 Missouri in 78-63 triumph to advance to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
No. 15 Princeton men’s basketball made history with authority Saturday, emphatically dispatching No. 7 Missouri in a 78-63 win at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento to advance to the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance in the modern NCAA Tournament era. Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps the action of a lifetime:
MOVING ON TO THE SWEET 16! 💦#MakeShots 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/nfOUEUj2yG
— Princeton Men’s Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) March 19, 2023
No No. 15 seed has ever dominated a NCAA Tournament game to that degree. It’s hard to envision any No. 15 seed doing so anytime soon.
— IvyHoopsOnline (@IvyHoopsOnline) March 19, 2023
No. 15 Princeton claws past No. 2 Arizona in NCAA Tournament win for the ages
#15 PRINCETON TAKES DOWN #2 ARIZONA.
THIS IS MARCH.
(via @CBSSports)pic.twitter.com/bx8OQJyLpa
— Overtime (@overtime) March 16, 2023
A paltry 4-for-25 from three-point range.
Just three points from the foul line.
A major size disadvantage against the No. 10 KenPom team in the country 2,800 miles from home.
None of it stopped No. 15 Princeton from stunning No. 2 Arizona at the Golden1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. Thursday to advance to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 in a winning effort for the ages.