This past weekend saw the best and the worst of men's basketball's shooting. Thanks to its consistent and unforgiving defense, however, the team came out on top both nights.
On Friday night, the Tigers (17-7 overall, 10-1 Ivy League) hosted Columbia (8-17, 4-8) in a rematch of an overtime contest won by Princeton. The next night was the Tigers' last home stand, a contest against Cornell (11-14, 6-6). The Tigers prevailed 75-52 on Friday, and 59-46 the following night.
With the way the Tigers were committing turnovers, Columbia should have walked all over them. But with the way Princeton was shooting, its giveaways didn't slow it down. The Tigers posted season-highs in both turnovers (21) and shooting percentage (72 percent).
Greenman jump started Princeton's offense with eight of its first 10 points, including two consecutive three-pointers, to give the Tigers a lead they never left behind. Aided by six Princeton turnovers in a four-minute stretch, the Lions went on an 11-2 run to close the gap to four points late in the first stanza.
That stretch proved to be Columbia's last offensive spurt in the game. A 13-0 Princeton run midway through the second half allowed the Tigers to coast to a 75-52 win.
Junior center Judson Wallace scored 24 points on the night, his fifth-consecutive 20-point perfomance. Columbia coach Joe Jones later compared Wallace to former Duke standout Christian Laettner.
Noticeably absent was senior guard Ed Persia, who did not dress for his last two home games because of a deep thigh contusion suffered last weekend. Freshman guard Max Schafer started for the injured senior.
Though he may not have been on the court, "he's still our leader," freshman forward Luke Owings said. Owings had two solid offensive performances over the weekend. "He's definitely like one of the coaches, so even though he's not playing with us he's still with us."
When Cornell came to town the next night, it achieved its goal of limiting Wallace's inside looks at the basket. The Big Red held the big man to 11 points while holding the team to 39 percent shooting.
Aside from its successful defensive pressure on the Tigers, little else went right for Cornell. Princeton held its opponent to a mere 26 percent shooting in the first half and 32 percent for the game.
Fortunately for the sluggish Princeton offense, the Big Red didn't find the net until nearly five minutes into the game. A large part of the credit for Cornell's struggles went to the tight Tiger defense, but the Big Red also missed every shot imaginable early on.
Barnes posted 11 more hard-earned points in the second stanza, but Princeton never lost its lead in the slow-paced game. A double-double by junior forward Andre Logan — 11 points and 14 rebounds — led the Tigers to a 59-46 win.
Victory did not come without its costs. Junior guard Will Venable left the game midway through the second half with a back injury. The extent of the injury is uncertain.
Though Princeton again lacked its key ball-handler, Persia, the team cleaned up its play from the previous night. The Tigers had 14 turnovers against Cornell, compared to 21 the night before.
Against these two teams, Princeton's defense compensated for the two sides of its offense.
"Both [offensive efforts] are probably extremes, and the constant has been our defense," head coach John Thompson '88 said.
After their two wins this weekend, only two wins separate the first-place Tigers from the Ivy title.
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