The last time the men's basketball team faced Penn at Jadwin Gym, senior forward Justin Conway's buzzer-beating layup in overtime gave the Tigers a 60-59 victory and a second-place finish in the Ivy League.
This year, a win would be an even more dramatic upset — because the Tigers have already clinched last place in the league.
When Princeton (11-16 overall, 2-11 Ivy League) tips off against the Quakers (21-8, 12-1) tonight at 7 p.m., the Tigers will be looking to repeat last year's magical upset. Because Penn has already clinched the Ivy League title, this game means little as far as records go. But Princeton could certainly use a win against the Quakers to boost its confidence heading into next season.
Earlier this season, the Tigers suffered a 48-35 loss to Penn at The Palestra. With 11 minutes, 24 seconds remaining, Princeton capped off a 10-0 scoring run by tying the game at 29, but that was as close as the Tigers would get. Princeton then went nine minutes without scoring a basket, enabling the Quakers to pull away and secure a victory. In the first matchup, Princeton's defense held Penn to a cold 35 percent from the field. The Tigers, however, shot an even cooler 31 percent.
In that game, Princeton outrebounded the Quakers, collecting 36 boards compared to Penn's 31. Both of these things — tight defense and winning the rebounding battle — need to happen if the Tigers are going to have a chance at success tonight.
Princeton will be facing a talented squad, including Penn forward Mark Zoller, who scored 17 points and grabbed eight boards in the first matchup. Zoller currently leads the Quakers in these two categories, averaging 18 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
Though Zoller has the ability to score from anywhere on the floor, Princeton is not placing too much emphasis on defending him as an individual, and is focusing instead on stopping the entire team for a solid 40 minutes.
"We play defense centered around stopping an entire team," freshman guard Marcus Schroeder said. "Penn has a bunch of great players. If we just focus on Zoller, someone else might get their points. Our main focus is on stopping them as a team [by] not allowing threes and transition baskets."
Recently Schroeder and fellow freshman guard Lincoln Gunn have been putting up big numbers for the Tigers, something that holds promise for the future of Princeton basketball. In Saturday's close 52-51 loss to Yale, Schroeder led the Tigers with 17 points, three assists and six rebounds. Gunn is averaging 6.3 points per game this season. On Feb. 9, he carried Princeton to a 74-68 double overtime victory against Harvard, scoring a personal best of 22 points.
Schroeder recognized that there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to gearing up for a tough opponent like Penn.
"Penn is the best team in our league," Schroeder said. "We played them pretty tough last time, [and] we were tied with eight minutes to go in the game. I think tomorrow in practice we are going to learn their stuff, learn their tendencies, get to know what their players [do]."
This season, an Achilles' heel for Princeton has been its performance from the foul line. As a team, Princeton is only sinking 66.8 percent of its free throws. Several times this season, the Tigers have let close games slip away because of missed foul shots. Going back to basics and winning the battle from the free throw line could help Princeton turn close loses into wins.
Tonight's game marks the end of the road for three Tiger seniors — Conway, guard Edwin Buffmire and forward Luke Owings — who will be honored before the game.
Originally a walk-on to the varsity squad, Conway has had an extremely successful career in a Princeton uniform. He leads the Tigers with 4.0 rebounds per game, and he is second on the team in steals with 37. It would certainly be fitting for Conway to end his Princeton career with another game-winning performance against Penn — which would also give the Tigers a bit of confidence that they won't be buried at the bottom of the Ivy heap in the future.
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