Hawaii not a paradise for Tigers

All seemed to be going according to plan for the men's basketball team Monday night in the early seconds of its first-round game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. Sophomore center Zach Finley's layup gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead over No. 10 Duke after the Blue Devils missed consecutive three-point attempts during their opening possession.

Unfortunately for Princeton, this momentary lead was extinguished when Duke (3-0 overall) went on a 31-2 run during the next 10 minutes and never looked back. Despite hanging tough with Blue Devils in the second half and outscoring them 57-52 over the remainder of the contest, the Tigers could not overcome this deficit and ultimately fell 83-61.

With the win, Duke preserved its unblemished record at the Maui Invitational, improving to 10-0. The only milestone the Tigers could claim to have reached after the game was becoming the first Ivy League school to appear in the tournament.

Nerves seemed to plague Princeton in the opening minutes of the game. Though the Tigers moved the ball well around the perimeter, rushed three-point attempts didn't fall. Penetration into the paint was impossible as Princeton missed several layup attempts and failed to gain any second-chance scoring opportunities.

The three-time Maui champion Blue Devils, meanwhile, seemed calm and collected. During its 10-minute breakaway stretch, Duke forced turnovers and shot the lights out. Gerald Henderson slammed home a convincing dunk on an alley-oop pass from Nolan Smith to highlight the domination. The Blue Devils finished the half with a 56.1 shooting percentage and a 21-point lead.

The Tigers gained confidence coming out of the locker room and managed to keep pace with Duke in the second half, but the Blue Devils matched nearly every Princeton score, making a comeback impossible.

Offensive rebounding was the Tigers' main weakness, as Princeton's forwards had trouble handling Duke's big men underneath the basket. The Tigers managed only three offensive rebounds during the entire game in comparison to Duke's 20, nine of which were pulled down by Kyle Singler, who led Duke with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Duke earned 56 of its points in the paint, while the Tigers only had 28.

Last season the Tigers struggled to put points on the board, averaging a mere 50.4 points per game — the worst average in Division I. Princeton showed its offensive versatility in this game, however, and should continue to develop a variety of scoring threats as the season progresses.

Among the most promising of those candidates is sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn, who led the Tigers in scoring for the second-consecutive game, with 16 points on three-of-four shooting from three-point range. Senior guard Matt Sargeant and senior forward Noah Savage each contributed nine points, with Savage nailing three of five attempts from beyond the arc.

Junior forward Alex Okafor scored all eight of his points in the second half and tallied his first-career three-pointer. But he really made his presence felt with a highlight-worthy rejection of Duke star DeMarcus Nelson near the rim.

On defense, the Tigers succeeded in keeping pace with the Blue Devils and limited Duke to six fast-break points — an impressive accomplishment considering that Duke's transition game is often among its deadliest weapons.

Aside from the Blue Devil scoring onslaught of the first 10 minutes of the game, the Tigers managed to compete with Duke for the remainder of the contest. While one might say those opening 10 minutes were the only ones that mattered in the game, Princeton can hope that those final 30 minutes will be more relevant in defining its season.