Jaspers invade Jadwin

After losing to Penn State Wednesday evening and slipping to 2-7, the men's basketball team will look to rebound against Manhattan on Sunday evening at Jadwin. Bouncing back means more than just ending a seven-game winless streak — the Tigers literally have to improve their rebounding stats to gain second-chance scoring opportunities if their current shooting slump continues.

"[Rebounding] is something that at points we've done okay and at other points we haven't done very well," head coach Sydney Johnson '97 said. "But collectively as a unit, I want this team to continue to take those steps that we know will lead to winning and that we know will lead to representing ourselves well, and hopefully we'll see that Sunday."

Against Penn State, Princeton shot only 31.4 percent from the field and struggled from behind the three-point line, converting only four of 25 attempts. The Tigers also had trouble finding the basket against Evansville, finishing just six for 21 in the first half. Though disappointed with his team's last two games, Johnson does not anticipate this type of performance will become the norm. He attributed the Tigers' shooting struggles to a combination of a few off nights and stingy opposing defenses.

"Certainly you have to take into account that we have one of the toughest schedules that our program has faced in recent history. We're playing some pretty good teams, and our scoring drought has certainly been [a factor], but we also have to give credit to the defenses we're playing, whether it's Duke or Arizona State or Penn State," Johnson said.

Manhattan (5-4 overall, 1-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) has had scoring troubles of its own lately, which the Tigers will look to capitalize on this weekend. In their recent loss to Loyola College, the Jaspers shot a mere 29.6 percent from the field.

Last year the Tigers defeated Manhattan 57-45 early in the season when now-senior forward and co-captain Kyle Koncz helped the Tigers come from behind by scoring all 13 of his points in the second half. Besides efficient shooting, the key to that win was stifling the Jasper offense, resulting in their second-half scoring dry spell.

The Jaspers won't be easy to contain, though, because of their run-and-gun offense led by Devon Austin, who is averaging 12.4 points per game.

"[Manhattan] plays a lot of guys and certainly looks to get up and down [the court]," Johnson said. "They're offensive oriented, they're getting contributions from every guy, and they're open-court oriented. So we're going to do our best to try to take them out of that rhythm."

To establish a rhythm of its own, Princeton will continue to look to sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn and sophomore center Zach Finley to pilot the offense. Against the Nittany Lions, Gunn tallied 13 points and had three of Princeton's four three-pointers. Finley led the charge with 14 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"I have a lot of confidence in Zach, and this basketball team does as well. We know that we can throw it into him, and when he's guarded one-on-one, something good is going to happen. He has played well enough that some of these bigger-time teams have looked to double-team him and have looked to play him aggressively," Johnson said.

After facing Manhattan this weekend, the Tigers will play three away games against Marshall, Monmouth and Lehigh. Though each game will be a challenge for the Tigers, focusing on Sunday's game is the team's biggest concern at the moment.

"We can't think beyond Sunday and Manhattan," Johnson said. "I don't care if we were 9-0 or where we are at 2-7, I think the best preparation is just game-to-game and even more so day-today. What I can say about that stretch of games is that they're very much like games that we will see in our league, and so it will be helpful for us from not only competing to beat them but also with an eye towards any kind of preparation for the Ivy League."

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Hopefully for the Tigers, solid rebounding and smart shots will help them escape their current shooting slump to earn a win Sunday before hitting the road over winter break.