Princeton looks to halt skid

In tonight's matchup, the men's basketball team, coming off a loss against the familiar foe of last weekend, Rutgers, will face a team that it has never faced before, the Evansville Purple Aces (2-5 overall). At 8:05 p.m., Princeton (2-5) will try to break its five-game losing streak in Evansville, Ind.

Despite the recent slump, there are reasons to be optimistic, such as the double-doubles of sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn against Rutgers and sophomore center Zach Finley against Seton Hall. Finley broke the Tigers' 75 game drought without a player notching a double-double.

In the Tigers' seven games, five different players have led the team in scoring: Gunn, Finley, sophomore guard Marcus Schroeder and senior forwards Kyle Koncz and Noah Savage.

Consistency is still a problem, however. At times, the Tigers have hot hands and seem to be able to sink any shot. But other times, the rim seems to reject any ball thrown up by the Orange and Black.

Most recently, the Tigers took a 30-22 lead on 12 for 22 shooting (54.5 percent) against Rutgers before going cold in the second half and hitting just eight for 26 (30.8 percent). Rutgers, on the other hand, hovered around 40 percent all game, and its consistency paid off, as it rebounded to top the Tigers, 54-50.

Hopefully Princeton's offense can find that much needed consistency against the Purple Aces.

"This is a good game for us," Koncz said. "We have another chance to improve on the Rutgers game and to see if we can perform at the level required to win games for a whole 40 minutes."

Princeton's five straight losses came against teams from some of the nation's most competitive conferences. Though the Tigers lost to Division II Chaminade in Maui, their other four losses have been at the hands of tough opponents — ACC foe No. 6 Duke, Pac-10 opponent Arizona State and Big East competitors Seton Hall and Rutgers.

Evansville, meanwhile, has lost to the likes of Samford, Butler, Southeast Missouri and Buffalo, with victories against Oakland City and Ball State. While Butler is ranked No. 13, none of these teams hails from a major conference. Most recently, Buffalo dominated the Purple Aces, 81-60.

Statistically, Princeton and Evansville are evenly matched. Princeton scores 57.6 points per game while allowing 64.6, and Evansville averages just 56.8 points per game while their opponents score 65.6. In terms of field-goal shooting, both teams shoot roughly 40 percent from the floor and allow their opponents to shoot at a clip of about 47 percent.

Not only are the Purple Aces similar to the Tigers, but Princeton also believes that tonight's opponent will closely resemble their Ivy League opponents and give a rough indication of how the Tigers will stack up.

"We are very excited for a competitive match-up," Savage said. "Evansville has some similarities to what we will see in the league this year, so they are a good team for us to play right now."

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There's another similarity between the two teams: Both Evansville and Princeton have new head coaches. Sydney Johnson '97 joined the Tigers after a stint as a Georgetown assistant coach, while Marty Simmons is in his first year with the Purple Aces. Simmons has six years of head coaching experience from Warburg (Iowa) and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville under his belt.

Tonight, Simmons is looking for his milestone 100th career victory, which is an event that Princeton would prefer to postpone.

If the Tigers have an edge in this game, it is that they have played a more difficult schedule thus far.

Princeton can pick up its third win by taking advantage of its early season experience and playing with a tougher mentality than the Purple Aces can handle.