Losses pile up to history

Everyone wants to set records, whether by eating hot dogs or by seeking Olympic glory. There are some marks, though, that you don't want to chase.

The men's basketball team (2-11 overall) made history over winter break, dropping four games to push its losing streak to 11, the most consecutive losses of any team in Princeton hoops history. The Tigers will look to tonight's 7:35 matchup against Lafayette (8-6) at Jadwin Gym to put an end to their prolonged misery as they begin a four-game homestand.

Winless since a Nov. 14 triumph over Iona, the Tigers took on Manhattan (8-6) at home Dec. 16 but fell 71-66.

After holding the Jaspers to 36 points through the first 31 minutes of the game, the Tiger defense crumbled as Manhattan steamrolled its way to another 35 points in the remaining nine minutes, erasing a 13-point deficit in the process.

Sophomore center Zach Finley led Princeton's effort with 17 points but failed to score in the final 10 minutes of the game, when the Jaspers began to seriously compete for possession. A pair of threes from Nick Walsh put Manhattan ahead with less than five minutes remaining in the game.

After a six-day break, the Tigers began their three-game road swing with a 66-60 loss to Marshall (10-4). The Thundering Herd had a 10-point lead at halftime, courtesy of a 10-0 run at the end of the first half. Marshall's run came moments after Princeton managed to cut an eight-point deficit to two.

"I think that one or two missed shots or a six-point run by your opponent shouldn't be enough to shake your confidence," head coach Sydney Johnson '97 said. "I hope our guys feel that way as well. Our two wins earlier this season, we were down in both of those games. I hope they haven't forgotten that."

Princeton came out tough in the second half, shooting 68 percent, but the effort wasn't quite enough. Five minutes into the half, sophomore guard Marcus Schroeder put away a backdoor layup to bring the Tigers within four. As the game was coming to a close, Princeton was down by three, and Schroeder once again had the ball but was unable to knock down the three-pointer needed to send the game to overtime.

A week later, the Tigers were once again haunted by a meager first-half shooting effort. After making only 35 percent of its shots — including just three of 13 three-point attempts — Princeton fell to Monmouth (5-11), 59-50.

Senior forward and captain Kyle Koncz led the Tigers with 14 points, nine of which came from beyond the arc. As a team, however, Princeton shot only 27 percent from distance.

Having tied the Tiger mark for most consecutive losses — and in the midst of an all-time worst 13-game road losing skid — Princeton headed to Lehigh (7-7) on Sunday, looking to turn things around against the Mountain Hawks. Instead, the Tigers turned in their worst performance in four games, losing 68-49 in a contest that was decided well before halftime. It was Princeton's first loss to Lehigh in 77 years.

The loss mostly hinged on the Tigers' inability to shut down Lehigh's potent offense. Led by forward Zahir Carrington — who notched a career-high 27 points — and three-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week Rob Keefer, the Mountain Hawks blasted their way to an early lead that Princeton could not erase.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Tonight, the Tigers will have another chance to turn their season around as the Ivy League schedule draws near, facing yet another Patriot League foe, Lafayette. Coming into the game, Finley leads the Tigers in scoring, averaging 11 points per game. Sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn has put up just shy of 10 points per game and has nearly 40 assists this season to lead the team.

Overall, Princeton is shooting just over 41 percent and a dismal 32 percent from behind the three-point line.

The Leopards, however, are not faring much better, coming off a 77-53 loss to Mississippi State in which they shot only 26 percent. A pair of upperclassman guards currently leads the Leopards. Andrew Brown and Bilal Abdullah have scored 16.5 and 13.6 points per game, respectively. Brown has also racked up 40 assists this season, while Abdullah is coming in hot, having registered a 21-point performance in Saturday's loss.

Princeton will need to focus on containing these two offensive threats, but Johnson knows that tonight's game will come down to more than just individual matchups.

"As much as we want to focus on getting shots to the right guys or playing defense this way or that way according to our opponent, it's as important that we play our style of basketball for 40 minutes," Johnson said.

It's a style that Tiger fans haven't seen for quite some time.