OT and blowout losses extend league losing streak to seven games

Winless on the road since 2006, the Tigers (5-19 overall, 2-7 Ivy League) narrowly preserved their reputation as compliant guests against the Crimson (8-18, 3-7) on Friday, squandering an eight-point lead with two minutes, 29 seconds to play in regulation before falling 74-67 in overtime. The next night against the last-place Big Green (9-15, 2-8), Princeton’s recent string of excruciatingly close defeats — including back-to-back overtime losses — finally took its toll, and the Tigers crumpled in a 71-52 loss, the worst of their Ivy season.

Princeton looked ready to dispense with its road woes Friday night, in part because the air felt a bit like home. Backed by a large contingent of Princeton faithful at Harvard’s Lavietes Pavilion, the Tigers jumped out to an early 23-14 lead and were up 29-26 at intermission. Princeton built on that lead for the majority of the second half, grabbing its largest lead of the game with the score 53-41 and 7:27 left to play.

“We just played loose, with a lot of confidence,” sophomore guard Marcus Schroeder said of the first 32 minutes of Friday’s game. “We drove the ball well, and got to the hoop. We locked down on their shooters and did a good job containing them.”

The Crimson, though, responded with a 10-2 run to narrow the gap and withstood the Tigers’ counter-surge by repeatedly attacking Princeton on the interior throughout the game’s final minutes. After two free throws by senior forward and co-captain Noah Savage put the Tigers up 61-53 with just under two-and-a-half minutes remaining, Harvard scored four unanswered layups to tie the game, two of them coming off offensive rebounds.

Having failed to score on each of its three previous possessions, Princeton still had a chance to win the game in regulation, taking possession with nine seconds left and the score knotted at 61. Senior forward and co-captain Kyle Koncz got the first shot at the game winner but was short on a jumper. Senior guard Kevin Steuerer battled under the glass for two straight tip attempts as the final seconds ticked away but could get neither to go down, the second rimming out at the regulation buzzer.

The momentum from the Crimson’s speedy comeback and last-second defensive stand carried over into the extra period, with Harvard scoring the first seven points of overtime to go up 68-61 with 2:30 left on the clock. Princeton, meanwhile, did not manage a field goal over the five minutes of bonus basketball, netting just six points — all on Savage free throws — as the Crimson pulled out a 74-67 win.

“It’s definitely tougher on the road,” Schroeder said. “If we get up 10, we know they’re going to make a run, and we just have to withstand it. That’s what we’ve been struggling to do lately and what we have to get better at.”

Savage led with 22 points in the losing effort, a strong sequel to his 35-point outburst in Princeton’s overtime loss to Brown. Savage was 11-for-11 from the free-throw line, and the Tigers connected on all 19 of their fouls shots as a team. Princeton was doomed, however, by its 17 turnovers, including five by sophomore guard Lincoln Gunn, who continued to come off the bench for the Tigers after starting the first 49 games of his Princeton career.

Another bright spot for the Tigers on Friday was the play of Koncz, who went for a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds despite being visibly hobbled by a hip injury for much of the second half.

On Saturday, Koncz was forced to sit out, and Princeton came unglued against Dartmouth without its defensive anchor.

“Kyle’s the heart and soul of our team,” Schroeder said. “To not have him out there was a huge loss. He gives us energy, he gets us going, and he’s not only a great shooter and a great defender, but he brings all the intangibles.”

The Big Green shot over 54 percent from the field for the game, with Koncz’s absence especially noticeable on the perimeter, where Dartmouth shooters managed to connect on six of 11 three-point attempts.

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Princeton, meanwhile, struggled on offense with a new starting lineup in Koncz’s absence. Back among the first five was Schroeder, who lost his starting spot to Steuerer earlier in the season after leading the nation in minutes played a year ago. Schroeder and Steuerer were joined in the backcourt by freshman guard Dan Mavraides, who made his first career start in just his third overall appearance as a Tiger.

Dartmouth led by eight at half, then opened the second with an 11-0 run that effectively ended the game, putting the Big Green up 44-25 just over three minutes after intermission. Dartmouth led by as many as 30, grabbing a 71-41 advantage with 3:44 to play, and the teams’ reserves battled it out for the final few minutes.