Men's Basketball: Princeton looks for two on the road

Princeton (1-2 overall) enters the game with momentum from its first win away from Jadwin Gymnasium in nearly two years. The Thanksgiving-eve contest against the Rams (0-3) gives the Tigers an opportunity to prove that the victory against the Black Knights wasn’t a fluke.

If Princeton is to prevail, it will need another dominant outing from freshman guard Doug Davis. Davis has been on a hot streak all season and leads the Tigers in scoring, averaging 19.3 points a game on 55 percent shooting from the field. The freshman has been the floor leader for the Princeton squad, displaying poise and clutch play-making ability atypical of a first-year player. Davis has also been crucial on defense, shutting down opposing players and averaging two steals per game.

On paper, Princeton appears to be the favorite. The Tigers as a team are shooting 42 percent from the field and 76.7 percent from the line and have averaged 54.3 points per game while allowing only 52.

What have hurt Princeton are turnovers. Stats through the first three games show that Princeton leads its opponents in every significant statistical category except for turnover margin. Princeton averages more than 18 turnovers a game, and these, especially on key possessions down the stretch, have deprived the Tigers of potentially game-winning last-minute shots. Princeton has improved in this area, however, as the team has cut its turnovers from 21 in the season opener to 15 against Army.

Fordham comes into tonight’s game seeking its first win of the season. After a close loss at home to Columbia and two not-so-close defeats, the Rams will look for some way to turn their season around.

Scoring has not been a problem for Fordham. The Rams average nearly 68 points an outing and have three players averaging double-digits. Keeping their opponents from scoring has been the problem, as the Rams allow more than 84 points a game.

“Fordham is a guard-oriented team, and they shoot three-pointers extremely well, so we have to be able to limit their looks,” Johnson said. “They’re going to get their looks, but we’ve got to try to contest them as much as possible.”

The Rams’ fast-paced style of play has also translated to points for opposing teams, who have shot 49 percent from the field against the Fordham defense. The Rams may run into trouble against Princeton and its slower, more controlled half-court sets.

“Princeton-tempo basketball I would define as doing what’s needed to try to win,” Johnson said. “If we can play fast against folks then we will; it’s not something that we don’t want to do. We want to score points too. I think if Fordham’s strength is to play fast, then we certainly have to do what we can to limit their strength.”

The presence of junior center Zach Finley and sophomore forward Kareem Maddox in the paint will also be crucial on defense. Maddox is also second on the team in minutes and points and leads all Tigers with 10 assists.

The Tigers will also enjoy the advantage of superior performance from the free-throw line, where the Rams are shooting an abysmal 57 percent. Princeton will also be expected to crash the board tonight night against a Fordham squad that grabs 17 fewer rebounds on average than its opponents.

The Tigers will remain understaffed in the frontcourt against Fordham with two players — senior forward Michael Strittmatter and freshman forward Zane Ma — yet to dress for a game. There remains no specific timeline for when the team will be back at full strength.

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

“I know our injured guys are working very hard, but I will tell you that injuries are not typically good at all, and so we’ve had to kind of rally as a team to try to cover up for those guys being out,” Johnson said.