Men's Basketball: Princeton looks to rebound in Philadelphia

An old rivalry will be renewed when the men’s basketball team travels to the Palestra to face Penn tonight.

While the rivalry has been dormant in the past few years as both teams have gone through a rare period of struggle, Princeton’s recent successes this year appear to have infused it once again. Despite the Quakers’ poor record, it may not be as easy to bounce back from Saturday’s tough loss to Ivy-League-leading Cornell as the Tigers would like.

Referencing Penn’s (4-16 overall, 3-3 Ivy League) huge upset Friday night at home over Cornell, head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 said he did not expect to have an easy time on the road.

“I expect [Penn] to play great,” he said. “[Penn] has … re-energized themselves in conference play and played some of their best basketball.”

During that game, Quaker forward Jack Eggleston logged 24 points, proving that he is one of the Ancient Eight’s most dangerous players. Over the season, Eggleston has averaged 12.8 points per game, along with a team-leading 126 total rebounds. Along with Eggleston, Penn guard Zack Rosen also distinguished himself against Cornell, scoring 22 points. Rosen leads the team in scoring, averaging an impressive 16.7 points per game, and he has netted 47 three-pointers on the season.

Aside from those two players, though, Penn has struggled offensively, meaning that tonight’s game will probably come down to whether the Princeton defense will be able to stop Eggleston and Rosen.

This should be good matchup for the Tigers, as their defense is the bedrock of the team.

Against the Big Red on Saturday, Princeton allowed Cornell only 48 points; on average, it gives up only 52.3 points per game.

“I think that both programs realize how big of a game it is,” Johnson said. “We’re both going to want to play hard and play well.”

Until Saturday night, Princeton (14-6, 5-1) had been rolling through the 2010 season, losing only a close game to the University of Maine on Jan. 4.

The Tigers’ 5-0 Ivy League start was their first such start since 2002, and they came very close to making it 6-0 over nationally ranked Cornell, as sophomore point guard Doug Davis’ would-be-tying three-point attempt fell just short as the buzzer sounded.

The loss placed the Tigers into a virtual tie for first place in the Ivy League with the Big Red.

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Cornell has played two more games than Princeton, giving it the edge, but as long as the Tigers keep winning, they will continue to challenge for the title. Princeton has managed to keep the focus it has maintained throughout the new year despite the loss, and hope to bring this focus to the Penn game tonight, Johnson said.

“[We need] to continue doing what we’ve been doing, which is being focused offensively and defensively,” Johnson said. “Our focus has been very good for a few games now.”

Davis leads the Princeton offense, averaging 13.9 points per game.

But his most defining characteristic is rapidly becoming his clutch play, as he demonstrated during Saturday’s game against Cornell when he scored Princeton’s last 11 points.

Twice the Tigers were down by two possessions, and twice Davis hit clutch three-pointers to close the gap to one possession.

Shooting almost one-handed against two Big Red defenders, Davis nearly netted the tying basket in the final seconds. Complementing Davis is junior guard Dan Mavraides, who has averaged 11.3 points per game and has a team-leading 93 rebounds on the season.

Against Cornell, Princeton had trouble penetrating the Big Red’s post defense, and the Tigers were often forced to take tough outside shots as easier layups were blocked. Johnson says that this is because Ivy League teams are now throwing many different defensive looks at Princeton and that the Tigers will have to adjust.

“I don’t think that [teams] want to guard our offense straight up, so there’s a number of different schemes they’ve thrown at us,” he said. “It kind of keeps our guys on our toes … We need to at the same time focus on what we want to do no matter what defense is being played, and that is taking good, balanced shots.”

Johnson, emphasizing the animosity caused by the “special rivalry” between the two teams, said he expects Penn to put its best foot forward tonight.

To win, Princeton will have to do the same.