Men's Basketball: Tigers remain undefeated in Ancient Eight

Dominating defense and strong contributions from the bench earned the men’s basketball team two more Ivy League wins on the road this past weekend when it beat Harvard on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday. After these hard-fought victories, the Tigers remain one of two undefeated teams in Ivy League play.

Going into the weekend, Princeton (13-5 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) led the league in scoring defense, allowing an average of 45.5 points per game, while Harvard (15-5, 4-2) held second place for scoring offense, netting 65.5 points per game. Dartmouth (4-16, 0-6) trailed its conference members statistically, but is a team that is “always tough at [their] home” Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 said.

Over 2,000 fans were in attendance at Harvard’s Lavietes Pavilion on Friday night, creating an exciting, and at times raucous, atmosphere.

“We’re ready to play whether there are two people in the stands or a packed gym, but it makes the game a little more exciting and a little more fun and it makes everyone give their best out there and compete,” junior guard Dan Mavraides said of the turnout.

With the crowd behind them, Harvard got off to a six-point lead, holding Princeton scoreless for the first four minutes until sophomore guard Doug Davis sunk a three-point shot to put the Tigers on the board. The first half was back and forth until the final eight-and-a-half minutes, when Princeton went on a 17-4 run to give it a 29-20 advantage going into the second half.

In spite of their lead, the Tigers made an adjustment after the intermission.

“At halftime, we made a change in that we were aggressive attacking the offensive rebounds and settling into our offense and what we do,” senior forward and co-captain Nick Lake said.

Senior forward Pawel Buczak scored a quick layup in the beginning of the second half, and Princeton’s aggressive mindset enabled the team to maintain a 10- to 14-point lead for the next 15 minutes.

The Tigers maintained their momentum with strong play from the bench. At 12:19, freshman forward Will Barrett subbed in and sunk a three-pointer after 13 seconds on the court. Harvard rallied in the final five minutes of the game, however, slowly clawing its way back from a 14-point deficit.

With 1:06 remaining, the Tigers led 51-43. The Crimson proceeded to score three three-pointers and one free throw in the next 54 seconds. Meanwhile, Mavraides sunk two free throws to help Princeton cling to a one-point lead. With 12 seconds left, the score stood at 54-53 and the Tigers called a timeout.

When play resumed, Harvard fouled junior forward Kareem Maddox, who calmly netted two free throws to widen Princeton’s lead to 56-53 with 11 seconds on the clock. The Crimson was forced to go for a three, which a heavily defended guard Jeremy Lin missed from 35 feet away as time expired.

“We’re very fortunate to get this win, to be honest,” Johnson said. “Harvard was a little bit banged up and coach [Tommy] Amaker did a nice job preparing them to play. At the same point, I really thought these guys really kind of hold on to their guts. There were a couple plays I thought we really could do without but there was a lot of heart from Dan [Mavraides], [senior guard and co-captain] Marcus [Schroeder], [junior forward] Kareem [Maddox] and the entire locker room.”

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After a big win against Harvard, the Tigers struggled in their first half against Dartmouth and trailed 21-19 at the half. Princeton remained confident despite its bumpy start.

“Our defense is always going to be there and will keep us in the game even when the points aren’t falling,” Hummer said.

The Tigers found their pace in the second half.

“After halftime, we came with a better energy, better focus, and from halftime on it was a different game for us,” Lake said.

Princeton gained the advantage 27 seconds into the second half when Davis netted a three. The Tigers maintained their lead for the remainder of the game, winning 54-38.

In addition to strong defense, Princeton distinguished itself by its strong bench. Maddox had a big impact from the bench both nights, “making pretty spectacular plays on both ends of the floor,” Buczak said. Maddox was the co-leading scorer against Harvard, netting 14 points along with Mavraides. At Dartmouth, Hummer led the Tigers’ scoring with 11 points from the bench.

Johnson called his team’s depth the “same old refrain.”

“We are getting tremendous contributions from our bench,” he explained.

“I’m very proud about how [the Tigers] have responded to just trying to compete every time out, every time we play,” Johnson added. “We’re not checking the score and looking out, we’re just playing possession by possession and it’s been good so far.”

Next weekend, the Tigers return home to face off against Columbia and Cornell, which currently leads the Ivy League standings. Coach Johnson said he will take each game one at a time as he looks ahead.

“We have not shot the ball well at home, so we have a huge challenge ahead of us against Columbia and Cornell to defend well and shoot the ball well and hold our home court,” Johnson said. “We’re fully engaged in trying to have a pretty solid season, and so it’s okay not to relax. Remember, keep looking forward.”