This was not how new men’s basketball head coach Mitch Henderson ’98 envisioned starting off his coaching career. Princeton slopped through a mistake-filled game Saturday evening at Jadwin Gymnasium, a 73-57 loss to Wagner in the opening matchup of the season.
“They outcompeted us. They played harder than us, and that’s very disappointing,” Henderson said.
Both teams shot at about the same rate, but the Tigers (0-1 overall) committed 28 turnovers and suffered through a nine-minute scoreless drought that effectively put a win out of reach.
After the game, junior forwards Will Barrett and Ian Hummer blamed the loss on “not com[ing] to play.”
“We came in expecting to win and not wanting to win,” Barrett said.
Hummer led the Tigers with 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting and added a team-high nine rebounds. For much of the night, Hummer was the only source of offense for the Tigers, and he took and made 40 percent of the team’s shots. Senior guard and co-captain Douglas Davis scored 12 points on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting, but Henderson said that the rest of the team would have to step up even further to complement Hummer’s talents.
“Is [Hummer] going to bring the ball up the court, get his own water, score in the post, defend the best player? What’s he going to do?” Henderson said. “We’ve got to be more balanced.”
Henderson’s preseason statement that he would run the point guard position “by committee” will be put to the test after Saturday’s performance. Among Davis, junior Jimmy Sherburne and sophomore T.J. Bray, the Tigers’ backcourt failed to protect the ball and combined to commit 14 turnovers. Wagner scored 27 points off turnovers to Princeton’s 12, and those 15 points almost exactly match the margin of defeat.
“Who can you trust to bring the ball up the floor?” Henderson said. “I think that’s going to be something we have to address very seriously.”
One of the reasons for those turnovers was the length and depth of the Seahawks. Nine players logged more than 10 minutes for Wagner, and the constant stream of defenders kept the Princeton ball-handlers uncomfortable.
“Every time they turned around, we had new bodies on them,” Wagner guard Kenneth Ortiz, who had four of the Seahawks’ 14 steals, said. “I’m pretty sure that was getting to them.”
The Tigers kept the game close until a third of the way through the second half. Davis scored eight of the team’s first 12 points and pushed Princeton to an early 14-9 lead. He was quiet for most of the rest of the game though, and Wagner took a five-point lead after a first half marred by a combined 22 fouls.
The teams traded runs to open the second half, and with 12-and-a-half minutes left in the game, Hummer nailed his first career three-pointer to cut the Wagner lead to 48-44.
By the time Princeton scored again, with three-and-a-half minutes remaining, the Tigers were down 64-44, ending a 21-3 Wagner run that included seven Princeton turnovers.
Wagner was led by guard Tyler Murray’s 15 points and forward Josh Thompson’s 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The Seahawks topped Princeton’s size advantage down low by using a continual stream of slashing guards and forwards and capitalizing on the Tigers’ bevy of turnovers.
Before the season, Henderson tabbed junior center Brendan Connolly as a potential breakout player. However, Connolly picked up two early fouls, played just two first-half minutes and finished the game with one point.
The night began with a standing ovation from the 2,444 people in attendance, as Princeton unveiled the title banners honoring last season’s Ivy League championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. It was the first of either accomplishment for Princeton since 2004.
In his first game as a head coach, Henderson kept his cool on the sideline even as the score got out of hand. His poise was especially striking compared to the emotionality of Seahawks head coach Dan Hurley, who stomped and screamed with the game’s every up and down. Henderson, meanwhile, spent his time sitting on the bench in thought or slowly pacing back and forth along the sideline with his hands behind his back.
Still, Henderson wouldn’t say that his first time on the sideline in Princeton colors was all that enjoyable.
“It felt a lot better three hours ago,” Henderson said. “We have a long way to go.”
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