When the Tigers shoot well from three-point range, they’re nearly impossible to beat.
Following their second consecutive conference loss in a shootout with Cornell (12–7, 4–4 Ivy League) on Friday in Ithaca, the Princeton men’s basketball team (16–5, 6–2 Ivy) traveled to New York City on Saturday to finish up their weekend trip against the Columbia Lions (4–16, 1–7 Ivy), winning 85–63.
All but one Tiger made the trip successfully from Ithaca to the Big Apple, as men’s basketball head coach Mitch Henderson ’98 was forced to leave the team after entering into the COVID-19 health and safety protocols prior to Friday’s matchup with Cornell. Associate head coach Brett MacConnell took the reins of the head coaching position temporarily for the second consecutive game and the third time in his tenure on Saturday night.
Henderson did, however, lead the Tigers to a 84–69 win in their first matchup against Columbia on Jan. 7 in what was both teams’ first Ivy League game of the season. The Tigers trailed by 12 at halftime in that game, but ended up winning by 15 points thanks to a 51-point second half.
On Saturday night, the Lions opened up an eight-point lead before the under-16 media timeout for the second matchup in a row between the two teams. Six of these eight opening points came from Columbia’s guard Geronimo Rubio de La Rosa, who led Columbia with 15 points on the night.
However, unlike the previous matchup, which didn’t see the Tigers respond and take the lead until early in the second half, Princeton immediately went on a run. Senior guard Ethan Wright hit a three-pointer to open the scoring with 16:10 remaining in the half, and Princeton scored 12 unanswered to bring the score to 12–8. Nine of the points on this run came from Wright, who entered the game shooting 63 percent from the field over his last four contests, and had scored double-digit points in nine of the last 10 games. Wright had also scored eight of the team’s first 10 points the night before against the Big Red.
Wright and the Tigers continued to pour it on from the three-point line, with four more three-pointers from Wright, two from junior guard Ryan Langborg, and two from senior forward Drew Friberg, respectively, expanding the lead to 28–14. The three-ball has been a recipe for success for the Tigers all season, with a staggering 45 percent of their field goal attempts having been three-pointers through their first 20 games. Coming into the game against Columbia, they ranked 25th out of 353 Division-I programs in team three-point percentage at 37.8 percent, and eighth in the country in three-pointers made per game with 10.6.
At half, Princeton led 46–30, and had nearly met their average with 10 three-pointers made, including four in the last two minutes and 30 seconds of the half. Wright was leading the way with 18 points, including four three-pointers; Friberg and Langborg had combined for 22 more points and six three-pointers between them. The Tigers were also well on their way to meeting their team scoring average of 80.7 points per game, which was good for 14th in Division I entering the contest.
The Tigers picked up where they left off in the second half, as junior forward Tosan Evbuomwan found Friberg for a three-pointer to extend the lead to 53–34. Senior guard Jaelin Llewellyn then found Wright for three-pointers on two consecutive possessions, widening the Princeton lead to 59–38.
Despite leading by around 20 points for most of the half, the Tigers were challenged with just under seven minutes on the clock, as a 10–0 Columbia scoring run cut the lead to just 12. However, thanks to two quick layups from Llewellyn and a string of defensive stops, the game was sealed for Princeton, 85–63. A late three-pointer from first-year guard Blake Peters was the icing on the cake, as it was their 16th triple of the game, setting a new season-high.
The return to dominance from the three-point line (16 makes on 42 attempts) for the Tigers was a welcome sight after a rough night in Ithaca Friday that saw them shoot just 7-for-28 from deep, and the last matchup with Columbia which saw them shoot just 6-for-21 from beyond the arc. It seems the coaching staff is willing to live and die with the three-ball, and the Tigers have lived more often than not this year. Saturday’s contest saw a whopping 62 percent of the team’s field goal attempts come from three-point range, up nearly 17 percentage points from their season average for that proportion.
Leading the way for Princeton in their stellar offensive performance was Ethan Wright, who scored 27 points on 7-for-14 shooting from three-point range, following up his 26-point, eight-rebound game against Cornell with another stellar performance. Wright, who entered the game shooting 39.7 percent from three (eighth-best in the Ivy League), shattered his season scoring average of 15.1 points per game.
The team’s two leading scorers, Jaelin Llewelyn and Tosan Evbuomwan (15.6 points per game each, tied fourth in Ivy) did not meet their scoring averages, with 10 and seven points, respectively; however, they found other ways to contribute. Llewelyn notched nine boards and five assists, while Evbuomwan picked up 11 rebounds, and also managed six assists to add to his Ivy League-leading total. Ryan Langborg and Drew Friberg added a combined 30 points on 8-for-21 three-point shooting for Princeton.
The win improved the Tigers, who had lost two consecutive games coming in, to 6–2 in the conference, keeping them in third place behind Penn (10–12, 7–2 Ivy) and Yale (12–9, 6–1). Columbia remains eighth in the league at 4–16 (1–7). With six games remaining on the schedule, the Tigers’ odds for finishing top-four in the league and qualifying for Ivy Madness remain high, as they are currently three wins ahead of fifth-place Harvard. However, the Tigers face a difficult slate of games ahead, including one more game each against Penn and Yale, and two matchups with Harvard, the results of which could easily change their fate.
Next up, though, Princeton will host Dartmouth (5-14, 2-6 Ivy) Saturday at Jadwin Gymnasium, as they look to further improve their chances at Ivy Madness, and ultimately, the NCAA Tournament.
Wilson Conn is a co-head editor for the Sports section at the 'Prince' who typically covers football, basketball, and breaking news. He is also a senior writer for the Podcast section. He can be reached at wconn@princeton.edu or on Twitter at @wilson_conn.
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