Wallace plus Wysocki adds up for Tigers
By: Bob Nuse
John Thompson came into the season hoping to be able to play Konrad Wysocki and Judson Wallace at the same time.
What the Princeton University men’s basketball coach didn’t count on was Wysocki missing most of the early part of the season with an injury. With Wysocki out of the lineup, the center duties fell on Wallace, a sophomore who played in 21 games last year, averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds a game.
With Wysocki finally healthy, Thompson finally got the chance to see what Wallace and Wysocki could do on the court together. And every indication is the duo can perform just fine together.
"Both of them are comfortable as perimeter players," said Thompson, whose team bounced back from an 80-73 loss to Brown on Friday night to beat Yale, 56-49 on Saturday at Jadwin Gym. "They both came here as forwards, a lot like Kit (Mueller) and Steve Goodrich, and we ask them to play center. But they’re both confident wherever we play them and having them in there together helps us get bigger."
That was evident Saturday as the Tigers stayed even on the boards with Yale, 33-33, in their win. A lot of the credit for that margin goes to forward Ray Robins, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. But the Wallace-Wysocki combination did their part as well.
"Konrad and I are two of the better rebounders we have, plus Ray had a good rebounding game," said Wallace, who finished with 12 points and four rebounds on Saturday. "I think it helps our offensive game when we’re rebounding well. Shots we may have missed, we’re there to clean them up.
"I think you’ll see a lot more of it. It’s Coach Thompson’s decision, but hopefully we’ll be effective with it in the future."
Wysocki played 21 minutes, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds, meaning the duo combined for 22 points and eight rebounds from the pair. And the defense was better for the Tigers.
"Last night we took the night off defensively," Wallace said of the loss to Brown. "Konrad and I got killed inside. Their post player (Alaivaa Nuualiitia) was 8-for-8 against us. Coach Thompson issued a challenge to us and we came in more focused on doing a better job defensively."
After their split over the weekend, the Tigers need all the help they can get in the Ivy race. They head to Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend knowing another loss means the end to any hope of an Ivy title. At 5-2 in the Ivy, the Tigers trail both Penn (7-0) and Brown (7-1), the two teams they have lost to already this year.
"In the huddle before the game, we say every game is like our last chance," Wallace said. "We have to win every game and hope that Penn loses somewhere along the line. But we can only control what we do. We just have to go out there and win every game we play."
The Tigers may have to do whatever is necessary without the services of junior forward Spencer Gloger, who suffered an ankle injury Friday against Brown and whose status is uncertain.
"It’s not broken," Thompson said of the ankle. "We’ll find out soon after he has an MRI. It could just be a sprain or it could be the end of his season. At this point we’re just not sure."
As of Tuesday morning, there was no report of any change in Gloger’s condition.

