Tigers await Sunday’s NCAA seeding show
By: Justin Feil
PHILADELPHIA For a meaningless game, Princeton University’s visit to Pennsylvania on Tuesday certainly didn’t play out like one.
Maybe that’s why Princeton co-captain Ed Persia was wielding scissors and looking for a ladder to cut down the nets after a 76-70 overtime Tiger win. Usually victories like this are worth celebrating. It was the first time since 1997-98 in which Princeton had already clinched the title before the season finale with Penn.
The Tigers, who clinched their second outright Ivy League title in four years with a win at Dartmouth on Saturday, came back from a nine-point second-half deficit to take the lead, only to see Penn tie the game, 61-61, on a tip-in with six-tenths of a second left in the second half.
In overtime, the Tigers scored the first two baskets and seven of eight free throws in the final minute to seal a 76-70 win and avenge their lone Ivy loss of the year with a typical down-to-the-wire gut check.
"It seems like every game has been like this," said PU head coach John Thompson after his team improved to 20-7 overall, 13-1 in the Ivies. "To a certain regard, I don’t want to say it’s comforting, but when you get down near the end and all of a sudden it’s a tight game, I can say to the guys that we’ve been there. It’s been different guys in different games, different ways in different games. We have improved, and figured out how to make the plays and how to get the confidence needed."
Tuesday, it was any number of players who could be singled out for their impact. Judson Wallace moved into a front-runner slot for Ivy Player of the Year with Brown’s Jason Forte by scoring 24 points to go with eight rebounds. He led four Tiger players in double figures.
Andre Logan had 19 pints and seven rebounds and took turns spelling Will Venable in limiting Penn’s leading scorer, Jeff Schiffner, to nine points. Venable, for his part, fought off an ankle sprain to tie Wallace with a team-high 43 minutes while scoring 12 points and adding four assists. Scott Greenman also had 12 points, including a three-pointer with 3:16 left in regulation that kept Princeton tied at least the remainder of the game, and four assists, including two that put away the Quakers.
"It was one of my better games," Greenman said. "Any game it could be anybody. Everybody played well. Everybody stepped up and hit big shots."
After Penn closed within two points in overtime, Greenman drove baseline and dropped a pass to Logan for a layup with 1:56 left. After a key block by Logan at the defensive end, Greenman drove and found Wallace for a layup that built a 69-63 lead with 1:11 to go. He also converted two free throws on the next trip down the court.
"Everyone knows what they’re supposed to do," Greenman said. "Everyone is extremely confident in each other. It’s not like, when we come down in tight moments, it’s not like anybody’s saying, ‘I have to do this by myself.’ We all rely on each other. Everybody hit the key shots at the end of games this year. We just know if we keep sticking with it somebody will eventually come through."
The victory earned Princeton its 17th 20-win season in program history, and the Tigers find out Sunday where they’ll play in their 23rd NCAA tournament. Princeton is going into the tournament on a season-high nine-game winning streak, its longest since a 10-game stretch in the 1998-99 season. Topping Penn to continue that streak was a big plus.
"It’s real big. It’s my first win over Penn," Wallace said. "It’s a great feeling for me. I think our team was tough the whole game. We were down nine in the second half and able to come back. It’s important for us as far as our confidence and our momentum. We won the Ivy League championship last weekend, but it was important for momentum and for our confidence to know we were the best team in the league."
Princeton lost to Penn, 67-52, at Jadwin Gym, but this was a different Tiger team Tuesday. Winning also prevented a first ever happening a championship by Penn or Princeton, earned without beating the other once in a season.
"It’s Penn-Princeton, and it’s special to be able to participate in this game," Thompson said. "I told our guys that before the game, it’s special to be able to participate in this rivalry, which is one of the best in college basketball.
"So regardless of what our record is, what their record is, where we stand, where we’re going to play, where they’re going to play, you don’t want to get swept by them. You don’t want to come in and lose the last game of the regular season. That being said, I’m glad we won."
Princeton might need a bit of time to recover from Tuesday’s physical contest. In all, 53 fouls were called, and it’s natural to assume that the referees missed a few. Venable has time to be 100 percent after tweaking his ankle. Also, Ed Persia, who was dressed but did not play, has some time to heal from the thigh contusion that has cost him the last five games.
Princeton was able to get to the rim on drives much easier than in the teams’ first meeting, and with contact being called, Thompson encouraged the aggressive offensive tactics. Princeton might have benefited more, but shot just 19 for 30 from the free throw line. Still, they found a way to beat the Quakers, and that was the most important thing after underperforming against them at Jadwin.
"The first time against them, that wasn’t us," Thompson said. "And I don’t want to take anything away from them because they made us not be us. That was probably one of the worst games we played this year. We were just not in sync offensively or defensively. As we prepared for this game, it’s not like we had a whole new drastically different game plan, it’s not like we changed a lot of things. We just executed much better tonight at both ends of the floor."
The Tigers now hope the time off doesn’t hurt their momentum as they seem to be playing some of their best basketball at the right time. It’s probably best for Princeton that Tuesday’s game didn’t feel meaningless. As they look to the NCAAs, there’s no such thing.
"It’s time to refocus and kind of start all over," Thompson said. "I think our team feels good about how we’re playing right now. We would feel good going into the tournament if we lost tonight."
The Tigers don’t have to worry about that feeling after fighting into overtime for their 20th win of the season, a win over rival Penn that solidifies them as Ivy champions for the 36th time as they head into the NCAA tournament.