PU returns to Jadwin Wednesday
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The Maui Invitational was not all paradise for the Princeton University men’s basketball team.
Since returning from dropping three straight in Hawaii, the Tigers have had three practices in preparation for their return to Jadwin Gym where they play host to Seton Hall 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
”We’re not too down on ourselves which I would worry about,” said PU head coach Sydney Johnson, whose team is 2-3. “But we’re down enough that we know we care. I’d be concerned if they were just happy go lucky.
”We realize we’re coming off a disappointing season and then to have a disappointing stretch of games, I still know the team has something to offer. We hope we’re playing our best ball come February.”
After opening with wins at home against Central Connecticut State and Iona, the Tigers traveled to Maui. There they lost to Duke, 83-61, last Monday. They fell to Arizona State, 61-42, last Tuesday and then dropped a 74-70 decision to host Chaminade on Wednesday. The losses came when the Tigers had to make a jump in the competitive level beginning with the No. 10 Blue Devils.
”I think it’s good to go through that,” Johnson said. “I am hopeful that we continue the tradition of playing those types of games. We have to dig deep and have to give an extra effort just because of the physicality. I’m not saying those teams are innately better than the other ones we played first. We have to be able to answer the challenge physically and emotionally.”
Princeton has another challenge in store Wednesday. Seton Hall is 5-0 after handing No. 23 Virginia a 74-60 loss on Saturday. The 74 points was a season-low for the high-scoring Pirates.
”The program obviously has a great tradition,” Johnson said. “Right now they’re playing very good basketball. They play with a lot of energy, a lot of passion. It’s another test. We want to turn some of these tests into wins. We don’t know if it’ll happen Wednesday. But as long as we keep that — that we’re eager for that next challenge — we’ll keep battling.
”I think we’re going to have to be pretty good in general,” he added. “It’s a Big East team that’s emerging. They’re on the rise, if they haven’t risen already. A lot of people know Duke or Georgetown, but this is a very good team, Seton Hall. We’ll have to do a lot of things well to come out on top.”
Johnson coached against Seton Hall as a Georgetown assistant the previous three seasons. He isn’t so sure that will help when the Tigers host them Wednesday.
”There’s some familiarity,” he said. “But they have some new guys. And the guys that were there last year get older and better. We have our own challenge in how Princeton can beat Seton Hall rather than how Georgetown can. It won’t help us that much. We just have to get out there and go after it with the right game plan and the right focus.”
The first-year Tigers coach saw his squad make strides even as they were dropping its last three games. Lincoln Gunn continued his fast start with 38 points in the three games. Noah Savage led Princeton with 20 points against Chaminade. Marcus Schroeder led the Tigers with 12 against Arizona State.
”We have the potential to get better and that’s encouraging to me,” Johnson said. “I don’t mean that we played so poorly we can always get better. Game to game, we were better at the things we had talked about improving from. From that standpoint, we have to take the lessons learned and hopefully apply them to the Ivy League and I think we have the potential to do it.”
Princeton lowered its turnovers from 21 against Duke, to 15 against Arizona State, to six against Chaminade. The Tigers made 15 of 29 three-pointers against Chaminade, led by Savage’s six.
”I felt the shooting obviously improved,” Johnson said. “That’s something that can go game to game. What we were pleased with, while we were very disappointed we lost all three games, we felt game to game we did fewer things beating ourselves. We shot the ball better, and communicated more offensively and defensively. We took care of the ball very well. The third game, we only had five or six turnovers. We improved in those winning intangibles. If we continue to do that, hopefully we’ll be ready in February.”
The Tigers continue to search for the people to help bring them those intangibles. Princeton played at least 10 players in each of its three Maui games. New to the rotation was sophomore Nick Lake. The Tigers are constantly evaluating how to best use their roster.
”I’m always going to leave room for guys to earn minutes,” Johnson said. “That’s going to continue to be the case this year. We got a lot of contributions from different guys. Now and in the future, there’s always going to be a place to earn minutes. Coach (Pete) Carril said something stuck to me: you never know how you’re going to win games until you get in the season. We’re leaving the door open for guys to compete in games and practice.”
Wednesday gives the Tigers their next chance to compete in front of their home fans. It is their first of back-to-back games against New Jersey teams. They play at Rutgers on Saturday. Three losses in Maui haven’t taken away anything from their rosy outlook.
”I believe in this team and what it has to offer, every kid and what they have to offer,” Johnson said. “We haven’t won as many games as we would like to, and we have tough stretch coming up. I’m encouraged by this group.”

