Tigers hang with Rutgers for 36 minutes
By: Bob Nuse
PISCATAWAY As the Princeton University men’s basketball team moves within a week of opening the Ivy League season, there were signs things may just be ready to work out after all.
This, despite the fact the Tigers dropped their fifth straight, falling to 2-9 with a 54-44 loss at Rutgers on Saturday.
The Tigers, who will play at Rice on Thursday before opening Ivy League play Jan. 13 against Columbia, welcomed back senior point guard Scott Greenman, who played 34 minutes after missing all but 12 minutes of the last six games with a back injury.
The Tigers played a good defensive game, while also looking the best they have on offense since a 59-50 win over Wyoming more than three weeks ago.
"We had a good effort," said Princeton coach Joe Scott whose team has lost five in a row for the first time since the 1979-80 season. "Our defense was terrific. Our guys competed really well. Unforced turnovers just killed us. That was the story of the game. We had 23 turnovers. If we don’t turn the ball over like that in the first half, we’re up by 10 points instead of being down. Our defense was great. We rebounded well and we competed. We just had problems taking care of the ball."
Princeton held Rutgers to just 16 of 39 shooting, and also out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights, 24-23. But 23 turnovers were just too much to overcome. Even with the turnovers, Princeton managed to cut into a 33-20 Rutgers lead with just under 13 minutes, getting even at 42-42 with five minutes left.
But Rutgers, which improved to 10-3 with the win, went on an 8-0 run to take control down the stretch.
"I told the guys this game would be tied with four minutes to play," Scott said. "If we give that kind of effort every game, the score will be tied with four minutes to play and you’ll have put yourself in a position to win. Today, they went on a 10-2 run to end the game because we turned it over.
"Right now we just need to get more contributions from different guys. If that happens, then maybe Kyle Koncz isn’t so tired at the end of the game. We just need to contributions from some more guys."
Having Greenman back in the lineup was certainly a big help for the Tigers. The only senior in the lineup, he scored eight points, had three assists and a team-high four rebounds. He also made everyone else play better.
"It helps to have him there to take the pressure off everybody else," said sophomore Noah Savage, who finished with a team-high 17 points. "Having them there makes it easier for me and helps me play better."
Added Scott: "Nobody wanted to make a big deal of it over the last month, but we have a senior point guard who has not been playing for us. When you take a senior point guard off of any team, let alone a team that has all freshmen and sophomores, you could see when we have the guy it’s a world of difference.
"The weight of the world is off Noah Savage’s shoulders. The weight of the world is off these other young guy’s shoulders. You have a guy out there that can take some of the pressure off of them having to do things they shouldn’t have to do as freshmen and sophomores."
For his part Greenman was just happy to be back out on the floor. It certainly wasn’t easy to watch from the bench while young players tried to find their way without him on the court.
"I was dying to be out there," Greenman said. "It was tough when we would have freshmen, sophomores and maybe one junior out on the court. I was talking to some guys and maybe we got some guys some experience who maybe would not have played as much. Maybe that will help us later in the season when we need those guys in games. We’re going to need everybody and hopefully the experience will help us later."
If Princeton can continue to play the way it did for a good portion of the game at Rutgers, there is certainly reason to believe there is hope for the Ivy season.
"Our goal is to put ourselves in a position where we can win the game, and we were in that position today after 36 minutes," Greenman said. "You have lulls here or there, but we fought hard, made some shots and made some defensive stops. And with four minutes left it was a tie game. That’s all you can hope for. Today we just turned the ball over too much. We had a chance, we just turned it over at key times.
"We talked about putting the effort in and working hard as a team. If you do that and go out and have fun doing what we’re doing, I think that really helps."
So does having their leader back on the floor.
"It felt really good to be back out there," Greenman said. "My back is about 80-85 percent right now. I just have to get my wind back a little bit. I’ll work on that."