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Princeton University
Columbia
Wente Leads Princeton Past Columbia 49-41
February 01, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2002
Final Stats
Kyle Wente scored a season-high 17 points, including the biggest three of the night on a layup and foul shot with 1:43 to go, to lead Princeton to a 49-41 win over Columbia in front of 4,129 at Jadwin Gym Friday night.
Princeton used a stiffling full-court press to force Columbia into 19 turnovers, including three 10-second calls in the second half. Princeton also had a steal in the backcourt in the second half.
The victory left Princeton at 8-7 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League, where the TIgers remain the lone unbeaten. Princeton hosts Cornell Saturday night (7:30).
Wente, who had his first career 40-minute game, scored 11 of his points after halftime as the Tigers had to rally to win their 49th straight home game against Ivy opponents other than Penn. "I thought Kyle was terrific," said Princeton coach John Thompson. "Whatever play we needed, he made it."
The game featured one remarkable run after another. Columbia scored the game's first eight points, but Princeton came back with a 10-0 run to make it 10-8. From there, Columbia then sprinted to a 17-2 run to make it 25-12 late in the first half, holding Princeton scoreless for 7:10 stretch.
The Tigers turned it right around, outscoring Columbia 8-1 to end the half down six at 26-20 and then scoring the first 10 points of the second half while ultimately extending the run to 26-3 to make it a 36-28 game.
Columbia would not quit, though, and a pair of Joe Case three-pointers cut it to two at 43-41 in the final minutes. The Lions had two chances to tie it or take the lead, but Chris Wiedemann missed a lefthanded hook and Case missed a three-pointer form the corner.
Princeton then regained possession, and Wente drove the left side of the lane, putting up an off-balance layup that went in despite being tipped by Wiedemann on the way up. Wente also drew the foul and converted the foul shot, building the lead to 46-41 to pretty much seal it.
Ahmed El-Nokali had 11 points and four assists, while Mike Bechtold had six points and six rebounds.
Columbia's Craig Austin, the reigning Ivy Player of the Year, had 13 points and seven rebounds, but he was just 3 for 12 from the field. He also scored eight points in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Princeton shot 35% in the first half and 55% in the second half.