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Princeton University Athletics
Process Of Elimination
March 06, 2002 | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2002
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PRINCETON vs. YALE
The site The Palestra * Philadelphia, Pa.
The date Thursday, March 7, 2002 * 8:00 p.m. EST
Radio/TV WHWH AM 1350, www.GoPrincetonTigers.com, WPRB FM 103.3/ DIRECTV
The records Princeton: 16-10 (11-3 Ivy League), Yale: 19-9 (11-3 Ivy League)
The coaches Princeton: John Thompson (second season, 32-21), Yale: James Jones (third season, 36-46)
The series Princeton leads 131-74
Last meeting Yale defeated Princeton 60-50 *Feb. 9, 2002, Princeton defeated Yale 59-46 *Feb. 22, 2002
What's at stake? Princeton and Yale meet in the opening game of the Ivy League's tiebreaking playoff. The winner of this game will play Penn Saturday night at Lafayette (7:30) for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Why is Penn the No. 1 seed? The Quakers have the best record head-to-head-to-head between the three teams. Penn went 3-1, Yale went 2-2 and Princeton went 1-3.
Is the winner of the playoff the league champion? No. The playoff is to determine who gets the automatic bid. Princeton, Penn and Yale will be considered tri-champions.
How many Ivy League championships has Princeton won in the last 14 years? Nine.
How many times has the Ivy League had a playoff? Six times.
How many of those involved more than two teams? None, though the Ivy League's forerunner, the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League, had one in 1955 between Princeton, Penn and Columbia, won by Princeton. How many of the six playoffs have involved Princeton? Six.
What is Princeton's record in Ivy playoffs? Princeton is 3-3, having defeated Penn in 1996 and 1981 and Yale in 1962 and having lost to Penn in 1980, Columbia in 1968 and Dartmouth in 1959.
What happened in the regular season between Yale and Princeton? Each won by double figures at home, both games were sellouts. Yale defeated Princeton 60-50 in New Haven Feb. 9, Princeton defeated Yale 59-46 in Princeton Feb. 22.
What is the importance of getting the lead? Yale led for 35:22 of 40 minutes in the first game, which Yale won. Princeton led for 36:27 of 40 minutes in the second game, which Princeton won.
How long has Princeton has the lead in its last three games combined? 19:39.
What is Princeton's record in those three games? 2-1.
Are there more freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors on the rosters of the three teams in the playoff? Freshmen.
What is the breakdown by class? Freshmen 15 Sophomores 14 Juniors 12 Seniors 5What is John Thompson's record in the Palestra? 7-4 (1-1 as a head coach, 3-2 as an assistant coach, 3-1 as a player).
How many straight games has Princeton won at the Palestra in games against teams other than Penn? Eight.
How many of those games have been in the last 12 seasons? None.
When was the last one? 1989-90 vs. St. Joseph's.
What is Princeton's all-time record at the Palestra against teams other than Penn? 11-14.
How many NCAA tournament games has Princeton played at the Palestra? Eight.
How many NCAA tournament games has played Yale played all time? Four.
What did the first four games Princeton played at the Palestra against teams other than Penn have in common? They were all EIBL playoff games. In order: a loss to Dartmouth in 1927, a win over Columbia in 1932, a loss to Dartmouth in 1942 and a loss to Cornell in 1954.
What did Princeton shoot from the field in two games against Yale? 40.2% from the field and 22.2% from three-point range.
What did Yale shoot from the field in two games against Princeton? 39.8% from the field and 24.2% from three-point range.
What was Princeton's assists-turnover ratio in two games against Yale? Princeton has 21 assists and 27 turnovers.
What is Princeton's record when it shoots at least 46% from the field? 13-0.
How many years in a row has Princeton been 11-3 in the Ivy League? Four.
How many years in a row has Princeton won at least 10 Ivy League games? Nine.
How many times has Princeton won at least 10 Ivy League games? 34 times in 46 games.
What is John Thompson's record in Ivy games? 22-6.
Where does that rank among Princeton's last four coaches (of the last 39 seasons)? Fourth. Thompson's predecessor Bill Carmody went 28-0 in his first two seasons. Pete Carril, Carmody's predecessor, went 26-2. Before Carril, Butch van Breda Kolff went 23-5.
How many of John Thompson's first 28 Ivy League games have been decided by at least 10 points? 21.
How many times this season did Princeton have the Ivy League Player of the Week or Rookie of the Week? Zero.
When was the last time Princeton had the Ivy League Player of the Week? The first week of the 2000-01 season. Twenty-seven awards have been given since.
How many Princeton players ? 2
How many of Princeton's 49 points against Columbia did Mike Bechtold score? 25, a career high. Bechtold's previous high was 23 against Lafayette last season.
How many players in the top 28 in scoring in the Ivy League does Princeton have? One (Mike Bechtold, 21st).
How many players in the league's top 20 in rebounding or top 10 in assists does Princeton have? Zero.
How many Princeton players average at least 10 points per game? Zero.
How many Princeton players in John Thompson's first two seasons as head coach have averaged more than 10.0 points per game? Zero.
How many points does Mike Bechtold, Princeton's leading scorer, need against Yale to reach 10.0 points per game? 26.
How many different Princeton players have led the team in scoring in at least one game this season? Nine.
How many Princeton players average at least 5.5 points per game? Eight.
How many Princeton players average at least 6.7 points per game? Six.
Ahmed El-Nokali has played a team-high 848 minutes. How many more minutes has he played than Kyle Wente, who is second? 100.
How many points did Ahmed El-Nokali have against Penn Tuesday night? 18, tying his season-high from the Lafayette game.
How many times this season has Ahmed El-Nokali been in double figures in scoring? Six.
How many times this season has Ahmed El-Nokali had consecutive double-figure scoring games? Zero.
How many minutes did Ahmed El-Nokali play against Yale last game? 36.
How many turnovers did he have? Zero.
How many times did Kyle Wente lead the team in rebounding in the first nine games of the season? Zero.
How many times has Kyle Wente led the team in rebounding in the last 17 games? 11.
How many steals and turnovers does Kyle Wente have? 32 steals, 28 turnovers this season (with 63 assists, by the way). For his career he has 64 steals and 61 turnovers.
How many points and rebounds per game has Kyle Wente averaged against Yale this season? 11.5 points and 6.0 rebounds.
How many times this season has Ray Robins scored five or fewer or 14 or more points in a game? 21 times in 26 games.
How many times this season has Ray Robins scored two or fewer or 16 or more points in a game? 16 times in 26 games.
What is Ed Persia's shooting percentage in two games against Yale? 57.1%.
How many points per game has Ed Persia averaged in the last seven games and how many did he average for the 19 before that? 8.9 per game for the last six, 4.2 prior to that.
How many of Princeton's nine losses have come to teams in the Top 25? Three. Princeton has lost to No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Maryland and No. 25 California. In addition, St. Joe's was ranked ninth when Princeton lost to them.
Princeton has already clinched a tie for the Ivy League title. How many championships has Princeton won in the last 14 years? Nine.
How many straight years has Princeton played in the postseason? Six.