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Princeton University Athletics
Men's Hoops Eyes Ivy Opener Friday Against Harvard
January 30, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2003
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Princeton men's basketball has waited long enough to begin defense of its last two Ivy League championships. Beginning Friday with upstart Harvard, the Tigers will begin a 14-game odyssey that they hope will end with another trophy presentation and a trip to the NCAA tournament.
The Tigers carry the momentum of a pair of blowout wins, including Tuesday's 99-56 win over Ursinus in which Princeton set an Ivy League record with 20 three-pointers.
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Weekend Notes
The whammy Princeton has won 54 straight Ivy League home games against teams other than Penn.
Seventh heaven Princeton is looking for its seventh consecutive 2-0 start in Ivy League play. One of those opening-weekend sweeps came against Harvard-Dartmouth (last season).
Scoring sensation Princeton is averaging 69.1 points per game this season. The last time a Princeton team averaged more points for a full season was 1971-72 (79.7 points per game).
History lesson Prior to this season, Princeton and Penn have hosted 138 Ivy League weekends since the start of the current travel-partner format in the 1956-57 season. Princeton and Penn's combined record for those weekends:
4-0 91 times
3-1 37 times
2-2 10 times
1-3 never
0-4 never
More history Princeton and Penn are a combined 105-3 at home against the other six Ivy League schools during the last nine seasons. Still more history Princeton and Penn are a combined 375-31 at home against the other six Ivy schools since the 1968 season.
Even more history Princeton has not been swept at home in an Ivy weekend since 1966 (Cornell/Columbia).
Last history One of the other six Ivy schools has swept at Penn and Princeton three times in the 46 seasons of the current travel-partner format (Yale in 1958 and 1987; Harvard in 1985).
Sweet sixteen Before opening its Ivy League season against Harvard, Princeton will have played seven games in the previous 46 days. After that, Princeton will play seven games - one against each league opponent - in 16 days.
Getting down to business Princeton and Penn are the only Division I teams not to have played a league game (excluding independents).
Swish Princeton is 32 for 53 (60.4%) from three-point range in its last two games.
Heating up Princeton is 32 for 53 (60.4%) from three-point range in its last two home games. Princeton was 19 for 64 (29.7%) from three-point range in its first two home games.
Home sweet home Princeton is 26-0 at home against Harvard and Dartmouth in the last 13 seasons.
Stuck in the 80s Princeton's last home loss to Harvard came in 1989; Princeton's last home loss to Dartmouth came in 1987.
No place like home Princeton has defeated Harvard by two points each of the last two years in Cambridge and by 14 and 11 points each of the last two years in Princeton.
Moving up the charts Spencer Gloger has 103 career three-pointers, ninth-best all-time at Princeton. He needs 17 to tie Mike Bechtold '02 for eighth. At his current pace, Gloger would finish the season in sixth.
More charts Spencer Gloger has 561 career points, 65th all-time at Princeton. At his current pace, Gloger would finish the season tied for 39th with 801.
Two's company Should Spencer Gloger maintain his current season average of 17.3 points per game, he would finish his first two seasons with 801 points, the same number Chris Young '02 had in his two seasons at Princeton.
Double figure fun Spencer Gloger has been in double figures in scoring in every game this season. The last Princeton player to score in double figures in every game in a season was Alan Williams in the 1986-87 season.
Century city Spencer Gloger has 103 three-pointers in 41 career games. He is the second fastest Princeton
Blackjack Spencer Gloger has at least one three-pointer in 21 straight games.
Sounding like a broken record Princeton tied the NCAA Division I record for most players with at least one three-pointer in a game with nine against Ursinus. The record is shared with Dartmouth, who had nine players make a three-pointer in a 1993 game against Boston College.
More record Princeton set an Ivy League record with 20 three-pointers against Ursinus. It was the 16th-highest single-game total in NCAA history.
It's been awhile Prior to Tuesday's effort, Princeton went 963 games without scoring 99 points.
A dime's worth of dimes Sophomore Mike Stephens dished out a career-best 10 assists against Ursinus. That was the most assists for a Princeton player since Kit Mueller dished out 11 in a game against Brown in 1991.
The shot Junior Ed Persia had the highlight of the season so far for Princeton. He grabbed both an unbelievable victory and national attention by defeating Monmouth on Dec. 3 with an 85-foot bank shot at the buzzer. The play began with .7 of a second remaining on the clock and the score tied at 57-57.
Three for all Princeton has made at least one three-pointer in every game since the rule was enacted in the 1986-87 season (454 games).
On the one hand ... Princeton has the longest current streak in Division I of consecutive games without allowing at least 100 points (926 games, dating to 1968 vs. North Carolina).
... On the other hand Princeton has not reached the 100-point mark in 862 games, dating to a 108-64 win over Yale in 1971.
What's the scoop? Princeton's upcoming recruiting class was ranked in the Top 50 recently by the publication Hoop Scoop. Princeton has already had four recruits receive early admittance, including a pair of California kids, Harrison Schaen (6-9, Mater Dei HS) and Brian Elbogen (6-8, California HS). The other two players coming to Princeton next season are Max Schafer (6-1, Depaul HS, N.J.) and Luke Owings (6-5, Gonzaga HS, D.C.).
The crystal ball Princeton will make its annual trip through New York next weekend, beginning Friday at Columbia at 7 p.m. The Tigers will then head to Ithaca, N.Y. to face Cornell on Saturday at 8 p.m. Both games can be heard on WCTC AM 1450.