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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Brown
Men's Basketball Opens Ivy League Season with Impressive 64-49 Win at Brown
January 30, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2004
Box Score
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Princeton men's basketball team spent its non-conference season developing the kind of depth that could lead to big things when the Ivy League season began. And at least for one night in Providence, that depth shone through.
Will Venable scored a season-high 18 points, shooting 8 for 9 from the field, and three other Tigers scored 10 points apiece as Princeton led from the opening tip and defeated Brown, 64-49, in the Ivy League opener for both teams at the Pizzitola Sports Center Friday night.
The Tigers (8-6, 1-0) scored on a Venable driving layup 13 seconds into the game and never trailed, taking as much as a 12-point lead midway through the first half and extending to as much as a 20-point lead late in the game after Brown (6-10, 2-1) made a brief run. Princeton shot 54% for the game and made 8 of its 17 three-point shots and held the Bears to just 37% shooting. "This was a team win," said head coach John Thompson. "That's what I'm most happy about. At this time of year, every win is a good win, but this one came because of the efforts of a bunch of different people."
In addition to his team-high 18 points, Venable guarded Brown's Patrick Powers and held Powers to just one point and 0 for 3 shooting in 34 minutes. Brown's Jason Forte did an admirable job of keeping the Bears in the game for the first 30 minutes, scoring 18 points, but the Tiger defense forced Forte into five turnovers and held him to just one assist.
"We got efforts from everyone tonight," said Venable, who also had six rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes."The scout team, the coaches, everyone did a great job in practice tonight and it transferred onto the court during the game."
Princeton led 30-21 at halftime, shooting 63% from the field in the first half, and Brown was within 35-27 early in the second half when a key stretch occurred. Brown's Mike Martin missed a three-point shot, and Princeton's Judson Wallace was called for a foul on Jaime Kilburn on the rebound attempt. Wallace was then called for a technical foul as was Brown's Forte, but Bears coach Glen Miller was also awarded a technical foul for protesting. Ed Persia calmly made two free throws for Princeton to put the Tigers ahead by double digits, and Brown never got closer than seven points again.
"It was really a situation of two teams playing hard and not much else," said Thompson. "We've been doing a good job defensively all year and I was happy with that effort the whole game."
The Tigers put the game away for good midway through the second half, fashioning a 17-4 run in a 10-minute span to turn a 39-32 advantage into an insurmountable 56-36 lead.
Stephens came off the bench to score in double figures for the second straight game, scoring 10 points, while Scott Greenman and Ed Persia also scored 10 points apiece for the Tigers. Princeton improved to 8-0 this season when shooting 50% or above from the field and held Brown to just 1 for 10 shooting from three-point range.
Kilburn scored nine of his 15 points in the first half for Brown, which fell to Princeton for the eighth time in nine seasons at the Pizzitola Center. With the win, Princeton avoided losing three straight games to an Ivy League team other than Penn for the first time in 17 seasons.
The Tigers outrebounded the Bears 32-21. Andre Logan had a game-high seven rebounds for the Tigers, while Luke Owints added six rebounds and five points off the bench, including a key second-half three-point shot.
Princeton plays at Yale Saturday night (7 p.m.).