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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell
Tigers Grind Out 59-46 Win over Cornell, Improve to 10-1 in Ivy League
February 28, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2004
Box Score
One night after seemingly not missing for minutes and nearly setting a team record for field-goal percentage in a win over Columbia, the Princeton men's basketball team proved there's more than one way to win an important game convincingly.
Five Princeton players scored in double figures, led by 12 points from Andre Logan and Scott Greenman, and Logan added a career-high 14 rebounds as the Tigers improved to 10-1 in the Ivy League with a hard-fought 59-46 victory over Cornell before 4,925 at Jadwin Gym Saturday night.
Princeton (17-7, 10-1), which stayed one-and-a-half games ahead of Brown and two games ahead of Penn in the Ivy League race, led 27-18 at halftime but used a 9-0 run early in the second half to take a 36-20 lead on a Judson Wallace free throw with 17:10 left. Cornell (11-14, 6-6) would cut the Tiger lead to 42-33 on an Eric Taylor dunk with 11:37 left, but the Tigers then scored eight straight points after to that to take an insurmountable 50-33 lead on a Luke Owings jumper with 6:28 left. "Our defense has been a constant all year long and you saw it again tonight when we didn't shoot as well as yesterday," said head coach John Thompson. "I was very happy with the balance we showed both offensively and defensively tonight."
In addition to Logan and Greenman, Wallace, Owings and Will Venable all scored 11 points as the Tigers won by 13 despite shooting just 39% from the field and 3 for 17 from three-point range. Princeton held the Big Red to just 32% shooting overall and Cornell's 46 points were a season low.
"I think we need people to step up and score some with Eddie (Persia) out and I've been able to do that the last couple games," said Owings. "All of us on the bench have to be ready to play well."
Ka'Ron Barnes led Cornell with 14 points but shot just 4 for 12 from the field. The Big Red also shot just 2 for 16 from three-point range.
Princeton never trailed, leading 5-0 at the first media timeout and 13-5 eight minutes in after a Wallace free throw. Cornell would get within 19-15 with 4:45 left in the half on a Stevan Marcetic layup, but the Tigers then scored six straight to take a 10-point lead near the end of the half.
Logan's 14 rebounds were the most by a Princeton player this season and the most by a Tiger since Wallace had 14 in a win over Western Michigan in the 2002-03 season opener. Wallace added eight rebounds and Venable five as the Tigers outrebounded an Ivy League opponent by double digits (43-33) for the seventh time in 11 league games.
Princeton can win the outright Ivy League title and earn the league automatic NCAA tournament berth with wins at Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend or by winning two of its final three games. The Tigers swept the Crimson and Big Green at Jadwin Gym earlier this month.
The Tigers defeated the Big Red at Jadwin Gym for the 19th straight season, extending their longest current home winning streak against an Ivy League opponent.