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Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Return Home, Face Second-Place Cornell
February 10, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2005
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The Princeton men's basketball team doesn't have much time to think about its disappointing loss at first-place Penn Tuesday night, not with second-place Cornell headed to Jadwin Gym Friday night (7:30 p.m., WHWH-AM 1350, GoPrincetonTigers.com, Patriot 8-TV) looking for its first win in Princeton since 1985.
Princeton (10-9, 1-4 Ivy), 5-1 at home this season, has the first of just two February home games come just in time as the Tigers look to rebound from their first three-game losing streak in Ivy play since 1988. Cornell (9-10), at 4-2 in the Ivy League, trails Penn by a game-and-a-half heading into the weekend with a matchup against the Quakers looming Saturday night.
The Tigers have found their offensive rhythm in Ivy League play, leading the league in three-point field-goal percentage in Ivy games and shooting better than 50% in three of their last six halves in league play. Princeton made 12 of its first 15 shots and 21 of its first 32 shots at Penn Tuesday, only to go without a field goal in the final eight minutes of regulation as Penn made its comeback.
Cornell split with travel partner Columbia and lost at home to Harvard before winning three straight games, including an overtime victory over Yale at Newman Arena last Saturday.
Princeton's Judson Wallace became the program's 25th 1,000-point scorer early in the first half at Penn Tuesday. Wallace, who now has 1,015 points, led the Tigers with 21 points against the Quakers, shooting 8 for 11 from the field.
NOTE OF THE DAY
Quick Turnarounds Princeton has outscored its first five Ivy League opponents 237-207 in the first 35 minutes of games but has been outscored 60-28 in the last five minutes of regulation in those games.
EIGHT MORE THINGS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT
The Jadwin Effect Princeton has won 19 straight games against Cornell at Jadwin Gym, its longest current home streak against an Ivy League opponent.
Sweep Facts Princeton has swept its Cornell-Columbia home weekend each of the last 11 seasons, winning 19 of those 22 games by double-digit margins.
Four Factor Princeton has not lost four straight games since Jan. 31-Feb. 7, 1986, when the Tigers fell to Cornell, Columbia, Penn and Yale.
Three Factor Since Princeton's last four-game losing streak, the Tigers have just 10 three-game losing streaks in the last 19 years. Only two of those 10 streaks have come exclusively in Ivy League play.
Arc Madness The Tigers are shooting a league-best 41.3% in Ivy League games (38 for 92) after finishing eighth in the league in three-point percentage (30.9%) in the non-conference season.
More Arc Madness Princeton is averaging a league-best 7.6 three-point shots per game in Ivy play and has made at least seven three-pointers in 12 of 19 games this year.
50-50 Vision Princeton has shot 50% or better from the field in each of its last two games and five of its last 11 games after reaching the 50% mark just once in its first eight games this season.
Milestone Facts Senior center Judson Wallace became Princeton's 25th 1,000-point scorer early in the first half at Penn. Senior guard Will Venable now needs 85 points to become the 26th 1,000-point scorer in program history.
PRINCETON & CORNELL--THINGS TO KNOW
All But One Princeton has won 21 of its last 22 games against Cornell. The only loss in that stretch was a 66-49 loss at Newman Arena in Ithaca in 2001.
Wrong Rivalry? Cornell head coach Steve Donahue was an assistant at Penn for 10 years. Princeton head coach Joe Scott was an assistant for the Tigers for eight of those same seasons (1992-2000).
Margin Calls Princeton's last eight victories over Cornell at Jadwin Gym, and 16 of the last 17 Princeton wins over the Big Red at Jadwin Gym, have come by margins of at least 10 points.
Leap Year Cornell was the last team besides Princeton or Penn to earn the Ivy League's automatic NCAA tournament berth. The Big Red won the Ivy title in 1988.
About Last Year Princeton held the Big Red to just 32% shooting from the field in a 59-46 win over Cornell at Jadwin Gym last season.
TEAM NOTES & ANECDOTES
For Starters... Princeton's last 1-5 start in Ivy League play was in 1978-79. The Tigers would recover from that start to win six of their last eight games and finish 7-7 in league play.
Conference Call Princeton has finished with a .500 or above record in conference play for 51 consecutive years, a current streak more than twice as long as any other team in NCAA Division I (Syracuse has the second-longest streak).
On the Defensive Princeton entered this week leading the nation in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just 52.8 points per game.
Downtown Princeton 52% of the Tigers' field-goal attempts this season have come from three-point range. The Tigers have attempted 399 three-pointers in 19 games (21 per game).
Movin' On Up Judson Wallace needs 17 points to pass John Hummer '70 and move into 24th on Princeton's all-time scoring list.
Road Warriors Princeton will play seven of its nine February games on the road. The Tigers began the season by playing nine of their first 10 games away from Jadwin Gym.
The 500 Club Princeton has made at least one three-point shot in all 513 of its games since the rule came into effect for the 1986-87 season. The Tigers, along with Vanderbilt and UNLV, are the only schools to have made at least one three-pointer in every one of their games in that time.
Coach Speak Joe Scott returned to Princeton in April after four years as head coach at Air Force. Scott was the Mountain West Conference "Coach of the Year" last season after leading the Falcons to their first NCAA tournament in 42 years.
We're Honored Princeton has two returning first-team All-Ivy players (Judson Wallace, Will Venable) for the first time since the 1996-97 season, when Steve Goodrich and Sydney Johnson returned.
Election Year Princeton was among 46 teams receiving at least one vote in the preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll that was released in late October.
Senior Moments Princeton has five seniors this season (Berger, Logan, Stephens, Venable, Wallace), its largest senior class since the 1997-98 season.
History Lesson Princeton earned its 25th Ivy League title and 23rd NCAA tournament appearance last season, finishing 13-1 in the league to win by three games over Penn & Brown.
Just Like This Year Princeton finished third nationally in scoring defense last year, allowing opponents to score just 56.8 points per game.
On Schedule Princeton has played a team that eventually reached the Final Four in each of the last four seasons (Duke in 2001, Maryland in 2002, Texas in 2003 and Duke again in 2004).
PLAYER NOTES & ANECDOTES
Up the Charts If Judson Wallace scores his current average (14.0 ppg) in the final nine games of the regular season, he would finish 12th all-time in scoring at Princeton.
20-20 Vision Judson Wallace has scored 20 or more points in 13 of his last 24 Ivy League games dating back to February of 2003.
Line Items Judson Wallace has made 72 of his last 83 free throws (86.7%).
More Up the Charts If Will Venable scores his current average (10.5 ppg) in the final nine games, he would finish with 1,009 career points.
Another Milestone Will Venable needs 14 assists to move into the top 10 all-time in assists at Princeton. He currently ranks 12th all-time with 221 career assists.
National Pastime Will Venable was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 15th round of the 2004 MLB Entry Draft after hitting .344 in 96 at-bats for the Princeton baseball team in 2004.
Taking Care of It Scott Greenman has just 46 turnovers in 47 games the last two seasons. Greenman has 44 assists and just 20 turnovers in 19 games this year.
Deep Thoughts Scott Greenman is shooting 11 from 19 (58%) from three-point range in Ivy games. He has made at least two three-point shots in 26 of Princeton's 47 games the past two seasons.
More From Deep 243 of Scott Greenman's 337 career field-goal attempts (72%) have come from three-point range, including 101 of 129 (78%) this season.
I'm Honored, Again Noah Savage has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice this season, on Nov. 29 and again on Dec. 21.
Home Games Noah Savage is a Princeton resident who played basketball at The Hun School, just a mile or so down U.S. Route 206 from the Princeton University campus.
Not Just a Backup Mike Stephens scored 11 consecutive points for Princeton against Yale in the second half. Stephens scored 23 points in that game after entering the game with 51 points in 15 games.
Start Me Up Mike Stephens earned his second career start Feb. 4, playing 23 minutes and scoring seven points against Dartmouth.
The Minutes Andre Logan is averaging 26 minutes per game in Ivy League play after averaging 11 minutes per game in six non-league appearances.
He's A Player Andre Logan was leading Princeton in scoring when he sustained a torn ACL in Jan. 2002. He was then averaging better than 12 points per game in 2002-03 before his season ended after three games.
Logan's Run Andre Logan is in his fifth year of eligibility. He was awarded a fifth year after missing all but three games in 2002-03 due to a knee injury.
21-Point Salute Luke Owings scored 21 points in his first career start, Princeton's 61-48 season-opening win against Bucknell Nov. 11.
More Start Me Up Freshman Matt Sargeant started nine games earlier in the season and averaged better than 24 minutes per game in those starts.