.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Host Columbia, Look for 12th Straight Win over Lions at Jadwin Gym
February 12, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
When the Princeton men's basketball team hosts Columbia Saturday night (7:35 p.m., WHWH-AM 1350, GoPrincetonTigers.com, Patriot 8), the Tigers will hope for the same kind of performance they had against the Lions last February on the same Jadwin Gym court.
In what may have been Princeton's best all-around performance of the season, the Tigers shot an impressive 72% from the field for the game (28 for 39) on the way to a 23-point win over the Lions, its biggest win of 13 Ivy League wins in 2003-04. Leading that virtuoso performance was center Judson Wallace, who had 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks.
Of course, that was last season, and this season simply hasn't been the same for the Tigers. A 20-0 run by Cornell propelled the Big Red to a 66-58 win over Princeton (10-10, 1-5) Friday night at Jadwin Gym, handing the Tigers a fourth-straight loss for the first time since 1986 and pushing the Tigers to 1-5 in league play for the first time since 1978-79.
Princeton's offensive numbers in its last three games have certainly approached those gaudy statistics from last's season's win over Columbia. The Tigers are shooting nearly 53% from the field and 46% from three-point range in their last three games. Princeton shot 56% from the field and 50% from three-point range Friday night but committed 19 turnovers, including 13 in the second half.
Columbia (12-8, 3-4), which hasn't won at Jadwin Gym since 1993, gave first-place Penn all it could handle Friday night before falling to the Quakers by a 73-66 score. The Lions have a first-team All-Ivy candidate in Matt Preston and a second-year head coach in Joe Jones who had led Columbia to nine Ivy League wins in two seasons after the Lions had gone winless in the Ivy League in 2002-03.
Princeton plays four straight road games after Saturday night before returning home for three straight games to end the regular season.