.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Davidson
Davidson Pulls Away in Second Half, Defeats Princeton 65-50
January 29, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2006
Box Score
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson went on two key second-half scoring runs, the first a 9-2 spurt early in the half and the second a backbreaking 11-0 run midway through the half, on the way to a 65-50 win over Princeton in a men's basketball game played before 3,517 at Belk Arena Sunday night.
The Wildcats (13-7), who won their 19th straight home game and improved to 11-0 at home this year, led just 39-32 two minutes into the half before making their first run, getting four inside points from Ian Johnson and a key three-pointer from Kenny Grant. Davidson then put the game away by scoring 11 straight points after the Tigers (3-12) had again cut their deficit to single digits, with Boris Meno's layup in the lane with 7:03 left giving the Wildcats a 59-39 lead.
Princeton, which was led by Kyle Koncz's 12 points and 11 points from Scott Greenman, would not get closer than 15 points the rest of the game.
"At 39-32, we got two open shots on consecutive possessions that went almost all the way down but didn't go in," said Princeton head coach Joe Scott. "They made their shots in the key spots and we were unable to do that."
The first of those shots came from junior Justin Conway, who started his first career game, as a 6-4 center, and had seven points and three assists in 33 minutes. The second came from Greenman, who made three of his five three-point attempts on the night, but it went in and out and Davidson then started its first run. The Wildcats made eight of their 20 three-point attempts and had 17 assists on their 22 baskets for the game.
"I thought our team, particularly our bench, did a great job of controlling the tempo," said Davidson coach Bob McKillop. "Princeton is a difficult team to play against, but we were able to get the game going our way tempo wise when we needed to."
Davidson's 65 points were a season high for a Princeton opponent. Johnson had 15 points, while Meno came off the bench to score 13 points against a smaller Princeton frontcourt and Jason Morton scored 12 points in place of leading scorer Brendan Winters, who missed the game due to the stomach flu.
"They are very good at playing the up-tempo style that they play," said Scott. "We were not able to get the game going the way we wanted it to for more than a few minutes here or there."
Princeton shot 11 for 19 from the field in the first half, scoring the game's first two baskets to take a 6-0 lead in the early minutes, but the Wildcats went ahead for good with nine minutes left in the half when Jason Richards hit the first of his two three-pointers to make it 17-14. The Wildcats would lead by as many as 11 points late in the first half before settling for a 37-28 halftime lead.
Princeton had assists on 14 of its 19 baskets, the most field goals for the Tigers since making 20 against Wyoming Dec. 10.
Notes: * Harrison Schaen did not make the trip for Princeton to North Carolina due to effects of a stomach flu.
* Princeton changed its starting lineup after a four-game stretch, with Conway earning his first career start and Luke Owings returning to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 6. Owings had five poitns but played just 21 minutes due to first-half foul trouble.
* The Tigers host Yale and Brown next weekend at Jadwin Gym. Princeton plays its final 12 games against Ivy League competition.