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Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Visit Rice in Final Tuneup for Start of Ivy Play
January 03, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2006
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The Princeton men's basketball team will be the second Ivy League team to visit Rice's Autry Court in a 72-hour span. The Tigers hope to have the same kind of success Thursday as the first Ivy visitor of the week had on Monday.
The Tigers' first-ever visit to Rice, just a few days after Yale's win over the Owls, will conclude a stretch that has seen Princeton play four road games in a five-game span. Game time is 8:05 Eastern, and the game can be heard on WHWH-AM 1350 and at GoPrincetonTigers.com.
Thursday's game also marks Princeton's final non-league game before the beginning of Ivy play. Princeton does have another non-conference game after Thursday, but that comes at the end of intersession against Davidson Jan. 29. The Tigers open Ivy play Jan. 13 at home against Columbia.
Princeton and Rice are playing for just the second time, with the first a 59-54 Tiger win in 1996 at Marquette's First Bank Classic. The Tigers are also making just their second visit to Houston; the 1983-84 team, which featured current Princeton coaches Joe Scott and Howard Levy, played Akeem Olajuwon and the famous "Phi Slama Jama" Houston Cougars in 1983.
The Tigers are looking for their first win since defeating Wyoming Dec. 10. Princeton had an upset chance at Rutgers Dec. 31, tying the game at 42-42 with five minutes left, but the Scarlet Knights outscored the Tigers 12-2 the rest of the way. Princeton got senior guard Scott Greenman back for the Rutgers game, and he played all but one minute against the Scarlet Knights. Greenman had started 61 straight games before missing time due to a back injury in December.
Rice, which joined Conference USA this season after nine seasons in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), fell to 5-7 with the Monday loss to Yale.
FACT OF THE DAY
For Starters... Freshman Michael Strittmatter became the 10th Princeton player to start a game this season when he started at Rutgers Saturday. Of those 10 players, seven had never started a game prior to this season.
EIGHT MORE THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW
Back at It Scott Greenman started his first game since Dec. 6 this past Saturday at Rutgers. Greenman had started 61 straight games over three seasons before sustaining a back injury Dec. 3 at Colgate and missing Princeton's games against Wake Forest, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon.
For Starters II... Princeton used its fifth different starting lineup in 11 games Saturday against Rutgers. The Tigers have had a different starting lineup in each of their last three games.
Minutes Men All 12 active Princeton players are averaging at least 12 minutes per game, and only one player (Noah Savage) is averaging more than 30 minutes per game.
Arc Madness Princeton has attempted 246 three-point shots and 210 two-point shots this season. The Tigers have made 86 three-point shots and 81 two-point shots.
More Arc Madness Princeton has made at least eight three-pointers in a game seven times this season and 10 or more "threes" in a game four times in 11 games.
Houston, Hello Princeton's only other trip to Houston came in 1983, when the Tigers lost to a Houston team led by Akeem Olajuwon that would eventually reach the national title game.
Numbers Game... Princeton has not lost six straight games since the 1979-80 season.
...To a Playoff Game Princeton began the season 2-11 in 1979-80, but then won 13 of its final 16 regular-season games and tied for the Ivy League title before losing to Penn 50-49 in an Ivy playoff game.
MORE THINGS TO KNOW
Conference Call Princeton begins Ivy League play next Friday against Columbia. The Tigers do have one more non-conference game after today, a visit to Davidson Jan. 29 at the end of intersession.
The Last Time Princeton and Rice met in the 1996 First Bank Classic in Milwaukee. The Tigers won 59-54, then beat host Marquette in the championship game the next night.
All-Around Player Noah Savage is Princeton's leading scorer (11.6 ppg) and rebounder (3.5 rpg) and also leads the team in three-pointers (28), free throws (20) and assists (14).
On Schedule Princeton played a WAC team in both 2004-05 (a loss at UTEP) and 2003-04 (a win at Fresno State). Rice played in the WAC from 1996-2005 before switching to Conference USA this season.
Leaving on a Jet Plane Princeton has flown at least 450 miles to three of its last five games. The Tigers do not fly to any conference games.
TEAM NOTES & ANECDOTES
Injury Report Matt Sargeant has missed six games due to a groin strain suffered in November. Alex Okafor injured a tendon in his right hand in practice Dec. 16 but has played in the last four games. Edwin Buffmire aggravated a chronic shoulder injury against Rutgers but returned to the game.
Roster Report Junior guard Max Schafer left the team for personal reasons in early December. Freshman center Noah Levine left the team in late December.
533 & Counting Princeton is one of only three Division I teams (Vanderbilt and UNLV are the others) that has made at least one three-point shot in every game since the rule took effect in 1986-87. The Tigers have now made at least one three-pointer in 533 straight games.
Possession Game Princeton and its opponents average a combined 81 field-goal attempts per game. Rice and its opponents average a combined 124 field-goal attempts per game.
The 60's Princeton has won 30 of its last 31 games when it scores 60 or more points in regulation. The Tigers were 10-1 last year and 19-0 in 2003-04 when scoring 60 or more points.
Start Me Up Noah Savage is the only Princeton player to have started every game this season. Eight players have started at least three games for the Tigers.
Ivy Talk Princeton (83 points) was chosen third in the Ivy League's Preseason Media Poll behind Penn (128) and Harvard (96). Ivy play begins Saturday when Harvard meets Dartmouth.
Shutdown Mode Princeton led the nation in scoring defense in 2004-05, allowing opponents to score just 54.3 points per game.
Non-Conference Call Princeton finished 9-5 in non-conference play a year ago. Seven of those 14 games came against teams that reached postseason play.
Coach Speak Joe Scott is in his second season as Princeton's head coach and his 10th season overall as a Princeton coach. He was an assistant for eight seasons at Princeton before spending four years at Air Force.
More Coach Speak Joe Scott was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 and finished fourth in the balloting for Associated Press National Coach of the Year.
More Ivy Talk Princeton has won or shared 25 Ivy League titles since official league play began in 1955-56, while Penn has won or shared 23. The other six schools have a combined total of nine titles.
Paradise Found Princeton is scheduled to play in the Maui Invitational in November 2007 along with Duke, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, LSU, Marquette and host Chaminade.
Winning Numbers Princeton became the 14th Division I team to record 1,500 all-time victories early last season. The Tigers currently rank 16th on the all-time list with 1,512 victories in 106 seasons of varsity basketball.
PLAYER NOTES & ANECDOTES
Bombs Away Noah Savage made five consecutive three-point shots against Rutgers, including four straight in the second half.
Leader of the Pack Noah Savage has led Princeton in scoring in six of the team's 11 games. He averaged 16.8 points per game in the team's first five games.
In the Neighborhood Noah Savage is a Princeton resident and attended The Hun School, about a mile down U.S. Route 206 from the Princeton campus.
Filling It Up Scott Greenman needs one three-pointer to pass Spencer Gloger and move into 10th place all-time at Princeton in that category.
Experience Scott Greenman has started 62 of Princeton's last 67 games. He started every game in 2003-04 and 2004-05 for the Tigers.
Long-Range Predictions 298 of Scott Greenman's 441 career field-goal attempts (68%) have come from three-point range.
Stepping Out 62 of Kyle Koncz's 73 career field goal attempts have come from three-point range, including 57 of 68 field-goal attempts this season (84%).
Doubling Up Kyle Koncz has 58 points in his last six games (9.6 ppg). Koncz entered the Wyoming game on Dec. 10 with 19 career points in 11 career appearances.
Taking His Shots Luke Owings is a 51% career shooter from the field overall and a 44% career shooter from beyond the three-point arc.
Head of the Class Luke Owings was the valedictorian of his high school class at Gonzaga College Prep in Washington, D.C.
In the Buff Edwin Buffmire scored a career-high 11 points against Carnegie Mellon in his first career start last Wednesday. Buffmire also played a career-high 34 minutes in that game.
Stritt Talk Michael Strittmatter had four assists against Rutgers Saturday. Three came on backdoor passes and another came on a fast-break opportunity.
New Kid on the Block Sophomore Kevin Steuerer averaged 32 minutes per game in a six-game stretch from Dec. 6 through Dec. 28. Steuerer had played three career minutes prior to that.
History Lesson Kevin Steuerer's father Mickey was a team captain for the 1975 Princeton team that won the NIT, the only Ivy League team to have won a postseason national tournament.
Sure as Schaen Harrison Schaen's 10 points against Wake Forest tied a career high, previously set against Southern Vermont in Jan. 2004.
Quick Starts Geoff Kestler started each of Princeton's first nine games. Kestler had a season-high eight points against Colgate Dec. 3 and played 18 minutes off the bench at Rutgers.
Not Standing Pat Patrick Ekeruo played all 40 minutes against Temple and had a career-best seven rebounds. Ekeruo had a career-high five assists against Stanford Dec. 21.
Alexander Was Great Alex Okafor was an All-Bay Area selection by the San Francisco Chronicle in both his senior and junior years of high school. Okafor has averaged 12 minutes in 11 games this year and is averaging two rebounds per game.