Men's Basketball Begins Second Half of Ivy Season at Cornell Friday

Feb. 16, 2006

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One of only two blemishes on the first half of Princeton's Ivy League season came against Cornell Jan. 14 at Jadwin Gym. The Tigers get a second chance at the Big Red Friday night when they visit Newman Arena for a 7 p.m. game that will be televised live on the YES Network.

The second half of the league season begins with the Tigers two games behind undefeated Penn in the Ivy standings. Cornell is tied with Yale just one-half game behind the Tigers at 5-3, making Friday's game even more important.

Princeton (7-13, 5-2), which earned a sweep of its first Ivy League road weekend last week at Harvard and Dartmouth, is looking to end a three-game losing streak against the Big Red (10-12, 5-3). Cornell took a 31-16 halftime lead at Jadwin Gym on Jan. 14 and held on for a 57-49 victory.

Friday night's game against the Big Red is Princeton's fourth straight road game, and that stretch ends with a fifth straight away game Saturday night at Columbia. Princeton opened its Ivy season with four straight home games.

Junior forward Luke Owings has led the Tigers in scoring in each of the past two games, scoring 18 points in a 60-41 loss at Penn Wednesday and 16 points in his team's win at Dartmouth last Saturday. Owings is shooting 43% from three-point range for the season.

FACT OF THE DAY

Numbers Game In Princeton's seven wins this season, the Tigers have shot a combined 45.3% (134 for 296) from the field. In Princeton's 13 losses this season, the Tigers have shot a combined 34.1% (184 for 539) from the field. EIGHT MORE THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW

Numbers Game 2 Princeton made nearly 45% of its shots from the field and 42% of its shots from three-point range during its four-game winning streak but shot 31% in Tuesday's loss at Penn.

Numbers Game 3 Princeton had made an average of 8.5 three-pointers per game in its previous nine games but had only four three-pointers at Penn Tuesday.

Turnaround Princeton finished 5-2 in its first swing through the Ivy League schedule this season after finishing 2-5 in its first swing through the league last season.

Another Turnaround Princeton swept its first Ivy road weekend by winning at Harvard and Dartmouth last week. The Tigers had just one road win this season prior to last weekend.

The Downtown Train Princeton has attempted 449 three-point shots and 386 two-point shots this season. The Tigers have made nearly as many three-pointers (158) as two-point shots (160).

More From Downtown Princeton has scored nearly 50% of its points this season via the three-point shot (474 of 962).

On the Road Again Friday night's game against Cornell is Princeton's fourth straight road game. The Tigers opened the league season with four home games.

The 50's Princeton is 7-0 this season when scoring 51 points or more and 0-13 when scoring 50 points or less.

MORE THINGS TO KNOW

Justin Time 6-4 junior Justin Conway has started each of Princeton's last six games at center. Conway is the second shortest player in Princeton's starting five.

Iron Seven Seven players (Savage, Greenman, Owings, Koncz, Conway, Buffmire, Strittmatter) have played 95% of Princeton's minutes in the team's last six games.

For Starters 11 Princeton players have started at least three games this season. Only one player (Noah Savage) has started all 20 games.

Accepting Charity The Tigers are shooting 84% from the free-throw line (57 for 68) in their last five games. Princeton is the Ivy League's leading free-throw shooting team (78%) in league games.

Turnarounds Princeton finished 4-11 in non-conference games in 1979-80, but finished 11-3 in Ivy League play to tie for the league title before losing to Penn by one point in an Ivy playoff game.

TEAM NOTES & ANECDOTES

Injury Report Geoff Kestler has bursitis in his right hip and is currently out of the lineup. Alex Okafor has been limited by a tendon injury in his right hand suffered in practice in mid-December.

542 & Counting Princeton is one of only three Division I teams (Vanderbilt and UNLV are the others) to have 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 542 straight games.

The 60's Princeton has won 32 of its last 33 games when it scores 60 or more points in regulation. The Tigers are 3-0 this year, were 10-1 last year and 19-0 in 2003-04 when scoring 60 or more points.

Double Digits Princeton made 11 three-pointers against Harvard. It was the seventh time in 20 games this season the Tigers have made at least 10 three-pointers in a game.

Knockin' Em Down Noah Savage had six three-pointers against Brown, and Kyle Koncz had six the next weekend at Harvard. Prior to that, the last Princeton player to have six "threes" in a game was Mike Bechtold against Louisville in the 2002 NIT.

Deep Thoughts Noah Savage, Kyle Koncz and Luke Owings have combined to make 105 of 276 three-point attempts this season (38%).

More Deep Thoughts Scott Greenman has made 15 of his 30 (50%) three-point shots in his last six games. He made six of his first 35 three-pointers (17%) in his first 10 games.

Shutdown Mode Princeton led the nation in scoring defense in 2004-05, allowing opponents to score just 54.3 points per game. The Tigers are second in that category this season (54.7 ppg).

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 from 1992-2000.

More Coach Speak Joe Scott was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 (at Air Force) and finished fourth in the balloting for Associated Press National Coach of the Year.

Ivy Talk Princeton has won 25 Ivy League championships; Penn has won 23 league crowns. The other six league schools have combined to win nine league championships.

More Ivy Talk Either Princeton (1989-92, 96-98, 01, 04) or Penn (1993-95, 99-00, 02-03, 05) has represented the Ivy League in the NCAA tournament in each of the last 17 seasons.

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 1,517 victories in 106 seasons of varsity basketball.

PLAYER NOTES & ANECDOTES

Distance Learning Scott Greenman now has 125 career three-pointers, ninth all-time at Princeton. C.J. Chapman '01 is next on the Princeton list with 139 three-pointers.

Experience Scott Greenman has started 71 of the last 72 games in which he has played. He missed four games this season due to a back injury.

Taking Care of It Scott Greenman has 132 assists and 87 turnovers over the past three seasons. He has a team-high 37 assists (and just 25 turnovers) this year.

Double Trouble Noah Savage has 10 double-figure scoring games this season. Savage is the only Princeton player averaging in double figures (10.2 ppg).

Big Shot Noah Savage's baseline jumper with 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock gave Princeton a 60-59 win at Harvard last Friday.

Start Me Up Noah Savage is the only current Princeton player to started every game of his career. Savage has started all 48 career games.

On Track Luke Owings led Princeton in scoring against both Dartmouth and Penn. Those games were his first back-to-back double-figure scoring games this season.

Taking His Shot Luke Owings is a 50% shooter for his career from the field and a 43% shooter for his career from three-point range.

Bombs Away Kyle Koncz has made at least three three-point shots in eight of his last 15 games.

Career Night Kyle Koncz had six three-pointers and a career-high 20 points in Princeton's win at Harvard last Friday.

The New Guy Justin Conway had played one career minute, and none this season, before starting at Davidson Jan. 29. He has averaged more than 30 minutes per game since that day.

Doing Just Fine Justin Conway is averaging 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game since entering the starting lineup Jan. 29 at Davidson.

I'm Honored Justin Conway won the team's Friedman Memorial Award last season, given to the member of the team "who does his very best every day in every way."

Stritt Talk Michael Strittmatter made three-point shots on consecutive possessions for Princeton against Yale Feb. 3, turning a 40-37 deficit into a 43-40 lead midway through the second half.

In the Buff Edwin Buffmire had a career-best three blocked shots in Princeton's win against Yale. Buffmire also had eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Point Man Edwin Buffmire averaged 9.2 points per game in five consecutive starts beginning Dec. 28.

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.

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.

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