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Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Head to Brown Still Alive in Ivy League Race
March 02, 2006 | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2006
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As great of a story as it is that Princeton is in the Ivy League men's basketball race as the season heads into its final weekend, it would make a better story if the Tigers are still in it after the weekend.
The Tigers will need some help to make that happen, but they can begin to take care of their part of the bargain Friday when they visit Brown's Pizzitola Center for a 7 p.m. game. The game can be heard on WHWH-AM 1350 and GoPrincetonTigers.com and will be televised in Rhode Island on Cox Channel 3.
Princeton (10-14, 8-3 Ivy) played perhaps its best game of the season Saturday, routing Harvard 75-48 at Jadwin Gym, but the Tigers remain two games behind Penn in the league standings with three games left for each team. Princeton needs to get within one of the Quakers in order to have a shot at a league title when the teams meet Tuesday.
The Tigers have been hot from the field in their last four games, shooting 50% or better in each of them, including a 25-for-40 (63%) shooting performance in Saturday's win over Harvard. Princeton is averaging nearly 65 points in its last four games.
Princeton has won at Brown nine times in the last 10 seasons, with the only loss in that stretch coming in 2003. The Tigers defeated Brown 52-37 at Jadwin Gym Feb. 4, holding the Bears to just 26% shooting from the field.
FACT OF THE DAY
Shooting Stars Princeton has shot 95-for-179 (53.1%) from the field in its last four games and shot 50% or better from the field in each of those four games. Prior to their game at Cornell Feb. 17, the Tigers had shot 50% or better in a game once in their first 20 games (at Lehigh Nov. 20). EIGHT MORE THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW
Getting Offensive Princeton has averaged 64.8 points per game in regulation in its last four games. Prior to that stretch, the Tigers were averaging 48.3 points per game in regulation.
Filling It Up Princeton is shooting 40% from the three-point line and 81% from the free-throw line in Ivy League play.
Downtown Deliveries Princeton's starting five is shooting a combined 88-for-211 (42%) from three-point range during the Ivy League season.
The Iron Seven Seven players (Koncz, Owings, Savage, Greenman, Conway, Buffmire, Strittmatter) have played all but 10 minutes for Princeton in the team's last five games.
A Different Game Princeton defeated Harvard by 27 points this past Saturday. The Tigers' previous four wins prior to that came by a combined 15 points.
Great Scott Senior guard Scott Greenman is averaging nearly 17 points per game for Princeton in his last seven games. Greenman's career scoring average is 7.7 points per game.
Brown Out Princeton limited Brown to just 37 points and 26% shooting from the field in a 15-point win over the Bears at Jadwin Gym Feb. 4.
Road Warriors Princeton has won at Brown nine times in the last 10 seasons. The only loss at the Pizzitola Center in that stretch came in 2003.
THE IVY LEAGUE RACE...
The Situation Princeton (8-3) trails Penn (10-1) by two games with three games remaining for each team. The teams meet in the regular season finale March 7 at Jadwin Gym.
Clinchers A Penn win over Yale Friday would clinch at least a share of the Ivy title for the Quakers. A Penn win and a Princeton loss would clinch the outright league title for the Quakers.
All Tied Up? If Princeton and Penn tie for the league title, a one-game playoff would be played Sat., March 11, at a neutral site to determine the league's automatic NCAA berth. There have been seven previous Ivy playoffs, and Princeton has been involved in each one.
A Little History Princeton was 4-11 in its non-conference season in 1979-80, but finished 11-3 in Ivy League play to tie for the league title before falling to Penn by one point in an Ivy playoff game.
Tight Ones Five of Princeton's eight Ivy League wins have come either in overtime or by three points or less.
Top of the Charts Either Princeton or Penn (or both) will win the Ivy title and represent the Ivy League in the NCAA tournament for the 18th consecutive season (1989-present).
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.
545 & 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 546 straight 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 entered this week ranked second this season (55.6 ppg).
Among the Leaders Princeton is ranked eighth nationally in free-throw percentage (76.6%) and 33rd nationally in three-pointers per game (8.1).
Aiming High Against Cornell, Noah Savage (28) and Scott Greenman (27) became the first pair of Princeton teammates to score 27 or more points in the same game since December 1969, when John Hummer (32) and Geoff Petrie (31) did it in a win against Indiana.
The 60's Princeton has won 34 of its last 36 games when it scores 60 or more points in regulation. The Tigers are 5-1 this year, were 10-1 last year and 19-0 in 2003-04 when scoring 60 or more in regulation.
From Downtown Noah Savage, Kyle Koncz, Scott Greenman and Luke Owings have combined to make 158 of 404 three-point attempts this season (39%).
More From Downtown Scott Greenman has made 27 of his 48 (56%) three-point shots in his last 10 games. He made six of his first 35 three-pointers (17%) in his first 10 games.
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.
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 17th on the all-time list with 1,520 victories in 106 seasons of varsity basketball.
PLAYER NOTES & ANECDOTES
Point Man Scott Greenman is averaging 16.4 points per game in Princeton's last 10 games. He has three games with 22 or more points in that stretch.
Distance Learning Scott Greenman now has 137 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 75 of the last 76 games in which he has played. He missed four games this season due to a back injury.
Taking Care of It Scott Greenman has 145 assists and just 93 turnovers over the past three seasons. He has a team-high 50 assists (and just 31 turnovers) this year.
Quick Starts Noah Savage scored 11 consecutive points for Princeton in the first half at Cornell. He had six of Princeton's 12 three-pointers in the game.
Double Trouble Noah Savage has 11 double-figure scoring games this season. He had a career-high 28 points at Cornell Feb. 17.
Dialing Long Distance Noah Savage (88 career three-pointers) needs just eight three-pointers to move into the top 15 all-time in that category at Princeton.
Start Me Up Noah Savage is the only current Princeton player to started every game of his career. Savage has started all 52 career games.
On Track Luke Owings is averaging 13 points and 5.1 rebounds in his last five games. He is shooting 26 for 51 (50.9%) in that stretch.
Taking His Shot Luke Owings is a 51% shooter for his career from the field and a 42% shooter for his career from three-point range.
Bombs Away Kyle Koncz has made at least three three-point shots in nine of his last 19 games.
Seeing Crimson Kyle Koncz made 11 of 17 three-point shots and scored 43 points in Princeton's two wins against Harvard this season.
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 32 minutes per game since that day.
Doing Just Fine Justin Conway is averaging 7.6 points and a team-high 4.0 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 scored the go-ahead basket for Princeton with 33 seconds left against Dartmouth, then blocked a shot by Dartmouth's Leon Pattman on the other end.
In the Buff 2 Edwin Buffmire averaged 9.2 points in five consecutive starts beginning Dec. 28.
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.