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Princeton University Athletics
Tigers, Penn Meet in Men's Basketball Season Finale Tuesday Night
March 06, 2006 | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2006
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Sure, it's been a few years since the now traditional season-ending game between Princeton & Penn in men's basketball has had any kind of an impact in the league standings. But one of the best rivalries in college sports never takes a game off.
When the teams meet for the 214th time Tuesday night at Jadwin Gym (9 p.m., ESPNU), it will once again be a meeting between the top two teams in the Ivy League. For the 11th time in the past 15 seasons, the two teams will finish 1-2 (or tied) atop the league standings.
Princeton (11-15, 9-4 Ivy) has spent the Ivy League season proving that isn't the team that began the season with just two wins in its first 12 games. The Tigers will have one more chance to prove that Tuesday against the Quakers (20-7, 12-1 Ivy), who have won three straight and eight of their last nine against Princeton.
The Tigers clinched second place in the league standings with a 56-45 win at Yale Saturday. Scott Greenman, who will be recognized prior to the game as Princeton's only senior, scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half as the Tigers pulled away late.
Penn clinched the outright Ivy title and an NCAA berth when it defeated Yale Friday and the Tigers lost at Brown. The Quakers were then taken to overtime by Brown Saturday night before pulling out a 74-68 victory.
Both teams have depended heavily on seven-man rotations for much of the Ivy season, and those rotations have been cut even shorter due to recent injuries and illnesses. Princeton junior Edwin Buffmire won't play Tuesday due to mononucleosis, while Penn's Friedrich Ebede didn't play last weekend after sustaining an injury against Harvard Feb. 24. Penn leads the all-time series 117-96. The teams first met in 1903 and have played at least once every season since that year.
FACT OF THE DAY
The Final Countdown Tonight's game marks the fourth season in a row, and the eighth time in 12 seasons, that the Ivy League's NCAA berth has already been clinched prior to the regular-season finale between Princeton and Penn.
EIGHT MORE THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW
In a Related Story... Either Princeton or Penn has now earned the Ivy League's automatic NCAA berth in each of the last 18 seasons. Each team has made nine of those 18 appearances in that time.
Winning Numbers Princeton clinched second place in the Ivy standings with its win at Yale Saturday. The Tigers now have at least nine Ivy League wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons.
In Another Related Story... Princeton and Penn have finished 1-2 (or tied for first) in the Ivy League standings 11 times in the past 15 seasons.
Senior Day Scott Greenman, Princeton's only senior, will be recognized prior to tonight's game. Greenman is a three-year starter who currently ranks eighth all-time at Princeton with 139 three-point shots.
Turnarounds Princeton began the season with two wins in its first 12 games but has now won eight of its last 11 games.
The Flip Side Princeton's starting center, Justin Conway, is 6-4. The tallest player in the starting lineup is 6-7 Kyle Koncz, who has taken 125 of his 151 shots (83%) this season from three-point range.
Headed Downtown 52% of Princeton's shots this season have come from three-point range. 45% of the Tigers' points this season have come from beyond the arc.
The Iron Seven Seven players (Koncz, Owings, Conway, Savage, Greenman, Buffmire, Strittmatter) have played all but 31 minutes for Princeton in the team's last seven games.
MORE ABOUT PRINCETON & PENN...
The End Game Princeton and Penn have met in the final regular-season game of the college basketball season in each of the last 12 years.
History Lesson Princeton and Penn first met in men's basketball in 1903 and have met at least once every year since that season.
More History Princeton has won 25 Ivy League titles. Penn's 2006 title gives the Quakers 24 Ivy crowns. The remaining six schools have combined to win nine Ivy championships.
Swept Up in It Either Princeton or Penn has swept the season series between the two teams in 13 of the past 15 years. Only 1998-99 and 2003-04 were splits in that time.
When We Last Met Penn defeated Princeton 60-41 in the first meeting between the teams this season Feb. 14. The win was the third straight for the Quakers over the Tigers and their eighth in the last nine meetings.
Let's Turn it Around Penn has defeated Princeton four seasons in a row at Jadwin Gym.
TEAM NOTES & ANECDOTES
Injury Report Edwin Buffmire was diagnosed with mononucleosis last Friday and is doubtful for Tuesday night's game against Penn. Geoff Kestler has bursitis in his right hip and is currently out of the lineup.
548 & 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 548 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 were ranked second this season (55.4 ppg) as of last week.
Among the Leaders Princeton was ranked eighth nationally in free-throw percentage (76.6%) and 33rd nationally in three-pointers per game (8.1) as of last week.
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.
Aiming High Against Cornell Feb. 17, 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.
From Downtown Princeton's starting lineup features four players who are shooting at least 37% from three-point range. That group has combined to make 163 of 427 (38.2%) three-point shots.
More From Downtown Scott Greenman has made 29 of his 54 (54%) three-point shots in his last 12 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.
Even More Coach Speak Joe Scott played point guard for the Tigers from 1983-87 and still ranks tied for fifth all-time at Princeton with 144 steals.
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 1,521 victories in 106 seasons of varsity basketball.
PLAYER NOTES & ANECDOTES
Point Man Scott Greenman is averaging 15.8 points per game in Princeton's last 12 games. He entered that stretch averaging 7.4 points per game for his career.
Distance Learning Scott Greenman now has 139 career three-pointers, tied for eighth all-time at Princeton with C.J. Chapman '01. Current Richmond coach Chris Mooney '94 is next on the list with 142 career three-pointers.
Experience Scott Greenman has started 77 of the last 78 games in which he has played. He missed four games this season due to a back injury.
Taking Care of It Scott Greenman has 152 assists and just 96 turnovers over the past three seasons. He has a team-high 57 assists (and just 34 turnovers) this year.
Double Trouble Noah Savage has 12 double-figure scoring games this season, including a career-best 28-point performance at Cornell.
Dialing Long Distance Noah Savage needs just eight three-pointers to move into the top 15 all-time in that category at Princeton.
Quick Starts Noah Savage played prep basketball at The Hun School, about a mile down Route 206 from the Princeton campus.
Start Me Up Noah Savage is the only current Princeton player to started every game of his career. Savage has started all 54 career games.
On Track Luke Owings is averaging 11 points and 5.1 rebounds in his last seven games. He is shooting 28 for 54 (51.9%) in that stretch.
Taking His Shot Luke Owings is a 51% shooter for his career from the field and a 41% 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 21 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 33 minutes per game since that day.
Doing Just Fine Justin Conway is averaging 7.8 points and a team-high 4.5 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.