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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Tigers Head To Rutgers For Saturday Afternoon Showdown
November 30, 2007 | Men's Basketball
The Princeton men's basketball team looks for its first victory at Rutgers since 1999 Saturday afternoon when the Tigers and Scarlet Knights meet for the 114th time. Game time at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway is 2 p.m., and the game can be heard live on WPRB-FM 103.3 and at GoPrincetonTigers.com.
The Tigers (2-4) play their second straight BIG EAST conference opponent after falling to Seton Hall 65-55 at Jadwin Gym Wednesday. The Scarlet Knights (4-2) play for the first time since Sunday, when they fell to St. Peter's in the first game played at the Jersey City Armory since the 1970's.
Noah Savage and Kyle Koncz each had 15 points for Princeton against the Pirates, while Zach Finley notched his first career "double-double" in that game with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Finley is leading the Tigers in both scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) this season.
Junior forward J.R. Inman has had a strong start to the season for Rutgers, averaging nearly 17 points and 10 rebounds in his team's first six games. Inman had 11 points and 13 boards against St. Peter's last weekend.
The teams played tight games at the RAC in both 2005 and 2003. Princeton rallied to tie the game at 37 with eight minutes left on New Year's Eve 2005, but future NBA first-rounder Quincy Douby then led a 17-7 Rutgers game-ending run on the way to a 54-44 win. The Scarlet Knights defeated the Tigers 51-49 in 2003 after Andre Logan's jumper at the buzzer for Princeton fell short.
Princeton holds a 72-41 advantage in the all-time series with Rutgers. The teams have played at least once in every season but one since the end of World War II.
TODAY'S TIP-IN
Garden State Or Aloha State Princeton met Seton Hall on Wednesday and has played four games in New Jersey in its first seven games. The Tigers' other three games this season came in Hawaii at the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
LAYUPS...
On Schedule Princeton plays five of its first nine games this season against teams from the Atlantic Coast, Pacific 10, BIG EAST and Big 10 Conferences.
Trip Advisor Princeton plays six of its next seven games on the road beginning today against Rutgers. The Tigers have just one home game between Nov. 28 and Jan. 9, Dec. 16 against Manhattan.
Doubling Up Zach Finley's 14 points and 11 rebounds against Seton Hall marked Princeton's first “double-double” since Judson Wallace had 12 points and 10 rebounds at Duke on Jan. 5, 2005.
Stepping Up Zach Finley has 82 points in six games. He had 84 points in 28 games last season.
On A Hot Streak Noah Savage has made nine of 16 three-point attempts and scored 35 points in Princeton's last two games.
Showing Balance Five players have led Princeton in scoring at least once through six games this season (Finley, Gunn, Savage, Koncz, Schroeder).
Deep Thinking Princeton has made 10 or more three-pointers in a game twice this year. The Tigers' 15 “threes” against Chaminade were their most since making a school-record 20 against Ursinus in 2003.
THE MID-RANGE GAME...
Familiar Foe Princeton and Rutgers are meeting for the 114th time. The Tigers have met the Scarlet Knights more times than any other non-Ivy League opponent.
Familiar Foe 2 Princeton and Rutgers have met in the regular season in every season but one since 1945. The only season in which the teams did not play in that span was 1995-96.
Familiar Foe 3 Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson coached against Rutgers three times as an assistant coach at Georgetown from 2004-07.
583 & 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 one of its games since the rule took effect for the 1986-87 season. The Tigers have now made at least one three-pointer in 583 straight games.
The History Books Sydney Johnson is Princeton's all-time leader in steals (169) and ranks fifth all-time at Princeton in both three-pointers (162) and assists (280).
Tiger Pride Assistant coaches Brian Earl '99 and Scott Greenman '06 also played for Princeton. Earl was the 1999 Ivy League Player of the Year, while Greenman was a 2006 first-team All-Ivy selection.
FROM WAY DOWNTOWN...
Up The Charts Noah Savage is now 10th all-time at Princeton with 123 career three-pointers. Kyle Koncz is now 13th all-time with 113 three-pointers. He needs two treys to pass Luke Owings '07 into 12th place.
Remembering VBK The Tigers will wear a “VBK” patch on their uniforms in 2007-08 in honor of former Princeton coach Butch van Breda Kolff, who passed away in August. van Breda Kolff led the Tigers to the 1965 Final Four and had a 103-31 record in five seasons at Princeton.
More Deep Thoughts Princeton has made at least nine three-pointers 13 times in its last 34 games.
The Jadwin Effect Princeton has won 90 of its last 118 games at Jadwin Gym (76%), including 63 of its last 78 Ivy League home games in that time.
Us Or Them Either Princeton (nine times) or Penn (10 times) has been the Ivy League's NCAA tournament representative in each of the last 19 seasons (1989-2006).
Us Or Them 2 Princeton has won 25 Ivy League titles; Penn has won 25 Ivy championships. The other six Ivy League schools have combined to win 10 league crowns.
Shining Moments Princeton has made 23 NCAA tournament appearances. Only 22 Division I schools had made more appearances than the Tigers entering 2006-07.
Branching Out Six Princeton graduates or former Princeton assistant coaches are currently Division I head coaches. (Bill Carmody, Northwestern; Craig Robinson '83, Brown; Joe Scott '87, Denver; John Thompson '88, Georgetown; Chris Mooney '94, Richmond; Sydney Johnson '97, Princeton).
The Worldwide Leader Princeton will appear on national television on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU at least six times this season.
Princeton In The Pros Two recent Princeton graduates play in Italy's top division. Mason Rocca '00 plays for Napoli and also played for the Italian national team in the 2006 FIBA World Championships, while Judson Wallace '05 plays for Capo D'Orlando after two seasons playing in Germany.
More Princeton in the Pros Former Tiger basketball star Chris Young '02 played in the Major League All-Star game in 2007. The San Diego Padres' starting pitcher led the National League in earned run average for much of the 2007 season.
Even More Princeton in the Pros Sydney Johnson played seven seasons of professional basketball in Italy and Spain after graduating from Princeton. His teams won three league championships in those seven seasons.
PLAYER NOTES & ANECDOTES
Bombs Away Kyle Koncz has made at least three three-point shots 13 times in 32 games in the past two seasons. He had three “threes” against Chaminade last week.
The Century Mark Kyle Koncz has made 113 three-point shots in 304 attempts (37%) in 60 games the last three seasons for Princeton.
Toughing It Out Kyle Koncz did not practice after Jan. 1 last season due to a stress fracture in his foot but still played in 26 games and led the Tigers in scoring.
For Starters Noah Savage has started 65 career games, most of any player on the current Princeton roster.
Playing The Percentages Noah Savage is a 37% career shooter from three-point range and a 78% career shooter from the free-throw line.
It's About Experience Noah Savage has played in 88 of 89 games in his career at Princeton.
Stat-Sheet Stuffer Zach Finley is leading Princeton in scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) and is shooting 52% from the field.
More Stat-Sheet Stuffing Zach Finley made his first 10 shots in Princeton's season-opening win against Central Connecticut at Jadwin Gym Nov. 11.
Swatting Them Zach Finley's seven blocks against Chaminade were the most by a Princeton player since Chris Young had seven against Xavier on Dec. 27, 1999.
Gunning It Lincoln Gunn was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 12 points and three rebounds in Princeton's three games at the Maui Invitational.
Downtown Deliveries Lincoln Gunn is shooting 51% from the field this season (24 for 47).
Return To Paradise Lincoln Gunn served as a ballboy while attending the Maui Invitational several times as a child while growing up in California.
Devil Of A Game Marcus Schroeder's season-high 12 points led Princeton against Arizona State. He also had four rebounds in that game.
On Guard Matt Sargeant has made five three-point shots in 10 attempts this season and 12 of 19 shots overall (63%) in five games.
Stritt Talk 6-8 Michael Strittmatter made 22 of his 50 three-point attempts last season. He was leading the Ivy League in three-point percentage for much of the season.
History Lesson Kevin Steuerer's father Mickey was a team captain for the 1974-1975 Princeton team that won the National Invitation Tournament, the only Ivy League team to have won a postseason national tournament.
Family Affair Sophomore forward Chris Petrie is the nephew of former Tiger star Geoff Petrie '70 and the son of long-time Gettysburg College coach George Petrie.
The New Guys Princeton has three freshmen on its 2007-08 roster, 6-8 Kareem Maddox and 6-3 Dan Mavraides are California natives, while 6-4 Bobby Foley comes to Princeton from Richmond, Va.
High Riser 6-8 Kareem Maddox, who played 15 minutes in the season opener, was a McDonald's All-America nominee in 2006-07. He was named the Ventura County Player of the Year as a senior.