Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Evansville
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Evansville Defeats Men's Basketball, 53-32
December 05, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Jason Holsinger hit a pair of three-pointers in a 17-0 Evansville run in the first half to help the Purple Aces defeat Princeton, 53-32, in a men's basketball game played at Roberts Stadium Wednesday night.
Princeton (2-6) finished just 6 for 21 from the field and 0 for 5 from three-point range in the first half and went without a basket for a seven-minute period midway through the half. The Tigers, who entered the game averaging better than eight three-pointers per game, shot just 3-for-12 from behind the arc Wednesday.
In the meantime, Evansville (2-4), which trailed 6-5 seven minutes into the game, scored 17 straight, finished off by a Shy Ely basket inside with 7:05 left that made it 22-6, before Princeton's Noah Savage finally broke the run with a driving layup. The Tigers trailed 29-12 at halftime.
"I thought Coach Simmons' team played very hard defensively and made it extremely difficult for us throughout the game," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson. "The 17-0 run is a killer. You never think you're out of the game, but you really have to play perfect basketball to come back and we couldn't do that."
The Tigers, one of three teams in Division I to have made a three-point shot in every one of its games since the rule went into effect in 1986, didn't make a three-point shot until Savage's long trey from the left wing with 16 minutes left in the second half.
"We didn't make enough perimeter shots early to make them change things up defensively," said Johnson.
Zach Finley, Princeton's leading scorer, played only seven first-half minutes due to foul trouble. He finished with four points. Savage led the Tigers with 12 points. The Tigers shot just 13 for 39 (33%) from the field for the game.
The Purple Aces shot 57% in the first half (12 for 21) and outrebounded Princeton 19-7 in the first 20 minutes. Ely led Evansville, which shot 51% for the game overall (22 for 43) and 5-for-8 from three-point range, with 12 points.
"Playing Samford earlier in the season helped us some tonight, but we did a better job of not giving up three-point shots in this game," said Evansville coach Marty Simmons. "I credit our scout team for doing as good a job as possible to show us what Princeton does on offense."
Princeton and Evansville were playing for the first time. The Tigers were facing a Missouri Valley Conference opponent for the first time since 1976.
Princeton plays at Penn State next Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live by ESPNU.