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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Basketball to Host Maine Wednesday Night
November 18, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Princeton (0-1, 0-0 Ivy) vs. Maine (2-0, 0-0 America East)
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 7 p.m., Jadwin Gym
Princeton Head Coach: Sydney Johnson (First season, 6-24 at Princeton/Overall)
Radio: WPRB 103.3 (John Sadak, Play-by-Play; Tom Criqui, Color)
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Lots of firsts: Four of Princeton's five starters in the season opener last Friday night vs. Central Michigan had never started a college game. The other, Jason Briggs, had only started four Ivy games in his career, all last season.
It starts at home: Princeton will have its first two games of the season at home for just the third time since 1990. The Tigers played the first two at home in 2003-04 and 2007-08.
New opponents: For the second straight game, Princeton will host a first-time opponent.
Tigers vs. New England: Now having played Maine, the only New England Division I schools Princeton has never faced are Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac. All-time against the 20 New England-based teams, Princeton has a record of 502-212. Of course, 686 out of those 714 games were against Ivy League schools.
Quite a performance: Doug Davis' 25 points against Central Michigan set a Princeton record for a freshman in his debut.
Solid from the line: Princeton's 8 for 9 performance from the line against Central Michigan was the team's highest percentage since going 19 for 19 at Harvard on Feb. 22, 2008.
The America East: The America East conference was named such in 1996. It was started in 1979 as a basketball-only conference called the ECAC North, then renamed the North Atlantic Conference in 1988 when it took on several sports. Over its lineage, the conference has had 21 different members.
Tigers in Maine: The Princeton men's basketball team has never played in the state of Maine, nor against any school from there, but it did play a game in December 1999 against Ohio U in one of Maine's Canadian neighbors, the province of Nova Scotia.
Princeton against the America East all-time: Counting only games against teams in the America East at the time of the game, regardless of the name of the league, Princeton has a 9-7 record. Those opponents include Boston University, Colgate, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Rhode Island, UMBC and Drexel. The only school to play in Jadwin while a member of the conference is New Hampshire, back in 1984 before the league took its current name.
Princeton against the current America East: Princeton has played five of the current nine America East members all-time and has won eight of the nine games. Those opponents include Boston University (2-0), Hartford (1-0), UMBC (3-0), New Hampshire (1-1) and Vermont (1-0).
Johnson vs. the America East: Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson has played against two America East teams, though it was before the league took its current name. Johnson scored two points against Boston University in a Syracuse-hosted tournament in 1993 and 16 points against UMBC less than two weeks later at a California-hosted event. Johnson has coached against only one America East team, when he helped Georgetown defeat Hartford 69-59 in the Hoyas' 2006-07 season opener.
New Jersey native: Maine assistant coach Mike Burden is a native of Bridgeton, N.J. in Cumberland County and graduated from Rowan University in 1995.
New voice: Listeners to the Princeton broadcast of the Maine game on WPRB 103.3 will hear Tom Criqui's voice filling in to provide color commentary. Criqui, a 1988 Princeton graduate and football player, is the son of longtime sports broadcaster Don Criqui and brother of a former Princeton basketball player, Galen Criqui '94.
On the road again: Princeton will have its first two road games of the season over the next week, both in New York state. The Tigers will head to Army for a 2:30 game Sunday and will visit Fordham for a Thanksgiving-eve game at 7 p.m. Nov. 26.
Categories won: Princeton outshot Central Michigan 37.3% to 33.9% from the field, but the Chippewas out-rebounded Princeton 40-34 and had two fewer turnovers, 21-19. Those differences helped Central Michigan to a 55-53 win.
Attempted comeback: Princeton was down by as many as 11 points against the Chippewas last Friday as Central Michigan held a 40-29 lead with 13:06 left in the game. The Tigers went on a 9-2 run to cut it to a manageable four-point deficit with 7:28 to play and got as close as one point on two occasions in the final minute. Three of four made free throws by the Chippewas' Robbie Harman sealed it, however, and Doug Davis' last points came with 10 seconds to play.
Rookies: Princeton started two freshmen against Central Michigan in Doug Davis and Patrick Saunders. Max Huc also got in the game off the bench, while Zane Ma and John Comfort did not see game action.
More rookies: Only one freshman (Dan Mavraides) started one game last season for Princeton. The last time two freshmen started was in the 2007 season finale, when Marcus Schroeder and Lincoln Gunn were part of Princeton's starting backcourt as rookies.
We like the three: Princeton fired and made 50% more three-pointers than its opponents last season. The Tigers hit 205 of 623 (.329) and their opponents 137 of 416 (.329). In the season opener, however, Princeton took only one more three than Central Michigan, 21-20. Both teams made seven.
Princeton in the NCAA rankings: Princeton's top ranking last season of the then-328 Division I schools was in scoring defense as the Tigers held their opponents to 64.2 points per game, ranking 67th.
Here, there, everywhere: Princeton's 14 players come from nine states. California is the most popular, with five Tigers calling the Golden State home.
We'll be home a lot: Princeton will host 14 games at Jadwin Gym this season, the most since 1987-88. That was also the last season Princeton played more regular-season games at home than on the road, as it will this season.
Rollin' down the highway: Unlike last season in which Princeton had three plane trips, the Tigers are staying local this season as all of its road games will be played in New York, Pennsylvania and New England.
They come from all over: Princeton will be bringing in opponents from other parts of the nation, beginning with Central Michigan for the opener. UNC Greensboro and South Carolina will also make trips to Jadwin Gymnasium this season.
Tiger coaching tree: Princeton boasts five alumni as head coaches of Division I men's basketball teams. The list includes John Thompson III '88 at Georgetown, Craig Robinson '83 at Oregon State, Joe Scott '87 at Denver, Chris Mooney '94 at Richmond and of course Sydney Johnson '97 at Princeton.
Presidential ball: Two Princeton basketball alumni joined in President-elect Barack Obama's Election Day basketball game, including Obama's brother-in-law, Craig Robinson '83, and Chicago investment firm manager John Rogers '80.
Milestone watch: Princeton has had 26 1,000-point scorers in its history, and two Tigers who have two seasons left are above 300. Zach Finley is the leading total scorer with 369 points, while Marcus Schroeder has 305.
On TV: Two Princeton games will be on national TV this season, against UNC Greensboro Jan. 3 and Penn Feb. 17, both on ESPNU. Princeton's game at Penn Mar. 10 can also be seen on CN8.