Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
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California Defeats Men's Basketball, 81-60 (Video Included)
November 30, 2009 | Men's Basketball
BERKELEY, Calif. - A deficit on the glass hurt the Princeton men's basketball team from the start Sunday afternoon at California as the Golden Bears led end-to-end in an 81-60 win.
California (4-2) was selected first in the Pac-10 preseason poll and entered the week with a No. 23 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll while receiving the fourth-most votes outside the top 25 in the Associated Press poll.
Three Tigers reached double figures, including 14 points from Patrick Saunders, who became the first Princeton player to lead the team in back-to-back games after 12 points at George Washington Tuesday night. Joining Saunders were freshman Ian Hummer, with a career-best 13 points, and 12 from Douglas Davis.
Princeton (2-3) was without an individual offensive rebound until four minutes remained in the contest when Brendan Connolly, who saw his first eight minutes of collegiate action, pulled down a board off a Nick Lake rebound and put-back attempt.
In their first three games of the season, the Tigers won the rebounding battle. This week, however, Princeton was outboarded by 17 apiece at George Washington and at Cal.
Cal started the game on a 20-5 run and paced the contest from there, building a first-half lead as large as 17 on a bucket by Jerome Randle at 27-10 with 8:30 before the break. Randle, a preseason Wooden Award candidate, co-led the Bears with 22 points while Jamal Boykin also chipped in 22.
Video: Sydney Johnson, Ian Hummer and Patrick Saunders talk postgame.
Princeton fought back, getting as close as 12 in the first half's closing minutes, but the Tigers were never within single digits the rest of the afternoon. After the break, Cal reached its largest lead of 21 points on several occasions, including the final margin.
The Tigers relied on the three-point shot much less than in its previous two games, when Princeton attempted 57 threes combined, making 13, between the Army and George Washington contests. Against Cal, Princeton went 7 for 15 from beyond the arc, a number of attempts much closer to the 14 and 13 the Tigers hoisted in wins over Central Michigan and Manhattan, respectively.
Princeton will return to New Jersey for a Thursday night game at Rutgers before hosting Lafayette next Sunday evening.