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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Yale, Brown Next as Men's Basketball Looks to Extend Strong Ivy Start
February 11, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Princeton (9-8, 4-0 Ivy) at Yale (8-12, 3-3)
Friday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m.; Yale's Lee Amphitheater
Live Audio, Live Stats
Princeton at Brown (6-14, 0-6)
Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.; Brown's Pizzitola Center
Live Audio
Eight would be great, nine would be fine: Princeton has its first seven-game overall winning streak since 2004. That season, the Tigers ended the Ivy schedule with nine straight wins.
Gimme five: Princeton ranks fifth in Division I in scoring defense (56.8 ppg) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.283) entering the week.
Get low, get lower: Princeton's 41 points allowed to Cornell was the lowest total since Jan. 6, 2007 against Rice (28). The Tigers went lower the next night with 35 against Columbia for the lowest total allowed by Princeton in an Ivy weekend since 1984 (71 vs. Cornell and Columbia).
Ahead of the pace: With 10 games to go, Princeton already has more total wins and Ivy wins this season than last. In 2007-08, Princeton finished 6-23, 3-11 Ivy.
Big jump: Two Tigers in particular have made huge gains in scoring compared to last season. In 2007-08, Dan Mavraides had a total of 11 points and Pawel Buczak had 17. This season, Mavraides has 173 and Buczak has 138.
Lead, follow...: Princeton hasn't trailed in 86:53 game minutes since the second half of the Harvard game Jan. 31.
Mr. Jones and me: Princeton will be taking on Joe and James Jones back-to-back for the fourth time since Joe Jones took over at Columbia in 2003-04. Princeton has never been swept in back-to-back Jones meetings but have swept them only once, in 2004. James Jones' Bulldogs prevented the sweep the other two times.
Just four games: Since the Ivy League began its basketball league in 1956, Princeton has started 4-0 in league play on 17 occasions, prior to this year. On 13 occasions, the Tigers won at least a share of the Ivy title. But the last two times Princeton started 4-0, in 2003 and 2004, the streak ended there and only in '04 did Princeton win the Ivy.
Staying power: This season, 95.6% of Princeton's points have been scored by non-seniors.
So, this is home: Yale has had the fewest home games of any Ivy League team this season entering the weekend, with five. Dartmouth has had the most, with 13. By comparison, Princeton has played nine games in Jadwin Gym.
More home: Yale has won its last four at home and hasn't lost in Lee Amphitheater since Nov. 14 against Stanford.
If you like basketball...: Princeton will have five games in eight days from Feb. 13-21.
Sydney Johnson vs. Yale: Sydney Johnson carries an 8-2 record against Yale. His Tiger teams won all eight meetings as a player, but the Bulldogs won both meetings last season in his rookie campaign as head coach.
Johnson vs. Jones: Sydney Johnson is 4-2 against James Jones all-time. Johnson's teams won all four meetings his junior and senior seasons with Jones as a Yale assistant, and Jones won both meetings last season with the two as head coaches.
Sydney Johnson vs. Brown: Johnson is 6-4 against Brown, including 6-2 as a player (Brown won in Providence Johnson's freshman and sophomore seasons) and 0-2 last season as a head coach.
Johnson vs. Agel: The only two meetings between Sydney Johnson and Brown coach Jesse Agel came last season, with Agel taking both as an assistant coach to Princeton alum Craig Robinson '83.
New Haven is no haven: Yale has taken the last four meetings overall with Princeton and three of the last four in Lee Amphitheater at Payne Whitney Gym.
Problems in Providence: No current Tiger, other than those on the coaching staff, has won at Brown. The Bears have a three-game winning streak against the Tigers on their home floor.
After four is... five?: The last two times Princeton has started 4-0 in the Ivy League, in 2003 and 2004, the streak stopped there. Neither of those streaks, however, were ended by Yale or Brown. Prior to 2003, all 15 4-0 starts extended at least to a fifth win.
Growing with the Ivies: Of Patrick Saunders 65 points on the season, 25 have come during the four games of the Ivy League season.
Kareem rises to the top: Kareem Maddox's 20 points over the last two games represents his largest two-game total this season.
Far from zilch for Zach: 26 of Zach Finley's 100 points this season have come in the last three games.
Stop 'em: Princeton is the only Ivy League team allowing its opponents an average of fewer than 60 points per game, under 40% shooting from the field and under 30% from beyond the arc this season.
We'll take it: Princeton has had more steals than its opponent in each of the last four games. The team's previous long streak this season was two games.
Get that outta here: Princeton's six blocks against Columbia were its most since six at Fordham Nov. 26.