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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Harvard
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Players Mentioned
Men's Basketball Stays in Ivy Race with 58-55 Win over Harvard
February 21, 2009 | Men's Basketball
PRINCETON -- Not making a field goal in the game's last six-plus minutes is usually a recipe for defeat. So is committing 11 first-half turnovers. But even with that, the Princeton men's basketball team gutted out a 58-55 win over Harvard Friday night at Jadwin Gym.
The victory, coupled with a Cornell loss to Yale, creates a crowded Ivy League leaderboard. The Big Red are in first at 7-2 with Columbia (6-3) a game back and Princeton (10-11 overall, 5-3 Ivy) 1 1/2 games back. Yale and Dartmouth (5-4) are each two games back, with Penn (4-4) 2 1/2 out. Harvard (10-13, 2-7) fell five out of first, with Brown (1-8) six out.
Though the Princeton win snaps a three-game losing streak following the team's 4-0 Ivy League start, Sydney Johnson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, is under no illusion about what lies ahead.
"It's a mark for us that we can not play our best game for 40 minutes and still come out with a win," Johnson said. "We don't expect to be able to do that for the rest of the season."
Dartmouth, Princeton's next opponent, will enter Jadwin Gym having swept the season series from Penn for the first time since 1959, the last time the Big Green went to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers defeated Dartmouth 59-54 in Princeton's Ivy opener.
Despite shooting 52.6% in the first half, Princeton was behind 28-24 at the half because of the 11 turnovers, which led to 11 Harvard points. Princeton also went to the free-throw line only once in the opening 20 minutes, a fact that would change in a big way when it mattered most.
Princeton's biggest lead came at 41-34 with 10:20 to go on a bucket by Douglas Davis, who led the Tigers with 12 points. Harvard responded with an 11-2 run to take a two-point lead with 6:30 left, just before Princeton's last field goal, a three-pointer from Davis, gave the Tigers a temporary 46-45 lead.
After going scoreless for two minutes, Princeton sealed it from the line by hitting 12 for 14 from the free-throw line and never trailing after Kareem Maddox hit a pair from the stripe to put Princeton ahead 50-49.
In a much-needed reversal from the first half, Princeton took 16 of its 17 free throws in the second frame and committed only four turnovers after halftime.
Princeton will host Dartmouth Saturday for a 6 p.m. tip. At halftime, the court will be renamed for Princeton's 29-season head coach, Pete Carril, who retired in 1996 after 514 wins, 13 Ivy League titles and 11 NCAA Tournament bids.