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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
First Home Ivy Weekend Ahead for Men's Basketball vs. Cornell, Columbia
February 03, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Princeton (7-8, 2-0 Ivy) vs. Cornell (14-6, 4-0)
Friday, Feb. 6, 7 p.m. at Jadwin Gym
Live Audio (Free) ? Live Stats ? Live Video (TigerZone)
Princeton at Harvard (7-11, 2-2)
Saturday, Feb. 7, 6 p.m. at Jadwin Gym
Live Audio (Free) ? Live Stats ? Live Video (TigerZone)
Five straight: Princeton has its first five-game overall winning streak since 2004. That season, the Tigers ended the Ivy schedule with nine straight wins.
08-09, plus one: The Tigers now have one more win already this season than they did all of last season. Princeton is also one win from matching its Ivy League win total of 2008.
Home sweet home?: Princeton leads Cornell 34-6 in games played in Jadwin Gym since its opening in 1969, but the Big Red have won the last four. Princeton has not defeated Cornell in New Jersey since the Tigers last went to the NCAA Tournament in 2004.
Just two games: Since the Ivy League began its basketball league in 1956, Princeton has started 2-0 in league play on 33 occasions, prior to this year. Only 19 times did the 2-0 start result in an Ivy title.
More 2-0 starts: Nine times, Princeton has started the Ivy season 2-0 with wins over Dartmouth and Harvard in either order. Just twice have those wins come on the road, both with Harvard first. In 1973, Princeton ended up second in the league and in 2002, the Tigers tied for first but did not get the NCAA Tournament automatic bid.
Light it up: Princeton's 77 points were its most in regulation against a Division I team since Dec. 7, 2002, when Princeton scored 89 against Lafayette. Among Ivies, in regulation, Princeton last scored so many when it had 79 against Dartmouth on Feb. 15, 2002. Since then, the Tigers have passed 77 in the annual non-Division I game twice and against Columbia (78) in OT on Feb. 14, 2004.
Up, up, up: Sophomore guard Dan Mavraides re-set his career high scoring total three times in January alone and five times already this season. Mavraides scored 11 points all last season and his career best now stands at 22 after last Saturday's Harvard game.
Player of the Week: Dan Mavraides became the first Tiger to be named the Ivy League Player of the Week after his two-game, 35-point performance last weekend in Princeton's sweep of Dartmouth and Harvard. Douglas Davis has twice this season been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
Good help: Princeton had 18 assists at Harvard, its most since Jan. 27, 2008 against Dominican (19). Princeton's last such game against a Division I school was Nov. 14, 2007 against Iona (18), and against an Ivy, it was Feb. 25, 2006 against Harvard (21).
Crime stoppers: Princeton allowed Harvard zero steals in Saturday's game. It was the first time since Nov. 10, 2006 against Loyola-Chicago that a Princeton opponent had no steals.
Happy January: Princeton finished a perfect 5-0 in January. The undefeated month was assisted of course by the 17-day break from competition for finals, but it was the first time Princeton has had an undefeated calendar month since January 2002, also finals break-aided.
Fasten your seatbelts: Princeton's entire 14-game Ivy League schedule takes place over a 40-day span. The entire 13-game non-league schedule was played over 73 days.
Sydney Johnson vs. Cornell: Sydney Johnson was a perfect 8-0 against Cornell as a player before the Big Read won both of last season's meetings in his first season as head coach.
Johnson vs. Donahue: Between his time as an assistant at Penn and head coach at Cornell, Steve Donahue has gotten the better of Sydney Johnson's teams 8 of 11 times. Donahue's Quakers beat Princeton the first six times Johnson was a player, but the Tigers won the last three including the 1996 Ivy playoff. Donahue won the first two meetings in their concurrent tenures as head coaches.
Sydney Johnson vs. Columbia: Sydney Johnson carries a 9-1 record against Columbia. His Tiger teams won all eight meetings as a player and he split last season's games in his rookie season as head coach.
Johnson vs. Jones: Sydney Johnson and Joe Jones are 1-1 against each other after last season. Princeton did not play Hofstra while Johnson was a Tiger player and Jones a Hofstra assistant.
Keep that ball: Princeton had a season-low six turnovers against Harvard Saturday night. The last time Princeton had so few turnovers was Nov. 21, 2007 at Chaminade, with five. The last time it happened in an Ivy game was also with five at Yale on Jan. 31, 2004.
Last time vs. Cornell: The Big Red clinched a 14-0 Ivy League season with its 71-64 win over Princeton on Mar. 8, 2008. Louis Dale led Cornell with 29 points while Kareem Maddox led Princeton with 16. Princeton returns 39 of its 64 points and Cornell returns 56 of 71 with Jason Hartford's 15 as the only missing piece.
Last time against Columbia: Princeton rode 53.2% shooting to a 75-64 win over Columbia on Mar. 7, 2008 at Jadwin Gym. Columbia returns just 29 of its 64 points, with Niko Scott's 20 making up most of those that are back. Princeton returns 34 of 75 points with Kareem Maddox's 14 and Jason Briggs' 12 as most of those back.
That'll help: Princeton shot a season-best .568 from the field against Harvard. Still, the Crimson outshot the Tigers, hitting 58.5% of their field goals. The team's .471 clip from beyond the arc was its best since Dec. 14 at Manhattan (.500).