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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Goucher
Players Mentioned
Men's Hoops Readies for Ivy, Tops Goucher 88-35 (with video)
January 24, 2010 | Men's Basketball
In what was Princeton's game almost from the start, the Tigers rolled over Goucher, 88-35, in the annual post-finals, non-Division I game before the rigors of the Ivy League season begin.
"In terms of the effort, if we can bottle up tonight, we'll at least be in games," said Johnson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of men's basketball.
Though Goucher had the first basket and held a 4-3 lead, Princeton went on a 16-0 run and never looked back. The largest lead was the final margin of 53 points.
Video: Sydney Johnson, Will Barrett and Ian Hummer in the postgame press conference.
There were superlatives abound. Princeton's 88 points were its most since the 2003 non-Division I game against Ursinus, when the Tigers scored 99. The 53-point margin of victory was the highest since this game in 2002, when Princeton beat Western Maryland by 54.
Princeton's 20 steals were a school record, breaking the 17-takeaway standard that happened nine times, last in the same Western Maryland game.
Those numbers are impressive, and even though they don't count for an Ivy League win today, perhaps the game Princeton put together against Goucher will begin showing benefits next weekend.
"I really do think the energy and effort was there," Johnson said. "To apply that on the road against two teams that know us pretty well, that's going to be a major challenge and that's the next challenge we're looking forward to. Tonight was fine."
Princeton hits the road for its first four Ivy games, finishing off the New England portion of the circuit before entertaining any of the league's western half.
In just about every sport at any of the eight schools, the Ivy League portion of the schedule has the most weight. It's true again this season for this team, but Johnson doesn't want that reality to lead to some tight Tigers once the 14-game sprint begins.
"It's going to be great," Johnson said of the league run. "However it goes, it's going to be great to compete against Brown and Yale and the rest of the group."
Princeton opens at Brown Friday night and at Yale Saturday night.
Tiger fans couldn't have asked for much more against Goucher, as all 13 dressed players played, with 12 scoring points. Douglas Davis was the highest of four in double-figure points, with Will Barrett adding 13, Dan Mavraides pitching in 12 and Ian Hummer 10.
A particularly encouraging note was the development of two of Princeton's freshmen, Barrett and Brendan Connolly, two big bodies who had collegiate-bests in both scoring and rebounding, Barrett with 13 points and eight rebounds and Connolly with five points and four boards.
Barrett picked up his 13 by hitting on 3 of 4 three-point attempts and 5 of 7 overall from the field. Adding to his points and rebounds, Connolly nearly led the team with five assists. Top honors in that category went to Marcus Schroeder, who tallied his six helpers without a turnover.
The assist-to-turnover ratio is a statistic that has turned around as of late for Princeton, which enjoyed its largest ratio of the season against Goucher and has picked up 40 assists compared to 16 turnovers in the last two games.