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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Towson
Players Mentioned
Men's Basketball Makes it Seven Straight, Defeats Towson 75-65
December 22, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Johnson, a 1992 alumnus of Towson Catholic High School, also earned his 50th victory as the Tigers' head coach with the win, which puts him over .500 for the first time since the third game of his tenure at Princeton back in 2007, now at 50-49.
In the last two-plus seasons at Princeton, Johnson's record is now 44-26.
Junior Patrick Saunders had a season-high 15 points and sparked the team early, scoring 11 of the Tigers' first 15 as Princeton ran out to a 17-9 lead over Towson, which dropped to 3-7 with the loss.
Saunders' total led the team as one of five players in double figures, along with Kareem Maddox (14), Douglas Davis (14), Ian Hummer (12) and Dan Mavraides (10).
Johnson appreciated that the Tigers' offense can come from multiple sources.
"It takes some time to kind of figure out who we are," Johnson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach, said. "Obviously, Doug and Dan, coming into the season, we have to know that they're going to be key parts of any kind of competitive team that we can field. But then you have to see what the contributions are form other guys. At different times, Brendan (Connolly), Mack (Darrow), Patrick, Kareem, Ian, T.J. (Bray), Jimmy (Sherburne), and quite frankly, we're trying to extend that list of names."
Princeton improved to 9-3 on the season and has won its last seven, matching the longest win streak of the Johnson tenure, occurring once in each of the last two seasons.
Princeton's 3-point shooting failed it early, as the Tigers went 2 for 10 in the first half. Even so, Princeton shot 50% in the first half, converting 14 of 22 attempts inside the arc.
All three of Princeton's 3-pointers after the break came from Davis, Princeton's leading 3-point shooter on the season, now with 34 makes on 77 tries.
It was Davis' first game with multiple 3-pointers since he made six at Monmouth three games ago. Davis made one in each of the Tigers' last two games at Tulsa and Wagner.
"I was off the first half, but I keep shooting the ball and they were able to fall," Davis said.
While Saunders scored 13 of his 15 in the first half, and Maddox 12 of his 14 before the break, the other Tigers warmed up in the second half, no one more than Mavraides, who scored all 10 of his points after the intermission.
Princeton had one double-digit lead in the first half when a Maddox bucket put the Tigers ahead 23-13, but Towson got within two points with six minutes to play and kept it close early in the second half as well.
A 10-2 run, with points coming from four Princeton players, returned the Tigers to a double-digit edge at the midway point of the second half, and Towson was never again within one possession.
"I thought we were a lot more aggressive and just kind of focused in (in the second half)," Johnson said. "It took us some time to ease into the game. We talked about how we might not be that fortunate in league play where we can ease into the game. I thought that they responded well and they protected each other defensively and I was pretty pleased with that effort."
Princeton also improved on the glass after the break, outrebounding Towson 23-8 in the second half to propel the Tigers to a 17-board margin in that category, Princeton's largest since outrebounding Brown by 19 on March 4, 2000. Hummer paced Princeton with a game-high 12 boards for the second double-double of his career after a 24-point, 14-rebound effort against Presbyterian last month.
The Tigers will have a week-long break before returning to competition next Wednesday, Dec. 29 for the first of a two-day tournament at the University of Central Florida. Princeton will meet Northeastern Wednesday at 9:30 p.m., with either Furman or host UCF to follow Thursday.