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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Columbia
Players Mentioned
Men's Basketball Makes History in 76-46 Win at Columbia
February 12, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Princeton's 76-46 victory was the largest ever at Columbia in a series that dates back to 1901.
The Tigers never trailed while performing at both ends of the floor, shooting 56.9% (29 of 51) for the game after a 60.7% (17 of 28) first half. Princeton, at 18-4 overall, is 6-0 in the Ivy League for the first time since 1999.
That was the best shooting night for the Tigers since a 61.2% effort at Lafayette on Nov. 30. But Princeton also brought the defense, limiting Columbia (12-9, 3-4 Ivy) to just four baskets in the second half on a night the Lions shot 27.6% (16 of 58) from the field.
"Obviously that would be one of our finer defensive efforts," Sydney Johnson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of men's basketball, said. "I'm not sure we can do that against everybody, but I was really pleased with their focus, very very pleased with how they competed defensively. Again, we've got another (game) tomorrow."
The victory was Princeton's largest overall against Columbia since an 88-52 win in 1999 at Jadwin Gym. It was the largest victory over a Division I team since a 76-43 victory over Maryland-Baltimore County in 2003, also at Jadwin Gym. On the road, it was Princeton's largest margin of victory since a 32-point win at Dartmouth in 1998.
Princeton made its first four shots of the game Friday night and never looked back. The Tigers' largest lead was the final margin, reached on a John Comfort bucket with 70 seconds to go.
Columbia made its last 10 points of the game from the free-throw line and went without a field goal for the final 15 minutes. At the other end, Princeton picked up 13 assists on its 17 first-half baskets on its way to 17 helpers for the game.
Ian Hummer paced Princeton with a career-high 25 points and his fourth double-double of the season with a game-high 12 rebounds and team-best four assists. Noruwa Agho, the Ivy League's leading scorer, had a game-high five assists and with 16 points was the only player in double-figures for his team.
"We kind of guarded him as a team," senior tri-captain Dan Mavraides said of Agho. "We kept to our defensive principles in terms of guarding him, and he didn't have a great shooting night, so that definitely benefited us. "
The win is Princeton's first on the opening night of the Columbia-Cornell trip since 2006, the last time the Tigers won in Ithaca. A win tomorrow would give the Tigers their first sweep of Columbia and Cornell on the road since 2004.
Mavraides' 17 points allowed him to move closer to becoming Princeton's 28th 1,000-point scorer, as the senior now has 944 for his career.
Princeton will play at Cornell Saturday at 7 p.m.