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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Harvard
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Harvard Tops Men's Basketball 79-67, Sends Focus to Tuesday
March 06, 2011 | Men's Basketball
A month after Princeton was able to turn a one-point halftime margin into a win over Harvard at Jadwin Gym, the Crimson didn't let the same halftime lead slip in the rematch, taking a 79-67 victory.
The Crimson win drops Princeton into a tie in the Ivy League loss column with Harvard - both have two - while clinching the Crimson a share of their first Ivy League title. Harvard ends its regular season at 23-5 overall and 12-2 in the Ivy, while the Tigers are now 23-6 and 11-2 in the league.
Princeton can claim a share of the Ivy title with a win at Penn Tuesday in the Tigers' regular-season finale, which would force a one-game playoff between Princeton and Harvard next weekend at a neutral site to be determined. Regardless of that playoff outcome, both teams would be co-champions.
"You go into the season and you want to see the character of your team," Johnson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of men's basketball, said. "These guys are terrific in terms of their passion for the game and how much they come together. I don't think the game in The Palestra is going to be easy, (but) I'd be very surprised if we can't regroup."
Johnson appreciates the opportunity for another game.
"I think it's huge just to be able to play more basketball," Johnson said. "These guys really battled. With all due respect to Harvard, I thought we played just as hard, but we came up short."
Senior Dan Mavraides burst out of the gate for the Tigers, scoring the team's first eight points and passing the 1,000 mark for his career in the process. He had 18 points at halftime on his way to 25 for the game, one off his career-high 26 from the season-opening game against Rutgers in November. Mavraides now has 1,019 for his career.
Mavraides also welcomes the chance for the Tigers to keep their Ivy hopes alive.
"We're tied now," Mavraides said. "It's tough to win an Ivy League championship and we're learning that this year. If we take care of business on Tuesday, it's a tie ball game."
Sensing early that he had the hot hand, Mavraides took 20 field goal attempts on the night, the most of his career and the most for any Tiger since Douglas Davis fired up 20 shots in his collegiate debut, a 25-point effort in Jadwin Gym against Central Michigan on Nov. 14, 2008.
Mavraides, however, looked at the game from the other end of the court.
"I thought we could have played better defense," Mavraides said. "It was nice that the ball was going in for me, but I was more concerned about that."
A night after the Crimson shot 60.5% in a win over Penn, Harvard kept the pace going against the Tigers, hitting an even 60% (24 of 40).
"We didn't get stops," Johnson said. "Offensively I was pleased. Some stuff rimmed out. If it rims, in, things look a lot differently."
Kyle Casey finished with a team-high 24 points for the Harvard, while Brandyn Curry followed up his 14-assist night against the Quakers with 10 against Princeton, putting together a unique double-double with 10 points.
Princeton's primary post players each had double-figure points, with Kareem Maddox adding 14 and Ian Hummer 12. Mavraides had 25 of the remaining 41 Princeton points, though Davis' five points allowed him to move past current Richmond coach Chris Mooney '94 and into 20th place on the Princeton career list (1,073).
After the break, the teams went in different directions from the field. Harvard made 12 of 18 (66.7%) in the second half, while the Tigers hit 12 of 31 (38.7%). The Crimson didn't help Princeton from the free-throw line either, making 27 of 30 on the night to firm up its ranking as the nation's No. 2 free throw shooting team behind Wisconsin.
Harvard's lead reached 12 with 9:45 to play on a Casey bucket, and Princeton came within five points on just one occasion from there. Hummer made that the margin when hit the back end of a two-shot trip to the free-throw line to make it 64-59 with 5:24 to go.
The Crimson responded by scoring the next five points, and Princeton came no closer than five points in the final five minutes.
Princeton's game at Penn Tuesday will tip at 7 p.m.