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Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Hoops: Five Takeaways from the Columbia-Cornell Weekend
February 29, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Princeton completed a weekend sweep of Columbia and Cornell in Jadwin Gym to stay even with Yale in the loss column atop the Ivy League. Both teams will be on the road this weekend before Princeton hosts Penn Tuesday to finish the regular season.
Princeton 88, Columbia 83: Recap | Box Score | Highlights
Princeton 74, Cornell 60: Recap | Box Score | Highlights
Here are five takeaways from the weekend:
1. Different path, same result: Princeton defeated Columbia 88-83 in each of the teams' two meetings this season, though the first one on Feb. 13 was in overtime. Princeton showed it could win different types of games against a Lions team playing for its Ivy title hopes. In the first meeting, Princeton overcame cold first-half shooting (.333) and sub-optimal shooting from deep (.286) to finish at a .458 clip for the game and outdo Columbia's .392 percentage. This time, though Columbia shot better than even at .534 from the field, Princeton upped its game still, hitting at a .633 clip while doing much better from 3, making 13 of 21 for a 61.9-percent rate.
2. Home Sweet Home indeed: Princeton is 12-0 at home this season, and the numbers tell the story. Princeton is shooting 51.8 percent from the field at home (opponents .425), 42.1 percent from 3 (opponents .341), outrebounding opponents by seven boards a game and outscoring foes by nearly 20 points a game, 84.7 to 65.2 ppg. Princeton's numbers away from campus are still solid - .423 from the field, .349 from 3, +0.3 rpg margin, +4.2 ppg margin - but the home-court edge has proven strong. This weekend was more of the same, with Princeton shooting .552 from the field and .479 from 3, with rebounds even and the scoreboard at +9.5 ppg.
3. Helping hands: Devin Cannady, Amir Bell, Spencer Weisz, Myles Stephens, Henry Caruso, Steven Cook. Those six players scored in double figures in at least one game over the weekend with Weisz and Cook doing so twice. Ten players have had a double-figure scoring game at some point during the season. It's been one of Princeton's most important assets, that one or two players having an off night from the field doesn't necessarily spell defeat for the Tigers. Henry Caruso, at 15.6 ppg, remains Princeton's leading scorer on the season, but Caruso having a quiet night from the field against Cornell just meant there were opportunities for others to score (Devin Cannady had 15 points, Amir Bell had 16 and Spencer Weisz had 16, above their season averages) and for Caruso to contribute in other ways, with seven rebounds and three assists.
4. Spencer Weisz: Weisz earned Ivy Co-Player of the Week honors for an all-around strong weekend, getting 16 points in each game, shooting 11 of 17 (.647) from the field 8 of 14 (.571) from 3 and getting 14 assists without a turnover with seven helpers in each game. He also had eight boards against Cornell after getting four against Columbia. His assist-to-turnover ratio, now at +3.0 per game, has been at the top of the league for most of the season, but the individual game ratios matched season and career bests for the junior. He had eight assists and one turnover at Rider on Nov. 13, 2015, and seven assists and no turnovers against FDU on Nov. 30, 2015.
5. A good sign: Princeton's getting to 10-1 in the Ivy with this weekend's sweep is a positive note historically. Of the 16 previous times that Princeton has gotten to 10-1 (or 11-0), all 16 teams went on to win at least a share of the Ivy title. Five of those 16 titles were shared, and Princeton won the last three of those playoffs, in 1981, 1996 and 2011. Of the previous 16 10-1 or 11-0 starts, Princeton won the last three games 11 times, including three of the last four, in 1997, 1998 and 2004, but not 2011.