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Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Hoops: Five Takeaways from the Harvard-Dartmouth Weekend
March 06, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Princeton saw its hopes for the Ivy League title come to an end Saturday with Yale completing a weekend sweep while Princeton split, losing at Harvard before bouncing back against Dartmouth.
Friday: Harvard 73, Princeton 71 | Recap | Box Score | Postgame Video
Saturday: Princeton 84, Dartmouth 65 | Recap | Box Score | Postgame Video
1. It was that close: While three points can be made up in any number of ways, looking at the most straightforward way to do it, the Tigers went 7-21 from 3-point range at Harvard Friday night, a .333 clip, and 8 of 21 (.381) would've done it. Princeton has made at least 38.1 percent of its 3-point tries 14 times in 27 games this season, including 13 times in the last 19 games, but Princeton fell just one triple short at Harvard.
2. Speaking of 3s: That said, nailing a bunch of 3s hasn't guaranteed Princeton wins this year. The Tigers are 13-3 when hitting 10-plus 3-pointers, making them 8-3 when they don't. Princeton's average is 9.7 3s per game. It hasn't been until the Tigers got to 12 or more 3s that the triples have "guaranteed" victory this season, as Princeton is 7-0 this season when that happens.
3. Tough year to be (possibly) 12-2: Over the 60 seasons of Ivy League basketball, it's been a coin flip whether 12-2, which the Tigers could achieve Tuesday, would have been good enough to get at least a share of the Ivy title. It's been good enough 30 times and not enough 30 times, with 2014, when Harvard went 13-1, as the last season prior to this one when the champion was 13-1 or better (Harvard and Yale were 11-3 last year). Recent memory may be influencing Princeton's tough-luck status as a possible two-loss Ivy team, as that record would have been good enough to take at least a share in four of the five seasons previous to this one, with that 2014 Harvard team as the only champion since 2011 to do better than 12-2. In the 2000s, the Ivy champion was 14-0 or 13-1 in six of the nine seasons from 2000-09.
4. The rookie can shoot: Devin Cannady may be famous for one 3-pointer in particular, a 28-footer to tie at Columbia in the final seconds of regulation this season, but the Tiger freshman has hit a lot more threes than just one. He crossed the 50 3-pointer mark over the weekend, becoming just the fourth Tiger freshman to do so. His 53 3-pointers are third among Tiger freshmen behind Brian Earl, who had 55 in 1996, and Spencer Gloger, who had 65 in 2000. Douglas Davis had 50 in 2009.
5. Another round number: Junior Spencer Weisz had nine assists and two turnovers Saturday at Dartmouth to put him over the 100-assist mark on the season, now at 104. That's well more than his previous season best of 78 from a year ago, and he's close to cracking the top 10 on both the single-season and career assist program record lists. His 249 career helpers stand 13th, with Brian Earl 10th at 263, and the 104 assists this year have him 15th. John Thompson III had 112 in 1987 to stand 10th on that list.