Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Lafayette
Men's Hoops Team to Return Home, Hosting Lafayette Wednesday
November 20, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Along with the Ivy League Network telecast, fans can listen live on the Princeton IMG Sports Network (103.3 FM WPRB in Princeton) or through the TuneIn app (search "Princeton"). The RWJ Barnabas Health pregame show begins 20 minutes prior to tip-off.
Princeton (0-3) vs. Lafayette (0-3), Wednesday, Nov. 22, 7 p.m., Jadwin Gym, Princeton, N.J.
• Watch: Ivy League Network
• Listen on WPRB 103.3 in Princeton and TuneIn online
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• Princeton Game Notes
• Up next: Princeton will head north to take on Fairleigh Dickinson Sunday at 2. The teams didn't play last season, but all three series meetings took place in the three seasons prior to last. Princeton leads the series 2-1, winning in Dec. 2013 and Nov. 2015 at home and losing in Dec. 2014 at FDU.
• Princeton leads the Lafayette series 50-19 all-time nad has won seven of the last eight including four in a row at home since the Leopards' last win in Jadwin came in Jan. 2007. Overall, Princeton has won the last two since losing in Easton in Nov. 2014. It's Princeton's second-most played non-conference series, behind Rutgers (120 meetings), and longest active non-conference series, having been played annually since the 1990-91 season.
• Princeton has lost the turnover stat in each of its first three games, the first time the Tigers have done that since the 2010-11 season. That year, Princeton lost the turnover stat in each of its first four games but was able to turn it around thereafter, winning the stat in 16 of the final 28 games as the team went 12-2 in the Ivy and took Kentucky to the final possession in the first round of the NCAAs.Â
• Each of Princeton's first three opponents has shot at least 43.6 percent from the field. Each of Princeton's first three opponents last season (BYU, Lehigh, Lafayette) shot at least 40 percent from the field, but after those three games, Princeton foes hit 40 percent in 15 of the final 27 games.
• In the last meeting against Lafayette on Nov. 23, 2016 in Easton, a 71-55 Tiger win, Princeton had a 36-25 rebounding edge, including 10 offensive rebounds on the way to an 11-0 edge in second-chance points, and hit 11 3s. Princeton returns 27 of its 71 points, led by Devin Cannady's 11 (to go with seven rebounds) in that group, while Lafayette returning 37 of its 55, led by Matt Klinewski's 13 among the returnees. Princeton graduated its co-leading scorers from the game, Henry Caruso and Steven Cook 14), and Lafayette graduated Nick Lindner (18).Â
• Princeton has won the last two against Patriot Leaguers, defeating Bucknell and Lafayette last season after an early loss at Lehigh. The Tigers will be hosting the Mountain Hawks next Wednesday at 8 in its only two games against PL schools this season.
• The Tigers stuck with their lineup from the BYU game last time out against Saint Joseph's, with seniors Mike LeBlanc and Alec Brennan joining juniors Devin Cannady and Myles Stephens and senior Amir Bell. Freshmen Jerome Desrosiers and Sebastian Much started the opener at Butler.
• Just two-plus seasons into his Tiger career, Devin Cannady stands 12th on Princeton's career 3-point list with 149. He needs just 18 more 3s to vault to solo sixth place. He needs six more 3s to tie Bob Scrabis '89 and Tiger radio color analyst Noah Savage '08 for 10th at 155.
• Princeton was voted a close third in the Ivy League's official preseason media poll. Princeton received three of the 17 first-place votes with Harvard getting six first-place votes and Yale eight. Harvard had 121 poll points to 118 for Yale and 114 for Princeton.
• The Tigers have used either 10 or 11 players in each of the first three games. Devin Cannady, Myles Stephens and Amir Bell have combined for 55.2 percent of the minutes and each averages at least 36 minutes. Among the other eight who have played, none averages more than the 17 minutes a game logged by rookie Ryan Schwieger.Â
• Princeton and Lafayette each enter Wednesday looking for its first win. The Leopards have allowed opponents 47.4 percent shooting from 3 this season, with each of Lafayette's last two opponents, NJIT and Villanova shooting at or better than .500 from distance at a combined 29 of 56 (.518). Princeton is averaging roughly 9 of 22 from 3 this season, or .394.
• Princeton knew what it had coming back in the trio of Myles Stephens, Devin Cannady and Amir Bell, a group that accounts for 2,137 of the 2,670 points on the roster, or 80 percent. The three are the only players to put up double-figure points in a game so far this season, doing so on eight of nine combined opportunities.Â
• The Tigers have overcome up-and-down starts to have successful seasons in recent years. Under Mitch Henderson, the Tigers now have a 41-38 (.519) record in the pre-New Year portion of the schedule and a 78-25 (.757) record from Jan. 1 forward.
• Princeton is coming off a 14-0 Ivy League season, the sixth in program history and first since 1998, and the 14th in Ivy League history and first since 2008 (Cornell). That earned the Tigers their 27th Ivy League championship and the top seed in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament, which Princeton won to advance to its 25th NCAA Tournament.
• The Tigers graduated three starters in Ivy League Player of the Year Spencer Weisz, first-team All-Ivy Leaguer Steven Cook, and center Pete Miller. Despite that, Princeton returns two starters in junior Devin Cannady, an honorable-mention All-Ivy Leaguer, and classmate Myles Stephens, the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, a first-team All-Ivy Leaguer, and the Ivy League Tournament MVP. Princeton also returns senior Amir Bell, who has started 64 games in his career, including five games last year. Â
• Last season, Mitch Henderson notched his fourth 20-win season as Princeton's coach, the second-most in program history behind Pete Carril's 10.
• Princeton's 19-game winning streak that included the final 17 games of the regular season and the Ivy League Tournament was the second-longest in program history behind the 20 straight that the 1997-98 team won with Mitch Henderson as a senior.
• Mitch Henderson, at 119 wins, is the third-winningest coach in program history behind Franklin "Cappy" Cappon (250, 1938-43 & 46-61), for whom the men's basketball head coaching position is named, and Pete Carril (514, 1967-96), for whom Henderson played his first two seasons at Princeton.
• Junior Amir Bell enjoyed quite a bounce-back in the Ivy League season last year. In non-conference play, he averaged 3.8 ppg while shooting .268 from the field and .120 from 3. In Ivy play, he averaged 8.7 ppg, shooting .581 from the field and .559 from 3. Bell had Princeton's highest shooting percentages overall (among players with >3 FGA) and from 3 in Ivy League play.
• Princeton has 32 members of the program's 1,000-point club, with Spencer Weisz '17 and Steven Cook '17 joining last season. There are a few candidates to join this season, with Amir Bell at 766 points, Devin Cannady at 793 and Myles Stephens at 578.
• Princeton's trip to Hawaii for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Dec. 22-25 will be the program's fifth to the nation's 50th state, following the 1979 Rainbow Classic, the 1998 Rainbow Classic, the 2007 Maui Invitational and last year's Pearl Harbor Classic.Â
• Entering Monday's games, Princeton stood at 111 in the KenPom rankings, just six spots behind Yale for tops in the Ivy. The Saint Joseph's game figures to be Princeton's third in a row against a KenPom top-100 team, with Butler at 52, SJU at 65 and BYU at 76. More will come, with USC at 14, Miami (Fla.) at 19, and possible meetings with as many as two of USC, Miami and Davidson (68) in Hawaii.
• Princeton ended last season tops in the nation in fewest turnovers at 298, fourth in fewest fouls at 482, fifth in turnovers per game at 9.9, ninth in scoring defense at 61.4 ppg allowed, 12th in 3s per game at 9.9, 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.44, and 17th in turnover margin at +3.2/game.
• Princeton ended 49th in last season's final RPI after ending the season ranked 47th in 2016.Â
• Princeton appeared in ESPN's August 2017 bracketology for the 2018 NCAA Tournament, seeded 12th.
• Princeton will face two teams ranked in each of the current AP and coaches polls. with USC 10th and Miami 11th in both the Nov. 20 AP and coaches polls.Â
• The Pete Carril coaching tree is going strong in the 2017-18 season. Six current Division I head coaches played for and/or coached under Carril, including Mitch Henderson '98, Mike Brennan '94 (American), Chris Mooney '94 (Richmond), Sydney Johnson '97 (Fairfield), Brian Earl '99 (Cornell) and Bill Carmody (Holy Cross).Â
