Look Back at the Men's Basketball Team's Weekend Sweep of Cornell and Columbia

Friday Recap | Saturday Recap

On its longest winning streak in 18 years and with its first 8-0 Ivy League start in five, the Princeton men's basketball team has seen every Ivy opponent at least once.

But, before the Tigers head to New Haven and Providence this weekend, here's a look back at five questions going into the past weekend.

1. What share of the points will Cornell's leading scorers have?
Matt Morgan and Robert Hatter were big once again for the Big Red, combining for 41 of the team's 60 points with Morgan, the Ivy League's leading scorer, putting in a game-high 23. On the season, those two players account for 39 percent of the team's points with Stone Gettings in between them as Cornell's second-leading scorer. Gettings, who pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, had four points on 2 of 6 shooting.

2. How will being on the road affect the Big Red?
Cornell fell behind by 12 points early in the second half, but the Big Red held leads in both halves before Princeton rallied to lead for nearly the final nine minutes of the game. The weekend was Cornell's first away from Newman Arena after back-to-back home weekends, and although the Big Red won their last road game before coming to Princeton with a Jan. 21 win at Columbia, Penn completed the weekend sweep of Cornell Sunday.

3. How different will Columbia look?
The only Columbia player in double figures Saturday was freshman Mike Smith, who had 21 points. Luke Petrasek, the only Lion back this year who scored double figures in either game against Princeton last year, had seven points. Quinton Adlesh, a sophomore who had nine points, didn't play in either game against Princeton last season.

4. Hold the whistles, hold on to the ball
Princeton entered the weekend first in the nation in fewest turnovers and second in the nation in fewest fouls, and after two wins, Princeton stood Sunday first in the nation in both categories. The Tigers had eight turnovers Friday and 13 on Saturday and were +4 in points off turnovers each night. Princeton's relatively few fouls were especially a plus late in Saturday's game, as Princeton was able to chip four seconds off the clock, from seven-plus seconds to three-plus, by committing the three fouls it had to give before the bonus heading into Columbia's last possession.

5. Rookie coaches
Princeton improved to 3-0 against the three coaches who are in their first year at their current post by defeating Cornell and Brian Earl '99 in his return to Jadwin Gym and Columbia with Jim Engles. But, it was far from easy. Cornell, which missed a chance to pick up a game on Columbia with Sunday's loss at Penn, used a 16-0 run to turn a 12-point deficit early in the second half into a four-point lead, holding Princeton scoreless for seven minutes. The Lions trailed by 20 early in the second half and had the ball down two points on the game's final possession before the Tigers held on.

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