Ivy League Play Returns Friday, Saturday for Men's Basketball Team

Ivy League play will return Friday and Saturday for the Princeton men's basketball team when a 2017 Ivy League Tournament final rematch happens Friday at 6 p.m. (not 7 p.m. as originally scheduled) against Yale. Brown comes in Saturday at 6 p.m.

Friday's game is Faculty and Staff Night. Princeton University faculty and staff can receive up to four free tickets in advance or show their ID at the ticket office on the day of the game. Free pink Warrior headbands are also available for the first 500 fans.

Princeton (10-8, 2-1 Ivy) vs. Yale (9-11, 2-2 Ivy), Friday, Feb. 2, 6 p.m. ET, Jadwin Gym, Princeton, N.J.
Princeton vs. Brown (9-8, 2-2 Ivy)*, Saturday, Feb. 3, 6 p.m. ET, Jadwin Gym, Princeton, N.J.
*Brown plays at Penn Friday
• Watch: Friday: Ivy League Network/NBC Sports Philadelphia +; Saturday: Ivy League Network/ESPN3
• Listen: WPRB 103.3 FM/TuneIn
• Live Stats
• Tickets
• Follow @Princeton_Hoops for in-game updates
• Princeton Game Notes

• The Mitch Henderson Show airs Tuesday nights during basketball season from 6-7 p.m. on Fox Sports 920 The Jersey. Originating live from Winberie's Restaurant & Bar (1 Palmer Square, Princeton), the weekly show features men's basketball head coach Mitch Henderson '98 along with assistant coaches, players, and other special guests. Derek Jones, the play-by-play voice for Princeton basketball on the Princeton IMG Sports Network and Ivy League Network, serves as host – tweet him your questions for Coach Henderson @DerekJones79. Fans who can't make it Winberie's can listen on Fox Sports 920 or live online. A podcast of each episode is also available following the show at GoPrincetonTigers.com/podcasts and the Princeton Athletics channel on iTunes.

• The Princeton radio broadcast will have special guest color analysts each game this weekend. Friday's broadcast will be an all-McCarthy affair, with former radio play-by-play man Tom McCarthy joining son Patrick on the call. Saturday will bring Princeton women's basketball color analyst Dei Lynam alongside Patrick McCarthy. Derek Jones and Noah Savage will be on the video call for both games.

• Up next: The Tigers will have a quick turnaround, hosting Penn Tuesday. It's the third game of a span of five games in nine days, the first three of which will be at home and the last two of which will take the Tigers to Harvard and Dartmouth.

• Friday's game is a matchup of the last two Ivy League champions as well as a rematch of last year's Ivy tournament finalists. The Bulldogs won the 2016 title before Princeton denied the third-seeded Bulldogs a year ago.

• Against Yale last season, Princeton saw Myles Stephens average 20.7 points across the three games, shooting .578 (26-45) from the field and .400 (6-15) from 3. Devin Cannady averaged 16.3 points a game. For the Bulldogs, Miye Oni, the team's leading scorer this season at 15.8 points per game, was held to 6.7 points per game against Princeton last season, well below his average of 12.9 points a game from a year ago. Alex Copeland, Yale's second-leading scorer this season at 12.5 points per game, led the team against Princeton a year ago, at 14.3 points per game.

• Princeton shot well against the Bulldogs last season, outshooting Yale from the field 47.5 percent to 38.5 percent and from 3-point land 42.5 percent to 29.1 percent. Yale had a slight rebounding edge at +3 rebounds per game over the three games, but the Tigers helped counter that by averaging 9.3 turnovers per game to 11.7 for Yale.

• Against Brown last season, Devin Cannady led the Tigers at 19.0 points per game, leading three of Princeton's top four scorers against the Bears as returners this season. Amir Bell (13.5 ppg) and Myles Stephens (12.5 ppg) are back with Steven Cook '17 (14.0 ppg) the only Tiger among the top four against Brown last season who graduated. Brown lost three of its top four scorers against Princeton from last season with only Travis Fuller, second among Bears against Princeton last season (10.5 ppg) back. Steven Spieth (11.5) led Brown against Princeton in 2017. Brandon Anderson, Brown's leading scorer this season at 18.6 points per game, averaged just 1.5 against Princeton last season.

• Princeton shot 56.7 percent from the field and 46.8 percent from 3 in the wins over Brown last season while holding the Bears to 39.4 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from 3. The Tigers added a 4.5 rpg average on the glass and turned the ball over four fewer times per game, averaging 11 to 15 for the Bears. That added up to Princeton outscoring Brown an average of 23 points in each of the wins.

• Brown's Brandon Anderson and Tiger rookie Charlie Bagin were teammates at New Jersey's Don Bosco Prep. Princeton rookie Jerome Desrosiers was also a teammate of Brown junior Chris Sullivan and rookie Matt DeWolf at Northfield Mount Hermon.

• Just five of Yale's 20 opponents this season have taken 25 or more 3-pointers, which is Princeton's average number of attempts this season. Yale has held those five opponents to a .279 average from deep, as only Bryant, in an 84-67 win over the Bulldogs, made better than 32 percent from 3. Just three Brown opponents have shot 25 or more 3-point attempts this season and none more than 27. Those three teams averaged .333 from deep, and only Long Island, in a 94-86 win, defeated Brown.

• No team has shot below 39 percent against the Bears this season and only two have shot below 40 percent with five Brown foes making at least half of their tries from the field. Yale has done a bit better, but 15 of the 20 Bulldog opponents this season have shot at least 40 percent from the field and only two have shot below 37 percent. Teams are 10-1 when shooting 47 percent or better from the field against Yale this season.

• Devin Cannady continues his climb up Princeton's 1,000 career points list after joining the club Jan. 6 at Penn. Now 25th all-time at 1,067, he's 33 points away from 1,100 points, which would put him in 19th place. Current Richmond coach Chris Mooney '94 (1,071), Bob Roma '79 (1,076) and Barnes Hauptfuhrer '76 (1,079) are the only players within 20 points in front of Cannady entering the weekend.

• Counting only regular-season games, Devin Cannady is on pace for 527 points this season, which would be the most since Brian Taylor '84 scored 676 in 1971-72. Cannady's projected total would be the seventh-most in program history and the fourth-most by anyone aside from Bill Bradley '65. Supposing he puts up 527 this year and does that number again as a senior, Cannady would have 1,794 points. That'd clear Ian Hummer '13 (1,625) for the second-most in program history by nearly 200 points, and it'd be the third time that the title of second-to-Bradley on Princeton's all-time scoring list has changed under Mitch Henderson. Douglas Davis '12 changed the No. 2 spot for the first time in 21 years in 2012, and Hummer did it the next year. Bradley (2,503), in a continued testament to the incredible numbers he posted during three varsity seasons, all without a 3-point line, would still be more than 700 points ahead of Cannady at 1,794.

• Cannady, with 56 3-pointers this year, is the seventh player in program history with three 50 3-pointer seasons. The others are Sean Jackson '92, Brian Earl '99, Gabe Lewullis '99, Kyle Koncz '08, Douglas Davis '12 and former teammate Spencer Weisz '17. Only Davis and Earl had four 50 3-pointer seasons, which Cannady is able to achieve as well.

• Against Yale, Princeton will put on the line its 18-game home Ivy League winning streak, as the Tigers haven't lost an Ivy game at home since Feb. 14, 2015 against Yale, the longest streak since Princeton won 21 in a row from 2010-13. The program record is a 27-gamer from 1974-77. As for the Ivy record for such a streak, the next incoming class would have to be the among the ones to see it through, as Penn's 46-game streak from 1977-83 is the standard. Even if this streak continues, Princeton wouldn't be able to get to 46 straight games until 2022.

• Last year, the four-member freshman class of Will Gladson, Jose Morales, Vittorio Reynoso-Avila and Richmond Aririguzoh logged a combined 462 minutes. This year's five-member freshman class of Sebastian Much, Jerome Desrosiers, Ryan Schwieger, Elijah Barnes and Charlie Bagin have more than doubled that already, with 952 minutes so far. Will Gladson had 304 of the 462 last year and Much, Desrosiers and Schwieger have 890 of the 952.

• The Tigers have overcome tough starts to have a strong Ivy League season before under Mitch Henderson. In Henderson's first season of 2011-12, Princeton started 1-5 before finishing 10-4 in the league, a record that's now one likely in contention for an Ivy League Tournament bid. In 2012-13, Princeton started 3-6 before going 10-4 in the league. In 2014-15, Princeton started 3-8 before going 9-5 in the league. Last season, Princeton started 4-6 before going 14-0 in the Ivy. This year, the Tigers are starting to show it again, winning seven of nine after a 2-6 start.

• Entering Tuesday's games, Princeton ranked ninth in the nation in fewest fouls (304) and fewest turnovers (224). Yale's top stat ranking was 19th in assists per game (17.3). Brown's top statistical ranking was 18th in free-throw percentage (.770) while Brandon Anderson was 19th in free throws made (123).

• The Tigers have used six starting lineups this season. Ten Tigers have started a game, and only senior Amir Bell and juniors Devin Cannady and Myles Stephens have started all 17. Tiger rookies have accounted for 20 starts between Sebastian Much (12), Jerome Desrosiers (seven) and Ryan Schwieger (one), while two other seniors (Mike LeBlanc, five, Alec Brennan, four) have started, as have two sophomores (Will Gladson, three, Richmond Aririguzoh, two).

• Devin Cannady's climb up Princeton's 3-pointer list will remain in sixth place for a while as he closes the gap between his 194 career 3s and the 209 that former teammate Spencer Weisz '17 posted. Princeton's single-season 3-pointer mark belongs to Sean Jackson '92, who drilled 95 in 1990-91. The Ivy League record held by Cornell alum Ryan Wittman is 109 in his senior year of 2009-10. Cannady enters the Rowan game with 53 3s.

• Devin Cannady, Myles Stephens and Amir Bell have combined for 51.5 percent of the minutes through 17 games. All three average at least 36.2 minutes per game, and no other Tiger is closer than rookie Sebastian Much at 20.6 mpg. The Bell-Cannady-Stephens trio accounts for 2,723 of the 3,619 points on the roster, or 75.2 percent.

• Under Mitch Henderson, the Tigers now have a 48-42 (.533) record in the pre-New Year portion of the schedule and an 81-26 (.757) record from Jan. 1 forward.

• Henderson is set to coach his 200th game at Princeton Tuesday vs. Penn. The only other Tiger mentors to coach 200 games are Albert Wittmer (1923-1932, 115-86), Franklin "Cappy" Cappon (1938-43 & 1946-61, 250-181) and Pete Carril (1967-96, 514-261). Henderson, at 127 wins, is third behind Cappon (250) and Carril (514, 1967-96), for whom Henderson played his first two seasons at Princeton.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 Ivy League men's and women's basketball tournaments return to Philadelphia, where they will take place Saturday and Sunday, March 10-11, 2018. The top four teams will earn berths to the tournament, with the semifinals on Saturday and the championships on Sunday. All six games will be broadcast live on ESPN's networks. For tickets and more information please visit IvyMadness.com.

• The Ivy League Network (ILN) is available on Apple TV, Roku and the ILN app for Android and Apple devices.

• The Mitch Henderson Show airs Tuesday nights during basketball season from 6-7 p.m. on Fox Sports 920 The Jersey. Originating live from Winberie's Restaurant & Bar (1 Palmer Square, Princeton), the weekly show features men's basketball head coach Mitch Henderson '98 along with assistant coaches, players, and other special guests. Derek Jones, the play-by-play voice for Princeton basketball on the Princeton IMG Sports Network and Ivy League Network, serves as host – tweet him your questions for Coach Henderson @DerekJones79. Fans who can't make it Winberie's can listen on Fox Sports 920 or live online. A podcast of each episode is also available following the show at GoPrincetonTigers.com/podcasts and the Princeton Athletics channel on iTunes.

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