Princeton Moves to 3-0 in the Ivy, Beats Columbia

Friday, February 1

New York, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

11-5, 3-0

Columbia

6-11, 1-2

Princeton

Columbia

Myles Stephens had a double-double to help lift Princeton over Columbia Friday night.

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

February 01, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Make it 3 for 3 in the Ivy League for the Princeton men's basketball team as the Tigers grew a big first-half lead and kept Columbia from closing the gap Friday night in New York.

The Tigers' 55-43 win was Princeton's sixth win in a row and lifted the Tigers to 11-5 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy heading into Saturday's 7:30 p.m. game at Cornell. Coupled with Yale's loss to Harvard Friday night, Princeton took over first place in the Ivy as the only team without a league loss.

"I thought both Myles (Stephens) and Ryan (Schwieger) were just terrific tonight. Richmond (Aririguzoh) got a lot of rebounds as well," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, said. "I thought we had a terrific start. The guys were really locked in on what we wanted to accomplish. (Columbia's Gabe) Stefanini, I thought, last weekend against Cornell had a terrific game (and) Myles was just all over him. I thought he was terrific, and Jaelin (Llewellyn) on (Columbia's Quinton) Adlesh – those two guys can really hurt you – and I just thought we had a really good start. We gave up some points to start the second half, but I thought the focus was really high-level."

A 13-2 run that turned a 7-4 Princeton lead less than three minutes into the game into a 13-point edge eight minutes later helped fuel what became a 17-point lead when Stephens drained a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half to make it 34-17 at the break. Columbia's 17 first-half points were the fewest for a Tiger opponent at the break since Dartmouth scored 14 on Feb. 24, 2018 in Jadwin.

HALF | Princeton 34, Columbia 17
Myles Stephens drains the late 3 here to take a game-high 10 points into the break. Columbia's 17 points are Princeton's lowest allowed at halftime since allowing Dartmouth 14 late last season. Watch the second half here: https://t.co/gK3rs8iZbT pic.twitter.com/JirCcK2ilG
— Princeton Basketball (@Princeton_Hoops) February 2, 2019

Columbia had a strong start to the second half that cut Princeton's lead as low as seven at 39-32 just before the midway point of the half, but Princeton scored the next six points and was up double figures the rest of the way. The Lions' point total was the lowest for any Princeton opponent since the Tigers beat Columbia 65-40 on Feb. 22, 2013.

"I thought were aggressive on both the offensive and defensive glass, and then defensively, I think we were locked in one through five," Stephens said. "That's the reward of playing good defense in the first half. You know they're going to make a run and so you kind of absorb that, weather the storm and then you get back after it."

Stephens led the way for Princeton with 17 points and 13 boards for his fifth double-double of the season. Schwieger's 15 points tied a career high a game after he scored 15 against Wesley, and Aririguzoh's 11 rebounds were a career high by one board over the 10 he had at Maine on Nov. 28, 2018.

Stephens' double-double was his fifth of the season, eighth of his career and third straight against an Ivy opponent. He's the first Tiger to have five double-doubles in a season since Ian Hummer '13 had six in 2011-12.

FINAL | Princeton 55, Columbia 43
Myles Stephens had 17 points and 13 boards as Princeton made it 3-0 in the Ivy League tonight in New York! pic.twitter.com/nJI675zkao
— Princeton Basketball (@Princeton_Hoops) February 2, 2019

Postgame Notes

• Princeton now leads the all-time series with Columbia 154-86 and has won nine of the last 10 in the series.

• Sophomore Ryan Schwieger has scored 30 of his 70 points on the season over the last two games.

• Princeton has outrebounded its last three opponents (Penn, Wesley, Columbia) by a combined 63 rebounds.

• Princeton has had at least 10 offensive rebounds in each of the last five games. It's the longest such streak since Princeton had six straight 10-plus offensive rebounding games in December 2008 and January 2009.

• Senior Myles Stephens remained in 16th place on Princeton's all-time scoring list, now with 1,187 points. He has pulled within 20 points of 15th place, held by Steve Goodrich '98 at 1,207 points.