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Saturday, March 16
New Haven, Conn.
3:00 PM
Princeton University
16-12, 8-6Ivy
77
at
83
Yale
21-7, 10-4Ivy
1
2
F
Princeton
34
43
77
Yale
46
37
83
Richmond Aririguzoh led Princeton with a career-high 24 points Saturday at Yale in the Ivy semifinal.
Photo by: Ivy League
Thriller in #IvyMadness Semifinal Goes to Yale
March 16, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Junior Richmond Aririguzoh led the way with a career-high 24 points for third-seeded Princeton in Saturday's Ivy League Tournament semifinal against second-seeded Yale in New Haven, but the Bulldogs advanced to Sunday's final with an 83-77 win.
Yale will meet top-seeded Harvard for the Ivy League's automatic NCAA Tournament bid at 12 p.m. on ESPN2.
A 60.6-percent shooting first half for the Bulldogs helped Yale take a 46-34 lead into the locker room, nudged forward by a 19-8 run that turned a four-point game at 27-23 just less than 12 minutes in into a 15-point Yale lead at 46-31 in the half's final minute.
"We knew we still had a shot," Aririguzoh said. "They're a very veteran team, but we had guys, we have hoopers. We have guys that just go out and fight, and we decided to fight. It was going our way and then it wasn't, but I'm proud of the way our guys fought."
Princeton went on a 15-0 run early in the second half to wipe out a 12-point Yale lead and go up three at 51-48 with 13-plus minutes to go. The Tiger lead grew to seven at 69-62 with five minutes left and was at five at 71-66 with three-and-a-half minutes left when Myles Stephens fouled out of the game, but Yale went on an 8-1 run from there that retook the lead at 74-72 with 1:15 left.
"You would think that it would feel helpless (having fouled out), but watching the game, watching the young guys go out there and compete, I was actually really confident in them," Stephens said. "I was telling them after the game. There were three freshmen, a sophomore and Richmond in the game, and they were holding their own. They were defending. They were making shots and making plays, so I was really confident in them. Of course, I wish I was out there, but I was proud of how they were playing out there."
The final 75 seconds saw Princeton tie it at 74-74 on a pair of Aririguzoh free throws, but the Tigers never retook the lead as Yale held on. Jaelin Llewellyn joined Aririguzoh in double figures with 17 points, as did Stephens in his Tiger finale with 13.
"That's a good team, and we had them," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, said. "I'm proud of the leadership we've had from the (seniors). We've been fighting hard all season to have a half like we had in the second half. It didn't come out the way we wanted, but we definitely put ourselves in position to win. It's a testament to Myles and the rest of the seniors."
Postgame Notes
• This was Princeton's second Ivy League Tournament of the three that have been held. Princeton won in 2017 and did not qualify in 2018.
• Princeton and Yale met both in the final regular-season game and in the Ivy League semifinal, the first time two teams have met both on the final day of the regular season and on the first day of the Ivy League Tournament.
• Junior Richmond Aririguzoh has now reset his career scoring best six times this season, dropping in 24 points to surpass the 20 he scored first against Penn on Jan. 5 in Jadwin, then again at Cornell on Feb. 2 and again versus Brown on March 8 in Jadwin.
• Senior Myles Stephens finishes his Tiger career at 1,346 points, good for 10th place in program history, 509 field goals, good for eighth place, and 561 rebounds, good for 10th.
• The Tigers set a program record with 791 3-pointers attempted on the season.
• Yale went 16 of 16 from the stripe, the most makes without a miss any Tiger opponent has had in at least the past decade.
Yale will meet top-seeded Harvard for the Ivy League's automatic NCAA Tournament bid at 12 p.m. on ESPN2.
A 60.6-percent shooting first half for the Bulldogs helped Yale take a 46-34 lead into the locker room, nudged forward by a 19-8 run that turned a four-point game at 27-23 just less than 12 minutes in into a 15-point Yale lead at 46-31 in the half's final minute.
"We knew we still had a shot," Aririguzoh said. "They're a very veteran team, but we had guys, we have hoopers. We have guys that just go out and fight, and we decided to fight. It was going our way and then it wasn't, but I'm proud of the way our guys fought."
Princeton went on a 15-0 run early in the second half to wipe out a 12-point Yale lead and go up three at 51-48 with 13-plus minutes to go. The Tiger lead grew to seven at 69-62 with five minutes left and was at five at 71-66 with three-and-a-half minutes left when Myles Stephens fouled out of the game, but Yale went on an 8-1 run from there that retook the lead at 74-72 with 1:15 left.
"You would think that it would feel helpless (having fouled out), but watching the game, watching the young guys go out there and compete, I was actually really confident in them," Stephens said. "I was telling them after the game. There were three freshmen, a sophomore and Richmond in the game, and they were holding their own. They were defending. They were making shots and making plays, so I was really confident in them. Of course, I wish I was out there, but I was proud of how they were playing out there."
The final 75 seconds saw Princeton tie it at 74-74 on a pair of Aririguzoh free throws, but the Tigers never retook the lead as Yale held on. Jaelin Llewellyn joined Aririguzoh in double figures with 17 points, as did Stephens in his Tiger finale with 13.
"That's a good team, and we had them," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, said. "I'm proud of the leadership we've had from the (seniors). We've been fighting hard all season to have a half like we had in the second half. It didn't come out the way we wanted, but we definitely put ourselves in position to win. It's a testament to Myles and the rest of the seniors."
Postgame Notes
• This was Princeton's second Ivy League Tournament of the three that have been held. Princeton won in 2017 and did not qualify in 2018.
• Princeton and Yale met both in the final regular-season game and in the Ivy League semifinal, the first time two teams have met both on the final day of the regular season and on the first day of the Ivy League Tournament.
• Junior Richmond Aririguzoh has now reset his career scoring best six times this season, dropping in 24 points to surpass the 20 he scored first against Penn on Jan. 5 in Jadwin, then again at Cornell on Feb. 2 and again versus Brown on March 8 in Jadwin.
• Senior Myles Stephens finishes his Tiger career at 1,346 points, good for 10th place in program history, 509 field goals, good for eighth place, and 561 rebounds, good for 10th.
• The Tigers set a program record with 791 3-pointers attempted on the season.
• Yale went 16 of 16 from the stripe, the most makes without a miss any Tiger opponent has had in at least the past decade.
Team Stats
PRIN
YALE
FG%
.452
.508
3FG%
.250
.313
FT%
.750
1.000
RB
33
32
TO
10
8
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
C
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