Career-High 30 Points By Lee Leads Men's Basketball Past Northeastern

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PRINCETON, N.J. – A career and game-high 30 points from sophomore Xaivian Lee led the Princeton University men's basketball team past Northeastern Saturday afternoon inside Jadwin Gymnasium in the Tigers' home opener, 80-66. The victory moved Princeton to 6-0 on the 2023-24 season.

The Tigers' 6-0 start is the program's best start since the 1997-98 season, when Princeton started 7-0.

"We're a really hard team to guard when we're all moving."

Hear from @xaivianlee after his career-high 30 points in the Tigers' win over Northeastern!#MakeShots ???? pic.twitter.com/8VidEVaycG
— Princeton Men's Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) November 25, 2023

Lee becomes the first Tiger since Jaelin Llewellyn '22 on Mar. 7, 2020, against Cornell to score 30 points in a game. Lee's 30 came on 11-for-21 shooting from the field along 3-for-5 shooting from three and eclipses his previous career-high of 20 set on Nov. 15 in Princeton's victory at Duquesne. In addition, Lee's 11 made field goals were a career-high while his three made three-made pointers tied his career-best. Lee had six rebounds, four assists and one block.

Senior Matt Allocco added 18 points and a game-high six assists, and sophomore Caden Pierce finished with nine points, a game-high nine rebounds two assists and one block.

While the Huskies took an early 4-2 lead, a pair of three-pointers by Lee put the Tigers ahead, 8-3, with 15:55 on the clock. Northeastern would battle back to jump ahead, 15-13, at 12:19 but a Pierce layup followed by a three-pointer by sophomore Jack Scott gave Princeton a 15-13 advantage with 12:19 left in the half.

With 11:40 on the clock, Lee connected on a three-pointer that ignited a 7-0 run that gave Princeton a 22-15 lead with 7:48 remaining in the half after a short jumper by freshman Dalen Davis. Princeton remained in control for the rest of the half; a Lee three-point play then a free throw by Pierce kept the Tigers ahead at 4:54, 26-21. Lee added another pair of free throws with 0:32 remaining in the half as Prince took a 35-30 advantage into halftime.

The Huskies came out of the half and tied it up at 35-35 with 17:38 left to play. The half continued as a back-and-forth battle until a three-point by play followed by an Allocco three pointer put Princeton ahead, 49-42, with 14:40 on the clock. A pair of free throws by freshman Jacob Huggins followed by a Lee layup would soon after give the Tigers an eight-point advantage, 54-46, with 11:35 on the clock.

Northeastern narrowed the deficit to five with 8:21 left to play, but layups by Allocco and Lee extended the Tigers' lead back to nine, 62-53, at 7:17. A three-pointer by junior Blake Peters extended Princeton's lead to 10 at 66-56 with 5:40 remaining, but the Huskies battled back and reduced the deficit to five, 67-62, at 4:42.

A three-pointer by Scott put Princeton ahead 70-62 with 4:12 remaining, before a pair of Allocco free throws led an 8-0 run which the Tigers closed the game out on. Freshman Jackson Hicke made a short jumper with 0:29 on the clock for his first college points as the contest ended with a final score of 80-66.

Up Next
The Tigers take on Bucknell (2-5) on Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

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