Hofstra Up Next For Men's Basketball

Friday, November 10

Hempstead, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

Hofstra

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November 08, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Game Two: Princeton (1-0) vs. Hofstra (1-0) – 7 p.m., 10/11
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PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton University men's basketball team will look to move to 2-0 on the 2023-24 season Friday night in Hempstead, New York, inside the Mack Exhibition Center against Hofstra.

Last Time Out
The Tigers opened the season with a 68-61 victory over Rutgers on Nov. 6 inside CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey, in the Jersey Jam. The victory, in what was the first meeting between the two programs since 2013, improved Franklin C. Cappon-Edward C. Green '40 Head Coach Mitch Henderson's all-time record against the Scarlet Knight to 3-1 and the Tigers' to 76-45.

MVP Mush
Matt Allocco was named MVP of the Jersey Jam after finishing with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting and nine rebounds. His 21 points tied his career-high, which was set on Jan. 14, 2023, against Brown, as did his nine made field goals. Allocco also made nine field goals at Drexel on Dec. 3, 2022.

Mush Milestone Watch
With 66 made three-pointers in his career at Princeton, Allocco needs to make 34 to reach 100 makes from deep.

Leading The Way
Allocco, a Second Team All-Ivy League honoree in 2022-23, will look to end his career at Princeton on a high note. Allocco ranked third on the team and 20th in the Ivy League in points-per-game (10.7), second on the team and 18th the Ivy League in assists-per-game (2.2), 17th in the conference in three-point field goals-per-game (1.4) and 19th in the Ivy League field goal percentage (45.3%).

X-Factor
Xavian Lee scored a career-high 16 points in the win over the Scarlet Knights, besting his previous career-high of 12. Lee had 12 points in three games his freshman year in 2022-23. Additionally, he handed out a career-high five assists against Rutgers, topping his previous career-high set on Jan. 7, 2023, at Cornell. Lee's five made field goals also tied his career-high, which came against Monmouth on Dec. 10, 2022.

Caden Pierce, Rebounding Machine
Caden Pierce pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds against Rutgers, just one short of his career-high of 16 set against No. 23 Missouri in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Pierce has now pulled down at least 15 rebounds in two out of his last three games.

The 2023 Ivy Rookie of the Year
Pierce became the Tigers' seventh Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2022-23. He led the team and finished second in the Ivy League in total rebounds (232), led the team and finished third in the Ivy League in rebounds-per-game (7.3) and recorded seven double-doubles on the season.

Blake The Driller
Blake Peters scored nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc, marking the third time in his past four games he's made at least three three-pointers. Over his past four games, Peters has shot 52% from three.

Anything Is Possible
Peters helped show the world "Anything Is Possible" in 2022-23, playing a major role in the Tigers' March Madness run. He scored a season-high 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the three in the Tigers' NCAA Tournament Round of 32 victory over Missouri. On the season, Peters ranked seventh in the Ivy League in three-point percentage (40.5%), eighth in the Ivy League in made three-point field goals (54) and ninth in three-point field goals per game (1.7). Peters needs 42 more made three-pointers to reach 100 made threes in his career.

Martini In The Middle
Zach Martini made an impact for the Tigers' in their win over Rutgers, finishing with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field and 2-for-3 shooting from behind the three-point line.

Senior Leadership
After missing part of the 2022-23 season due to injury, Martini closed the season out on a high note and was a key to the Tiger's postseason success. He scored a season-high 12 points and knocked down a season-high four three-pointers twice on Mar. 11 vs. Penn in the Ivy Tournament semifinals against the University of Pennsylvania had seven points, a season-high seven rebounds and a season-high two steals against Arizona in Princeton's Round of 64 win at the NCAA Tournament.

Scouting Hofstra
The Pride started the season 1-0, defeating Saint Joseph's (Long Island) 101-48 on Nov. 6 inside the Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.

Run It Back
The Tigers are coming off a historic 2022-23 season that saw the team become the fourth No. 15 seed to make the Sweet Sixteen and win the Ivy League Tournament and Regular Season Championships, along with the London Basketball Classic. The Tigers defeated a pair of nationally-ranked opponents (No. 8 Arizona & No. 23 Missouri), became the 11th No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2 seed after taking down Arizona 58-55 in the in the NCAA Tournament Round 64, and earned the largest ever margin of victory for a No. 15 seed thanks to a 78-63 win over Mizzou in the Round of 32.

The Athletic Pierce Family
Greg Pierce, Caden's father, played football at Northwestern and Stephanie Pierce, his mother, played volleyball at Northwestern. Alec Pierce, his brother, is a wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts and was a second round pick in the 2022 NFL draft who played at University of Cincinnati. Pierce's other brother, Justin Pierce (brother) played three years of college basketball at William and Mary, graduated in three years and transferred to University of North Carolina for final year and played under Roy Williams, now plays professional basketball overseas.

Lee Leads The Canadian U19 Team
Xaivian Lee represented Canada over the summer in Hungary at the FIBA U19 World Cup. He averaged 14.1 points-per-game from the field along with 3.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds. Overall, Lee ranked 14th in scoring at the FIBA U19 World Cup.

Welcome, Luke Gore
Luke Gore joins the Tigers' coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2023-24. Gore joins the Tigers from Wichita State, where he served as the Director of Basketball Operations since April 2023. Prior to that, he was on staff at Valparaiso for 21 years, rising to Associate Head Coach in 2016. Gore served as an assistant coach from 2003 – 2016 and an administrative assistant from 2002 – 2003. During his time with the Beacons, Gore helped guide the program to 387 victories including a school record 30 wins in 2016. He led them to three NCAA Tournament appearances and four NIT appearances along with seven conference championships and three conference tournament titles.

The Newcomers
The Tigers welcome five freshmen in 2023-24; Dalen Davis, Jackson Hicke, Jacob Huggins, Derek Sangster and Ryan Duncan.

Princeton Alumni
Five alums are doing grad years at other institutions due to an Ivy rule that does not allowed student-athletes to compete for a fifth year in the conference. Ryan Langborg '23 is at Northwestern, Keeshawn Kellman '23 at Florida Gulf Coast, Jacob O'Connell '23 at Merrimack, Konrad Kiszka '23 at NYU and Jaelin Llewellyn '22 at Michigan.

#PrincetonPros
10 Princeton men's basketball alumni are currently playing professional basketball. Tosan Evbuomwan '23 (Motor City Cruise), Devin Cannady '20 (Birmingham Squadron), Ethan Wright '22 (CSM Tárgu Jiu), Ryan Schwieger '21 (Rasta Vechta), Richmond Aririguzoh '20 (Rasta Vechta), Myles Stephens '19 (Dolomiti Energia Trento), Amir Bell '18 (Anwil Wloclawek), Spencer Weisz '17 (Hapoel Haifa), Henry Caruso '17 (Élan Chalon), and Ian Hummer '13 (Osaka Evessa).

From Tigers to Rangers
Two former members of the Princeton men's basketball team have played key roles in leading the Texas Rangers to becoming World Series Champions. Rangers GM Chris Young '02 had a dominant two seasons as a basketball player at Princeton; he was the first male athlete to be named Ivy Rookie of the Year in two sports (basketball and baseball) in 1999 and was named All-Ivy League in both his seasons. Will Venable '05, Associate Manager of the Rangers, was a two-time All-Ivy honoree, and became the second player in history to be named All-Ivy in both basketball and baseball.

From Crimson to Tiger
Ryan Duncan's father is Arne Duncan, a 1987 Harvard graduate who was a member of the men's basketball team. An Academic All-American, Duncan played professional basketball in Australia from 1988 through 1991.