Men's Basketball Set For Ivy Madness

Saturday, March 11

Princeton, N.J.

1:30 PM

Princeton University

No. 3 Seed Penn

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Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC

March 09, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Game 28: Princeton (19-8, 10-4) vs. Penn (17-12, 9-5) – 3/11, 1:30 p.m.
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PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 2 seed Princeton University men's basketball team begins play at the 2023 Ivy League Tournament at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, at 1:30 p.m. against the No. 3 seed University of Pennsylvania inside Jadwin Gymnasium.

Regular Season Champions
The Tigers ended Ivy League play with a 10-4 record, and shared the regular season title with Yale. It marked the 29th Ivy title for Princeton, and the second-straight as the Tigers also won the regular season championship in 2021-22. It is the third championship under the guidance of Mitch Henderson, as he also led Princeton to a title in 2016-17.

The Road to March Madness
To advance to Championship Sunday at Ivy Madness and play for an NCAA Tournament berth, the Tigers must defeat the Quakers and play the winner of No. 1 seed Yale and No. 4 seed Cornell. The Bulldogs and Quakers play on Saturday, March 11 at 11 a.m. inside Jadwin Gymnasium and the Ivy Tournament Championship game takes place on Sunday, March 12 at 12 p.m.

Regulars at Ivy Madness
The Tigers have clinched a spot at Ivy Madness five times in its six years of existence. Jadwin Gymnasium will be playing host to its first Ivy Madness, as it rotates hosts each season.

Henderson In The Postseason
Along with Ivy Madness on five occasions, Franklin C. Cappon-Edward C. Green '40 Head Coach Mitch Henderson has guided the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament once (2017), the NIT twice (2022, 2016), and the CBI twice (2014, 2012).

200 Career Wins
Henderson recorded his 200th career win Princeton's 89-82 victory over Cornell on (deleted Friday) February 3 (deleted comma) inside Jadwin Gymnasium. He is currently third all-time in wins at Princeton; Franklin (Cappy) Cappon is second with 250, and Pete Carril first with 514.

Welcome To The Century Club
Princeton's victory over Cornell on (deleted Friday) February 3 (deleted comma) marked 100 regular-season Ivy League wins for Henderson. He became the eighth Ivy League men's basketball coach to reach the milestone, and the second from Princeton as Pete Carril sits atop the list with 310 regular-season conference wins.

Postseason Honors
Caden Pierce was honored as Ivy Rookie of the Year, becoming the seven in school history for Princeton and first since Spencer Weisz '17 in 2014. Tosan Evbuomwan was named Unanimous First Team All-Ivy League for the second season in a row along with Academic All-Ivy League, and Matt Allocco garnered Second Team All-Ivy League honors.

Last Time Out
In its regular season finale for the 2022-23 season, the Tigers overcame a 19-point deficit to defeat Penn, 77-69, in overtime on March 4. Along with it being Senior Day, the game was televised on ESPNews. Freshman Caden Pierce led the Tigers with a double-double, tying his season-high with 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Success Against Penn
The Tigers will be aiming for a ninth-consecutive win against the Quakers, and have not lost to Penn since February 6, 2018. As head coach at Princeton, Henderson is 17-4 all-time against Penn.

Crashing The Boards
The Tigers have been one of the best rebounding teams in the country in 2022-23, with their 29.40 defensive rebounds-per-game leading the Ivy League and ranking No. 3 in the nation. Their 39.30 rebounds-per-game also lead the Ivy League and rank No. 10 in the nation. Princeton's rebound margin of 6.8 also ranks No. 15 nationally.

Efficient Shooting
The Tigers' Effective field goal percentage of 53.1% ranks No. 72 in the country, and the Tigers' field goal percentage of 45.9% ranks No. 96 nationally. Effective field goal percentage is a statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.

Evbuomwan Nears 300 Career Assists
With 297 career assists, Evbuomwan needs three more to reach 300. His 297 career assists rank No. 9 all-time in program history, and he needs eight assists to move up a spot and pass Mitch Henderson, who ended his career with 304. In the first half of Princeton's game against Iona on Tuesday, December 13, Evbuomwan found Pierce for the 200th assist of his career.

An Elite Passer
Evbuomwan's 142 assists in the 2021-22 season were No. 2 all-time at Princeton, trailing only William F. Ryan's 161 assists in the 1983-84 season.

The 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year
After leading the Tigers in scoring eight times, Evbuomawn ranks first on the team in points-per-contest at 15.4 (fifth in the Ivy League) on 52.4 percent shooting (eighth in the conference) and steals (22). He is among the conference's top 10 in assists (First, 4.9), rebounding (seventh, 6.2), and assist/turnover ratio (sixth, 1.6).

Caden Pierce, Rebounding Machine
Pierce leads the Tigers and ranks fifth in the Ivy League in both rebounds-per-game (6.8) and total rebounds (184). Pierce's 184 rebounds are also a rookie record at Princeton, as he bypassed Texas Rangers GM Chris Young '02 who held the previous rookie record of 160. Additionally, Pierce has tallied five double-doubles so far in 2022-23 and led the Tigers in rebounding 11 times.

Ivy Rookie of the Week
Pierce was honored as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the fourth time in 2022-23 on February 27. Along with it being his fourth Rookie of the Week honor, it was the Tigers' sixth as Deven Austin and Xaivian Lee have each won the award once.

An Athletic Family
Pierce's father, Greg played football at Northwestern, and his mother Stephanie played volleyball as a Wildcat. His brother Justin played three years of college basketball at William and Mary, graduated in three years and transferred to the University of North Carolina for his final year and played under Roy Williams. He currently plays professional basketball overseas. His other brother, Alec Pierce, 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. His senior year at Cincinnati, the Bearcats finished with their highest-ever national ranking of No. 4, made it to the College Football Playoff Semifinals where they played No. 1 Alabama, and won a program-record 13 wins.

100 Made Threes For Ryan Langborg
With 141 made three-pointers in his career, Ryan Langborg sits at No. 15 on the Tigers' all-time list. He's one spot behind Richmond head coach Chris Mooney '94, who made 142 three-pointers in his career.

A Known Threat From Three
Langborg's 66 made three-pointers in the 2021-22 rank No. 13 all-time at Princeton for most made three-pointers in a season.

One Of The League's Top Guards
Langborg is also averaging 12.0 points per game, which ranks second on the team and 14th in the Ivy League, and his 2.0 three-pointers-per-game rank sixth in the conference.

Matt Allocco Steps Up
Matt Allocco has taken his game to another level this season, and ranks third on the team in scoring with 11.1 points on 49.5% shooting from the field and 40.2% shooting from three, which ranks No. 6 in the Ivy League. He also ranks third on the team in rebounding with 4.8, second in assists with 56 and has a team-high 21 steals. Allocco has scored in double digits 16 times, and led Princeton in scoring in seven games.

A Presence Inside
Keeshawn Kellman has provided the Tigers with a reliable presence inside in 2022-23, averaging 8.2 points (No. 4 on the team) on 59.6% shooting (No. 2 in the Ivy League) along with 4.4 rebounds. He has scored in double digits in ten games, and his 21 blocked shots rank eighth in the Ivy League.

CSC Academic All-District
College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced its Academic All-District teams on Tuesday, February 21, and Tosan Evbuomwan and senior Jacob O'Connell were both honorees.

Run It Back
The Tigers are coming off a 2021-22 campaign that saw them win the Ivy League Championship outright, earn a bid to the NIT, collect a 23-7 overall record and a 12-2 record in conference play, and defeat power five opponents South Carolina and Oregon State.

#PrincetonPros
Seven Princeton men's basketball alumni currently play basketball in the professional ranks; Devin Cannady '20 (South Bay Lakers of the NBA G-League), Ryan Schwieger '21 (Rasta Vechta), Richmond Aririguzoh '20 (Kangoeroes Basket Willebroek), Myles Stephens '19 (Crailshem Merlins), Amir Bell '18 (Brose Bamberg), Spencer Weisz '17 (Hapoel Haifa), and Ian Hummer '13 (Peristeri).

Princeton Alumni
Four members of the Class of 2022 are doing grad years at other institutions due to an Ivy rule that does not allow student-athletes to compete for a fifth year in the conference.

Drew Friberg is at Belmont, where he is averaging 11.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists. His 45.5% mark from three ranks third in the nation, his 97 made threes ranks 14th, his 3.03 made three-point field goals per game rank 21^st.

Ethan Wright is at Colorado, where he's appeared in 31 games, and Jaelin Llewellyn started in all eight of his appearances at Michigan prior to his season being cut short due to injury. Max Johns is also doing a grad year at Duke.

Princeton's Schedule Over The Years
The Tigers have become known for playing a tough schedule and inside some of the most iconic arenas in college basketball and professional sports. 2022-23 had the Tigers playing in Copper Box Arena in London, England, as part of the 2022 London Basketball Classic where they won the title. Copper Box Arena was the basketball venue for the 2012 London Olympics. Princeton also played inside Alumni Hall against Navy as part of the 2022 Veteran's Classic.

In 2021-22, the Tigers played in Gill Coliseum, home of Oregon State, and Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina, as part of the nationally televised Asheville Championship. In 2019-20, the Tigers played inside the new home of the Golden State Warriors the Chase Center, the Barclays Center, and Assembly Hall when the Tigers met Indiana for the first time since 1997. The Tigers also played inside PPG Paints Arena, home of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.

Over the past six years Princeton's schedule has included contests inside Cameron Indoor Arena, Madison Square Garden, the base at Pearl Harbor for the 75th anniversary of the attack there, Arizona State's home Desert Financial Arena, Hinkle Fieldhouse, American Airlines Arena and BYU's home the Marriott Center.