Men's Basketball To Host Akron In Final Game Of 2024, Open 2025 Against Kean

Game 14: Princeton (9-4) vs Akron (7-4) – 12/30, 1 p.m.
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Game 15: Princeton (9-4) vs Kean (4-6) – 1/4, 11:30 a.m.
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PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton University men's basketball team plays its final game of 2024 when it hosts Akron inside Jadwin Gymnasium on Dec. 30 before opening 2025 at home against Kean on Jan. 4.

Last Time Out
The Tigers took down Big Ten opponent Rutgers, 83-82, in the Never Forget Tribute Classic inside Prudential Center on Dec. 21. Junior Caden Pierce recorded his 24th career double-double, scoring 21 points on 10-17 shooting and grabbing 14 rebounds. Junior Xaivian Lee also had a double-double, finishing with 21 points, a career-high 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals. Princeton out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights, 43-36, and the Tigers' 19 offensive rebounds were a season-high.

All-Time Series
The all-time series, which began in 2012, is tied 1-1. Both games have taken place during Mitch Henderson's tenure as Franklin C. Cappon-Edward C. Green '40 Head Coach.

Last Time They Met
A layup at the buzzer by Myles Stephens '19 gave Princeton a 64-62 win over Akron on Dec. 23, 2017, at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. Amir Bell's 16 points led the Tigers while he also grabbed five rebounds and three assists. Stephens added 15 points and six rebounds.

Almost The Second-Winningest Coach In School History
With 241 career victories, Mitch Henderson ranks No. 3 all-time at Princeton for wins. With nine more wins he would tie Franklin C. "Cappy" Cappon, who has 250 wins, for No. 2 all-time and with 10 would earn the No. 2 spot behind Pete Carril.

National Notice
After his 21-point, 14-rebound performance in Princeton's win over Rutgers, Pierce was recognized nationally. On Dec. 23 he was named Lute Olson National Player of the Week by collegeinsider.com then on Dec. 24 he was honored as one of five Oscar Robertson Trophy National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). In addition, Pierce received the Ivy League Player of the Week award for the sixth time in his career on Dec. 23.

Early-Season Watch Lists
Pierce was named to the Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award Early-Season Watch List along with the Lou Henson Mid Major National Player of the Year Award Early-Season Watch List. He was joined by Lee on the Lou Henson Mid Major National Player of the Year Award Early-Season Watch List.

Karl Malone Power Forward Of The Year Top-20 Preseason Watch List
Pierce was one of 20 players named to the Naismith Starting 5 - Karl Malone Power Forward Of The Year Top-20 Preseason Watch List. This prestigious award honors the best power forwards in men's college basketball and is presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame, highlighting the elite talent in the sport.

The 2024 Ivy League Player of the Year
Pierce is averaging 12.1 points on 53.9% shooting from the field, 7.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists through 13 games. His rebound average ranks third in the Ivy League and his field goal percentage fifth.

An Active Career Leader
His 24 double-doubles rank No. 17 among active players in NCAA DI men's basketball and his 8.0 rebound average No. 18.

Jersey Jam Most Outstanding Player
Pierce was named Most Outstanding Player at the Jersey Jam after finishing with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting and five rebounds.

Pierce Milestone Watch
With 900 career points, Pierce needs to score 100 more to reach 1,000. He is also sitting on 75 makes from three, requiring 25 more makes to get to 100.

Generational Rebounder
With 594 career rebounds, Pierce ranks No. 9 all-time at Princeton for most rebounds. To move up to No. 8, he needs 12 more and will pass Spencer Weisz '17, who ended his career with 605.

Lee's 2024-25 Awards
Xaivian Lee was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Dec. 10 and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Week on Dec. 10. He earned the awards after averaging 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.5 assists.

Testing The Waters
Lee declared for the 2024 NBA draft but elected to return to Princeton for his junior year. He was one of 45 players selected to attend the NBA G League Elite Camp in May.

Historic Triple Double
Lee became the first Tiger in program history to record a triple double since assists were first recorded in 1974-95 in Princeton's win at Saint Joe's on Dec. 3. Lee tied the team-high in scoring with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting, had a game and career-high 13 rebounds along with a game and career-high 10 assists.

One Of 10
Lee is one of ten players to record a triple double in 2024-25. The others are Kam Jones (Marquette), Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh), Sean Smith (Western Illinois), Blake Harper (Howard), Tyson Dunn (Buffalo), Ketron Shaw (UMES), Sheldon Williams (A&M Corpus Christi), Javontae Campbell (Bowling Green) and Terri Mitchell Jr. (Portland State)

First Ivy Player To Do It In Years
The last Ivy League player to record a triple double was Yale's Jordan Bruner against Cornell in a double overtime game on Feb. 21, 2020. The most recent Ivy player to record a triple double in a regulation game was the University of Pennsylvania's AJ Brodeur on Nov. 29, 2019, against Arizona.

Historic Assist Numbers
Before Lee, the last Princeton player to have at least 10 assists in a game was Spencer Weisz '17, who had 13 at Liberty on Dec. 10, 2016. His 13 assists against Liberty also marked the last time a Tiger had at least 11 assists in a game, a feat accomplished by Lee on Jan. 21 against Rutgers.

Already Doubling His 2023-24 Assist Total
Through 13 games, Lee has 78 assists. In 29 games in 2024, Lee finished with 108 assists, which ranked No. 18 all-time at Princeton for most assists in a season.

Floor General
Lee became the first Princeton player to record seven or more assists in consecutive games since Tosan Evbuomwan '23 had seven against Bucknell (Dec. 7, 2021) and eight at Lafayette (Dec. 11, 2021). Lee had nine assists against Duquense (Nov. 8) then eight at Northeastern (Nov. 10).

Assist Rate Leader
Lee ranks 11th in the nation in assist rate (39.7), a stat that measures assists divided by the field goals made by the player's teammates while he is on the court.

Offensive X-Plosion
Lee has scored 30 points or more three times in his career, including against Texas State (30) on Nov. 22, 2024, Harvard (33) on Jan. 6, 2023, and Northeastern (30) on Nov. 25, 2023.

All-Around Game
Through 13 games, Lee is averaging 16.2 points-per-game, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.2 steals with a 2.7 assist/turnover ratio. His assist average leads the Ivy League, as does his assist/turnover ratio. Lee also ranks fifth in the conference in points-per-game, eighth in steals and tenth in rebounds.

Xaivian Milestone Watch
With 858 career points, Lee needs 142 to reach 1,000. He is also 14 three-pointers away from 100, having made 86 in his career.

Phil-ing It Up
Philip Byriel had a career night on Dec. 3 in Princeton's victory at Saint Joe's, recording career-highs in points (18) and made three-pointers (six).

Byriel Making An Impact
Byriel has started the Tigers' past seven games and is averaging 6.0 points-per-game and 2.3 rebounds in 17.7 minutes.

Ivy League Rookie of the Week
Malik Abdullahi was honored as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Nov. 18. In 19.9 minutes-per-game, he averaged 9.5 points on 64.3% shooting and 3.5 rebounds in games against Loyola Chicago on Nov. 15 and Merrimack on Nov. 17.

Making An Impact As A Freshman
Abdullahi, who has started seven games, is averaging 6.2 points on 67.9% shooting from the field. Abdullahi's six blocked shots lead the Tigers.

Picking Up Where He Left Off – And Then Some
After averaging double figures over the final 10 games of his freshman season, Dalen Davis is averaging 11.5 points-per-game and shooting 39.0% from three (tenth in the Ivy League) and 88.2% from the free throw line (seventh in the Ivy League).

Davis' Career Day
Davis scored a career-high 25 points against Northeastern Nov. 10, exceeding his previous career-high of 21, set on in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal against Brown on Mar. 16, 2024. Davis' nine made field goals were a career-high, while his four made three-pointer tied his career-best.

Blake P3ters
Blake Peters is averaging 9.8 points-per-game and ranks sixth in the conference in three-point field goals-per-game (2.5) along with ninth in three-point percentage (39.3%).

Moving Up The All-Time Three-Pointers Made List
With 155 career three-pointers, Peters is tied for No. 11 on Princeton's all-time list. With one more made three, he would tie Kyle Koncz '08 and Steven Cook '17 for ninth all-time at Princeton. Should he make more than one, he would own the ninth spot outright. Sydney Johnson '97 ranks No. 8, with 162 three-pointers.
Happy Steps Up
In the Tigers' games against Portland (Nov. 24) and Nazareth (Nov. 27), CJ Happy averaged 17.0 points-per-game on 59.1% shooting from the field and 50.0% shooting from three along with 4.4 rebounds. Happy went 2-for-4 from three against Portland and 4-for-8 against Nazareth.

Seeing More From Seals
Peyton Seals averaged 11.5 points-per-game on 47.1% shooting and 40.0% from three along with 4.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals in games against Portland (Nov. 24) and Nazareth (Nov. 27).

Defensive Presence
Jack Stanton's five steals against Portland were the most by a Princeton player since Ryan Langborg '23 recorded five against Northeastern at the London Basketball Classic on Nov. 26, 2022.

On The Hunt For A Four-Peat
The 2024-25 season will see Princeton aim to win its fourth-straight Ivy League title, its fifth in the past nine seasons and its 31st overall.

Impressive Home Record
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Princeton has gone 40-6 for an 87.0 winning percentage.

The Class Of 2024
Zach Martini is playing a grad year at Rutgers and Matt Allocco at Notre Dame due to an Ivy rule prohibiting grad students.

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