Penn At The Palestra Up Next For Men's Basketball

Game 22: Princeton (15-6, 4-2) at Penn (6-13, 2-4) – 2/7, 7 p.m.
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PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton University men's basketball team will look to earn a 12th consecutive victory over the University of Pennsylvania when the Tiger face the Quakers inside the Palestra on Feb. 7.

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.

One Of The Nation's Top Winning Percentages
The Tigers winning percentage of 75.9% since the start of the 2021-22 season ranks No. 11 in the nation for best winning percentage. Princeton has gone 85-25 in that time span.

Impressive Home Record
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Princeton has gone 45-8 at home for an 84.90 winning percentage.

Impressive Road Record
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, the Tigers rank fourth in the nation for highest winning percentage on the road (72.1%). Princeton has a 31-12 road since 2021.

Last Time Out
The Tigers earned a 20-point victory over Brown inside Jadwin Gymnasium, 69-49, on Feb. 1. Xaivian Lee led the Tigers with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and had 10 rebounds and four assists. Blake Peters added 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting and Caden Pierce recorded his 27th career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jackson Hicke contributed nine points on 4-for-7 shooting, six rebounds, two assists and two steals for Princeton.

All-Time Series Against Penn
The Quakers lead the Tigers, 126-124, in a series that began in 1903. At the Palestra, Penn leads 68-53.

All-Time Series Against Penn Under Mitch Henderson
Henderson is 20-4 all-time against Penn as head coach of the Tigers and has guided Princeton to victory in the past 11 meetings between the two programs.

Last Time They Met
The Tigers defeated the Quakers, 105-83, on Mar. 9, 2024, inside the Palestra. The Tigers shot 63.0% (17-for-27) from three, 58.1% (36-for-62) from the field and had four players score in double figures; Caden Pierce (32), Zach Martini (23), Xaivian Lee (13) and Matt Allocco (11).

Almost The Second-Winningest Coach In School History
With 247 career victories, Mitch Henderson ranks No. 3 all-time at Princeton for wins. With three more wins he would tie Franklin C. "Cappy" Cappon, who has 250 wins, for No. 2 all-time and with four would earn the No. 2 spot behind Pete Carril.

National Notice
After his 21-point, 14-rebound performance in Princeton's win over Rutgers on Dec. 21, Caden 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 12.3 points on 49.5% shooting from the field and 40.4% from three along with 7.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists through 20 games. His rebound average leads the Ivy League, and his assist/turnover ratio (1.8) ranks sixth.

An Active Career Leader
His 27 double-doubles rank No. 17 among active players in NCAA DI men's basketball and his 8.0 rebound average No. 15.

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 989 career points, Pierce needs to score 11 more to reach 1,000. He is also sitting on 84 makes from three, requiring 16 more makes to get to 100.

Generational Rebounder
With 649 career rebounds, Pierce ranks No. 7 all-time at Princeton for most rebounds. Christopher Thomforde '69 ranks one spot above him at No. 6 with 709 rebounds.

Lee's 2024-25 Awards
Xaivian Lee was honored as the Ivy League Player of the Week for the second time this season and the fourth time in his career on Jan. 21 after averaging 26.0 points-per-game, 8.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals in Princeton's wins over Dartmouth and Columbia. Lee was also named Ivy Player of the Week and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Week on Dec. 10.

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.

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 Dec. 21 against Rutgers.

Climbing The Single Season Assists Rankings
Through 21 games, Lee has 114 assists which is tied for No. 10 in program history 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 248th in the nation in assist rate (36.0), a stat that measures assists divided by the field goals made by the player's teammates while he is on the court. Lee's 5.4 assits also rank No. 40 in the nation.

A Top Offensive Rating
Lee ranks 30th in the nation in offensive rating (112.4), a stat that measures personal offensive efficiency developed by Dean Oliver.

Offensive X-Plosion
Lee has scored 30 points or more four times in his career, including against Dartmouth (33) on Jan. 18, 2025, Texas State (30) on Nov. 22, 2024, Harvard (33) on Jan. 6, 2023, and Northeastern (30) on Nov. 25, 2023.

All-Around Game
Through 21 games, Lee is averaging 16.4 points-per-game, 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.2 steals with a 2.5 assist/turnover ratio. His assist average and assist/turnover ratio rank second in the Ivy League, his scoring average sixth, and his free throw percentage (75.0%) ninth.

Xaivian Milestone Watch
With 992 career points, Lee needs eight to reach 1,000. In the Tigers' win over Brown on Feb. 1, Lee connected on his 100th career three-pointer.

Peters In The KenPom Rankings
Blake Peters ranks 36th in the nation in effective field goal percentage (63.7%), a metric that is computed from (FGM+0.5*3PM)/FGA. This differs from conventional field goal percentage by taking into account the extra value of a made three-pointer. Additionally, he ranks 45th in the nation in true shooting percentage (65.1%), which is like eFG% but adds trips to the line and converts it to a shooting percentage that approximates what two-point percentage a player would need to have to score the points he produces on all of his shooting attempts.

Blake P3ters
Blake Peters is averaging 10.3 points-per-game and ranks fifth in the conference in three-point field goals-per-game (2.7) and seventh in three-point percentage (41.2%).

A Hot Start To Ivy Play
In Princeton's six Ivy League games, Peters has taken his game to another level. He's averaging 12.8 points and ranks second in the conference in three-point field goals-per-game (3.5) and sixth in three-point percentage (46.7%). Peters' seven steals are also a team-high.

Moving Up The All-Time Three-Pointers Made List
With 170 career three-pointers, Peters ranks No. 7 on Princeton's all-time list. With 209 three-pointers, Spencer Weisz '17 ranks No. 6

A Third Ivy League Player Of The Week In 2024-25
On Jan. 6, Dalen Davis joined Pierce (Dec. 23) and Lee (Dec. 9) as Tigers named Ivy Player of the Week in 2024-25. In Princeton's wins over Akron and Kean, Davis averaged 13.5 points-per-game, 4.0 steals, 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds. Against the Zips, Davis buried the game-winning three-point shot in the final moments of the contest.

Year Two For Dalen Davis
After averaging double figures over the final 10 games of his freshman season, Dalen Davis is averaging 9.8 points-per-game, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals. He ranks seventh in the Ivy League in steals and eighth in three-point field goals-per-game (2.0).

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-pointers tied his career-best.

The Development Of Jackson Hicke
Against Yale on Jan. 31, Jackson Hicke scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed three rebounds. He followed that up with nine points on 4-for-7 shooting along with six rebounds, two assists and two steals against Brown on Feb. 1. In Ivy League play, Hicke is averaging 7.2 points and 3.7 rebound,.

Happy's First Career Start
CJ Happy made his first career start on Feb. 1 against Brown. Happy had an impactful weekend against the Bears and Bulldogs, averaging 7.0 points on 66.7% shooting from the field and 50.0% shooting from three along with 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 20.3 minutes-per-game.

Stanton's Career Night
Jack Stanton provided a spark off the bench against Yale on Jan. 31, scoring 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from three in 10 minutes.

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).

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