Irish just too good, but they'll do it again tomorrow night, same time, same place just in case I'm wrong. I'll be there, but I won't be with you. Thanks to everyone who stuck it out with Sideline Dispatches.
Good Night.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Notre Dame 4, Princeton 2
That's the Game
Irish's Ben Ryan fights through four Princeton plays to knock the puck between Kalemba's legs, sparking a mass exodus from History Hobey Baker Rink with 1:40 remaining in the game.
4-2 Notre Dame.
Kevin Lohry
Just received a minor for tripping. That's not gonna help the Tigers, who probably won't be looking to match the Domers' shortie from earlier in the game.
Pridham takes the puck from Pearce behind the net, but has no one it pass to as the Tigers refocus their efforts on killing the penalty with two minutes remaining in regulation.
Christian Hanson. Causing More Problems
He might be eight inches taller and 50 pounds heavier than Kevin Kaiser, but he's going to go after him anyway. This is college hockey so they plew the whistle and nothing happened.
Tigers Back in the Game
Jubinville passes up to Fedun from behind the net who shoots the puck past Pearce, cutting the Irish lead in half. 6:36 left, Princeton needs to keep the pressure on.
Flying V
That's what I'd go with right now if I were coaching the Tigers... Clearly they disagree. Maybe that's why thier power play was killed with 9:15 remaining in the third.
Odd Man Rush, The Sequel
This one Kalemba stops with 12:46 remaining as Deeth shoots it right into his chest.
Irish Still in Control
"They're bigger, they're faster... they have more facial hair."
Les Averman on Iceland or any Princeton player on the Irish?
3-1 Irish
Odd-man rush 2-on-1 leads to a Notre Dame goal at 4:32 in the period. Thats the third short-handed goal the Tigers have allowed this year and odd-man rushes are becoming an issue for them once again.
Arhontas is Back
And he's on the ice, drawing a Golden Domer penalty for tirpping... Power play coming up for the Tigers with the Death Line.
Penalty killed but...
Looks like Arhontas is hurt... he just went downstairs with the Princeton trainer. Notre Dame still dominated three minutes into the third.
The Death Line Returneth
They've looked more like the "Barely-in-a-Coma" line tonight.
Penalty against the Tigers...
Confirmation on Notre Dame's Dominance of the Second
Outshot the Tigers 14-3. That's not good for Princeton fans.
Tigers/Ducks
Here are a few more Mighty Ducks comparisons...
- Kevin Kaiser = Luis Mendoza. He fast. But Kaiser can stop.
- Cam MacIntyre = Fulton Reed. Big hits, big shot.
- Brett Wilson = Charlie Conway (D3 only). Center, scorer, occasionally angry with opposing players and/or referees.
- Dan Bartlett = Dwayne Robertson. He might not be Texan, but he's got crazy dangles.
- Mike Moore = Dean Portman. Both hit big, both wear #21.
Some Dude
Took five shots from the blue line, missed three. It's awkward when a full-grown man fails like that. He could have had $100 dollars. Now all he has is ridicule.
End of the Second
2-1 Irish. The Tigers it was lucky it was only one for ND this period. Moore goes back over to the referee for his ritualistic post-period chat.
The Ice is Slippery
Kaiser just fell down twice in fifteen seconds and Brandan Kushniruk ate it as well. Someone get a towel out there.
Mike Moore, Friend of Gynmasts
He just helped one of the Irish work on his somersaults. What a sweetheart. The crowd disproved my suspicions that they were all cardboard cut-outs on that one. Maybe they'll start making a little more noise. Haha, that's silly. I think we all know that's not happening.
Princeton clinging to a 1-1 tie with 4:46 left in the second.
Timeout Worked
But only for a couple minutes. Now it's back to all Irish. If Kalemba can hold them off until the end of the period, it'll be a huge boost for the Tigers' morale. I'm not optimistic.
And We Have a Scrum!
Wilson is getting into it with Deeth for a minute before the refs break it up. If they don't let Wilson hit somebody before the season ends, he's going to explode and end up knocking out a ref.
MacIntyre just went for a nice wrap-around with 8:30 remaining, but Pearce made the save.
Kalemba, Standing on His Head
The Irish have taken about 10 shots on him in the last ten minutes, and he just stopped on right in front of the goaline. If the Tigers don't start generating a little more offense though, he's gonna get cracked eventually.
Now he's on his back after making a save. Someone has to pick him up (figuratively, not literally). Julie "The Cat" Gaffney would be proud.
9:29 remaining in the second and Gadowsky calls a timeout to get the troops together. He looks somewhat less than pleased.
Goalie Masks
Princeton v. Notre Dame
Kalemba v. Pearce.
I've got to go with Kalemba's here. It's got Nassau Hall, Einstein, Hobey Baker. There was even an article written on it, but I'm not going to plug my own stuff.
Pearce's is real nice too. Double Leprechauns and the American flag on the back. Gotta love the patriotism from someone who doesn't even hail from the Continental U.S. I'm putting Alaska back on my "Most Patriotic States." All you Alaskans out there watching this, you can thank Jordan Pearce.
10:54 left in the second.
Penalty Killed
The Fighting Irish kept it in the Princeton end almost the entire time, but couldn't generate too many shots.
Don't Get close to my Goalie
Magnowski pushes Irish shooter as he approaches Kalemba, but now we're going to have a different Princeton penalty, on freshman defender Matt Godlewski with 14:54 remaining for holding the stick. I'm gonna pass on the joke here.
Almost for the Tigers
Wilson controlled the puck behind the ND net, trying to get it to Kaiser, but it was just wide. Now Princeton is going to take the icing call and re-group. It seems like a good time for another Mighty Ducks analogy, but they never play any close games, so it hard to come up with a comparable situation.
Hell's Bells
Teams are coming back out on the ice. For the three of you who are still with me, Notre Dame outshot Princeton 13-10 in the first period... Puck dropping for the second... NOW.
Near-Capacity Crowd
It's not sold out but its definitely the most crowded I've see it this year. I've never seen the balcony a third full, and now it doesn't look like there's a seat left up there. The concession stands must be making a killing. Despite the increase in number of fans, they've made about as little noise as the fans typically do when the rink is half-full.
A little intermission "Baba O'Reilly." Good stuff, but I wish they'd play the aptly named "Zamboni Song."
Yep.
All right, but I guess that wasn't very nice. One kid for the team in white jerseys got a breakway and looked like he tried to go a little Charlie Conway triple-deke, missing by a bit. The fans enjoyed it.
4-on-4 Pee-Wee Hockey
It's happening right now. $20 bucks says no goals are scored and everyone falls down at least twice.
End of the First
All tied up at one. Pretty evenly matched first period. Moore and Condra head over to have some works with referee John Murphy... wonder what that was about.
This live-blogging stuff isn't as easy as it looks.
Go, Johnny, Go
Wise choice by the music manager here at the rink... I only wish there was somebody on one of these teams named John... maybe next year. One minute left in the first.
Kalemba Gloves Puck with 1:21 to Play
He's not having too much success grabbing rebounds though. ND mostly hasn't been able to capitalize on second chance opportunities. Coach Orion would be very pleased with the way the Tigers are cleaning up the trash. Actual coach Guy Gadowsky probably is too.
Big Hit wakes up Golden Domers
Tied up at one after Garret Regan sends the puck off the post, grabs his own rebound and puts it past Kalemba. All right, maybe that whole hitting thing didn't work out too well for the Tigers. The Irish look a little more focused now.
Mike Moore aka Dean Portman
He nearly decapitated Notre Dame's Kevin Deeth... the crowd liked that one.
Fedun...
With the whiff from the point... no harm done though as the Tigers clear the puck down. 5:45 left in the first.
1-0 Tigers
Senior Forward Erik Pridham sends one straight through Pearce's five-hole for his first goal of the season, assisted by Kaiser. Maybe I spoke too soon on the Goldberg analogy. That one wasn't too pretty as Pearce was unable to stop the slow-moving puck.
Almost Got a Souvenir
Up here in the press box as the puck deflects off MacIntyre's stick... Another powerplay for the Tigers coming up as Condra heads to the box with 8:51 remaining.
Power Play killed...
A bunch of shots from the point by defensemen Moore and Taylor Fedun, but Pearce makes a bunch of nice saves. He reminds me of a young Greg Goldberg.
Expect many more Mighty Ducks references before the night is through.
Sophomore forward Kevin Kaiser
Just had a shot at the open net, narrowly missing wide right. We also have our first penalty of the game, to ND's Dan Venard for hooking.
The Golden Domers, Mucho Pressure
Led by Christian Hanson, they've kept the puck in the Princeton end for the last two minutes, but Matt Arhontas just cleared it it.
Princeton's Death Line
Thats Jubinville, MacIntyre, and Wilson... making its second appearance of the night but coming up empty. That's what I'm calling them until someone comes up with a better name... feel free to make suggestions.
Shot from Magnowski
Deflected just wide of the net... another chance as Moore get the puck in front of the crease, but he shoots it right at ND goalie Jordan Pearce. Good pressure early from the Tigers.
Senior Captain Mike Moore
He's giving the pre-game pep-talk. With Kyle Hagel sidelined, he'll probably account for roughly 85% of the Tigers' big hits tonight.
Pre-game Prediction
I actually like the Tigers' chances in this one... Look for a 4-3 upset as Princeton takes to the ice for its final homestand of 2007.
A few players to look for...
Princeton
- Cam MacIntyre: The Tigers' leading goal-scorer, who has notched seven thus far on the season.
- Lee Jubinville: After being knocked out of Friday night's game against RPI in the third period, Jubs came back to score a goal against Union and add two assists in the Tigers' win.
- Brett Wilson: The final member of Princeton's top scoring line, Wilson was the hero of the Tigers' first home win on Saturday, scoring two goals and assisting on Jubinville's goal.
- Mark Magnowski: Returned on Saturday after missing four games due to injury, Mags scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Tigers.
- Ryan Thang: The Fighting Irish's top goal-scorer, with 10 already on the season.
- Erik Condra: The Michigan native leads Notre Dame in total points, with 20.
Countdown to Princeton vs. Notre Dame at Baker Rink
Only six hours 'til the puck drops...
Word is that the game is close to sold out, so if you're still interested in going, get tickets now. Otherwise you're stuck with me.
Stay tuned for my pre-game prediction, but until then, check out the full preview of the game in today's Daily Princetonian, written by esteemed hockey guru Jonathan Leitch.
See you soon.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Tigers win, 34-31
Improve to 2-2 in the Ivy League and 3-4 overall in a thrilling game full of special teams drama. Sophomore running back Jordan Cubreath ends the game with 11 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Zell's field goal is wide right
With five seconds left. The gamesmanship worked. Tigers are going to win this one.
Zell ready to try again
Princeton uses its last timeout. This game has been brought to you by Haterade.
47-yard field goal attempt
Zell knocks it through the uprights, but Princeton calls a timeout before the snap and the play is blown dead.
26 seconds to go
Second down and 10. Ford evades sack in backfield, runs out of bounds for loss of a yard with 17 seconds to go.
Wide open Big Red receiver comes up with big grab down the sideline
But a huge penalty brings the play all the way back.
Second and two on Cornell 48
Ford out of shotgun. Picks up first down, barely. 1:24 to go in the game.
Hughes elects to go for it on fourth and ten
Mroz out of shotgun. Incomplete pass. Turnover on downs. Cornell takes over with 2:01 to go.
Still passing
With 2:11 to go in the game and taking over the ball at Cornell's 28, Mroz goes for the endzone on a super-dangerous pass to Circle, which is batted down by a Big Red defensive back. A draw play on third down brings up fourth down.
Yes, that Rob Toresco
Apparently he plays special teams too. And the senior fullback may have just come up with the biggest special teams play of Princeton's season, recovering Coyle's punt after the Big Red couldn't handle it.
Mroz out of shotgun
Hands to Culbreath, who can't quite pick up the yardage. Coyle comes out to punt on fourth and one.
Mroz calls timeout on third and two
At Princeton 31-yard line. This is a good one to talk over. Princeton has two timeouts left.
With 5:34 to go, Cornell driving
Big Red on its own 43. Ford goes deep down the sideline with a high-arcing pass, but sophomore cornerback Dan Kopolovich outruns the Big Red receiver and makes a ridiculous diving catch for the interception. Tiger ball. Dudes in the Cornell coaches box are barking mad.
Tigers lead 34-31
Following the Culbreath monster run, which was his second touchdown of the game, and which put him over 100 yards rushing for the day
Culbreath of fresh air
Culbreath busts out another ridiculous run, taking a pitch from Mroz at the Princeton 42 and carrying it all the way into the endzone.
His 58-yard touchdown ended with a nifty cut late in the run to elude a Cornell defensive back waiting to wrap him up shy of the endzone. Junior wide receiver Adam Berry also made a great block on the play. A Big Red defender face-masked Cubreath about a quarter of the way into his run, but that penalty was heartily declined.
Ford sandwich
Sophomore linebacker John Callahan and junior linebacker Collin McCarthy team up to sack Cornell's quarterback. The Tiger defensive comes up with another stop, forcing a Cornell punt.
Mroz takes over at midfield, hands to Culbreath for a nice gain, but a penalty against Princeton negates the rush.
8:56 to go in the game, Cornell still up 31-27
The Tiger defensive has been making stops. It will have to make at least one more here to give the offense a chance for the go-ahead touchdown.
Intentional grounding brings up third-and-26
Mroz fires to Circele out of the shotgun for a gain of 12, but its not enough and the Tigers must punt.
Senior linebacker Doori Song comes up with a crushing tackle on special teams to pin the Big Red punt-returner at the Cornell 18.
Circle again
Nice hands catch and tiptoes around his defender for another nice gain. The officials bring out the chains and he's just inches short of a first down.
On third and inches, Mroz takes the snap and pushes forward through the line for the first down. Princeton has first and ten on its 46-yard line.
Circle sighting
Mroz hits Circle on the numbers for a first down, moving the ball to the Princeton 35-yard line.
Karacozoff-ed!
Sophomore defensive end Joel Karacozoff blasts out of the backfield to sack Ford on a crucial third-and-eight play. Pumped, Karacozoff smacks Ford with both hands on the backside as he lays crumpled on the ground. Really big play. Zell comes out to attempt a long field goal and it is short, no good.
Karacozoff is basically a third-string defensive end, filling in for the injured junior Tom Methvin, as well as his backup, injured senior Aaron Carter. The converted tight end has been coming up with big play after big play, though, since being inserted into the lineup.
Just like that
Mroz's pass is tipped at the line of scrimmage and pops up into the air. A Big Red defensive back grabs it out of the air and wins possession back for Cornell at the Princeton 19-yard line.
Fourth quarter underway
Cornell is once again in Princeton territory, with the ball at the 40 on third down and seven. Ford once again finds a wide open teammate for a first-down, but Jesse Baker is leveled by a Tiger tackle and loses control of the ball near the sideline. Somehow, the ball stays in bounds and another Princeton player dives on it to take away the first down and give the Tigers back possession. Huge play. Sophomore corner Dan Kopolovich on the fumble recovery.
A night after the Princeton student body celebrated Halloween
These orange jerseys with black helmets and black pants seem perfect. So is this just a one-time thing to show off for the ESPNU audience or a permanent change? Who makes the decisions about Princeton uniforms? The "Prince" promises to investigate these pressing issues.
Tigers forced to punt on ensuing drive
In recent games, it has been the Tiger offense that has been crippling the Tiger defense, forcing them into short-field situations after ugly turnovers. This game, the Princeton defense's utter inability to defend against the Cornell passing game is just demanding way too much from the offense to keep the Tigers in the game. Every Princeton offensive possession that ends in a punt feels like just that much more of a failure.
Cornell threatening once again
Ford pushes the Big Red quickly back to the Princeton eight yard line. On third down and eight, he nearly connects with his receiver for a touchdown, but it glances off his fingertips. Zell comes on for the field goal and knocks it through.
Big Red leads 31-27 with 4:25 to play in the third quarter.
Mroz overthrows Adam Berry by a mile
The junior wideout was wide open and sprinting downfield.
On third and nine, Mroz throws up the middle to no one in particular.
Freshman Matt Ransom handles the kickoff return
Tigers take over possession with a little under 10 minutes to go in the third quarter.
Big Red grabs back the lead, 28-27
Ford keeps it himself and dives up the middle for the two-yard touchdown.
Cornell faces third-and-four at Princeton 12
Ford continues to move the ball downfield. Timeout Cornell.
Ford is 20-for-24 passing
For 156 yards at the half. But those two interceptions have offset a lot of that magic. Among the Cornell receivers, Bryan Waters has seven catches already for 97 yards (yeah). And Canty has 43 yards receiving with two touchdowns.
Good news for those of you concerned with Ryan Coyle's punting stats
That punt Coyle had blocked earlier in the game does not count as a fat goose egg in tabulating his season-punting average. So he's averaging 44.0 on punts for this game, which should keep him among the leaders in the Football Championship Subdivision. His average of 45.1 yards per punt coming into the game led the Ivy League by almost three yards, and ranked fourth nationally. Apparently those two years apprenticing the legendary Colin McDonough '07 were quite useful.
Culbreath with three carries...
And 78 yards. That's 26 yards per rush. Give it to him every time?
Mroz, meanwhile, has rushed for 62 yards on seven attempts. That's three more yards than he has passed for. Mroz is just six-for-14 in the air, but has avoided the interception bug.
Thousandaire
The guy on the field for the AllState $1,00 field-goal try nails a 25-yard attempt off a tee. That is not easy, folks.
Tigers up 27-21 at the half
The Tigers were lucky to only give up 21 points, but the 27 points on offense were all hard-earned. Sophomore Jordan Culbreath is really emerging as a force at running back.
13 seconds left in a really good half
Cornell has the ball at its own 34. Might kind of like those timeouts back now. With the clock against it, the Big Red is content to run out the clock.
You know where you can stick your timeouts?
Da-da-da-danggggg. Princeton busts out a fake field goal straight out of NFL Blitz, with senior holder (and part-time wide receiver) Brendan Circle standing up with the snap and sprinting forward into the endzone for a 22-yard touchdown run. Cornell picked up on the trickery late, put quick enough to chase down Circle. Good blocking and sheer determination on Circle's part, though, powered him into the endzone.
Princeton makes the point-after this time. 27-21 Tigers.
Hey why not?
Cornell calls another timeout, at this point unabashedly sipping on Haterade.
In the NFL, you can't call two straight timeouts.
Fourth-and-three with 0:27 to go in the half
The Tigers will attempt a 39-yard field goal. Cornell calls a timeout to ice Conner Louden. "Icing" is one of the most player-hating moves in all of sports.
Culbreath tearing it up
The sophomore is the only Tiger rusher in the backfield and Princeton is going to him consistently and reaping the benefits. Almost single-handedly, he moves them to the Cornell 22-yard line.
21-20 Cornell
Big Red running back Randy Barbour punctuates a long Cornell drive with a touchdown run up the middle and Peter Zell knocks in the extra point to put the Big Red on top. Barbour is the reigning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, having churned out 159 yards in Cornell's 38-31 win over Brown last week--including the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
Worst two-interception half ever
Despite the two picks, the Tiger secondary considers to get absolutely lit up. Ford is finding receivers open on midrange routes whenever he wants.
These video-scoreboard operators need to get their minds right
So they keep showing fans cheering up on the video scoreboard, right? But they hold the camera on each fan way too long, so the fan cheers for a while and gets really excited but then they are done cheering and the camera just sits on them and it gets really awkward. This happens way too often.
Tigers with the ball on the Cornell 7
Third down and 3 to go. Mroz rolls back and fires off his back foot to senior fullback Rob Toresco, who curls around the Big Red defender and lunges into the endzone.
The future is now
Former ESPNU "Summer House" star Cart Kelly, a sophomore defensive back, outleaps a Cornell receiver to intercept a pass tipped high into the air. Kelly then avoids an early tackle and sprints far up field, looking like a receiver as he dodges prospective Cornell tacklers.
Clearly, Kelly must have been pumped to hear this game was being broadcast on the network that made him a star.
Unredemption? Cornell 14, Princeton 14
A few plays after the interception by sophomore safety Wilson Cates, Cornell comes up with a blocked punt and a Big Red player dives on the ball.
On the first play of the ensuing Cornell drive, Ford finds Canty for their second touchdown hook-up of the game.
Redemption
The Tiger secondary comes up with a huge interception, ending the mounting Big Red drive and giving the ball back to the Tigers on their own half of the field.
Ford continues to thrive
Cornell moves quickly back into Tiger territory after Princeton's post-touchdown kickoff. The Tiger secondary is leaving people open like its their job.
Weapons, weapons everywhere
The Princeton offense really has an impressive array of playmakers. From running backs like Culbreath, junior R.C. Lagomarsino, senior Rob Toresco, and sophomore Kenny Gunter to wideouts like Circle and junior Adam Berry, there are a ton of guys on the Tiger roster who can bust out a huge play at any given moment.
It's really just a matter of figuring out a quarterback who can get guide the ship, and the coaches putting him in the best situation to make plays with his specific skill set.
Culbreath making a name for himself
Starting with the loss to Hampton three weeks ago, Culbreath has been proving himself to be a star-in-the-making in the Tiger backfield. This was his first career touchdown, but looking at this play, I can guarantee you it will not be his last. Culbreath has insane speed and makes some really great moves in the backfield, showing an uncanny ability to break early-arriving tacklers.
A great block set him loose after he made it past the Cornell linemen, and then he just showed off his speed for the final 30 yards.
Very impressive.
What rain? 14-7 Tigers
Sophomore running back Jordan Culbreath busts out a loco 49-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers back on top.
Has anybody seen Rihanna?
There are umbrellas popping up all over Princeton stadium. Unfortunately, the Tigers can't stand under them.
Chill out, lady
Some lady is standing up and screaming and cheering in the back of the press box after the Cornell touchdown. A security guard comes over to tell her to pipe down. You're not allowed to express emotion in here.
Cornell 7, Princeton 7
Ford finds a leaping Zac Canty in the near corner of the end zone, and the Princeton corner can't make a play on the ball. That was only Ford's fifth touchdown pass of the year.
Canty is only listed at five feet, eight inches. His backup, Tommy Bleymaier, is only 5'9".
Ford living up to reputation
The most accurate passer in the Ivy League--going into the game at 62.8 percent-- Big Red quarterback Nathan Ford has been absolutely picking apart the Tiger secondary, which has been one of the weakest units on the Princeton squad all season.
Rush defense on point
Another big stuff in the backfield for the Tigers, sticking Cornell in a third-and-six situation. Ford converts, finding a receiver up the middle for a first down.
Coyle unleashes a beauty
The junior punter sticks the Big Red back in its own territory with a booming punt that the Tigers down at the Cornell 45.
Tigers take over on own 4-yard line
Big moment for Mroz, who has to show he can make good decisions in these situations. On second down, he gets rid of the ball in time to avoid a safety facing a heavy Big Red rush, and throws away the ball to a safe part of the field.
Tigers can't convert on third down, so they'll be forced to punt.
Big Red facing third-and-22
After a penalty and a couple Tiger stuffs in the backfield, Ford runs out of bounds for a short gain on third down and the Cornell punting unit comes onto the field to give the ball back to the Tigers.
Cornell get's tricky
Ford hands off to a teammate, who hurls an off-balance rain-maker of a throw downfield to a wide-open receiver. Not much zing on it, but effective, moving the ball deep into Princeton territory.
Louden among the Princeton bright spots
The second-year starter is now a perfect 19-for-19 on extra points this year, as well as six-for-eight on field goals. Head coach Roger Hughes doesn't necessarily ask him to make the longest kicks, but in the situations he's been put in he's been very good.
A-Mroz-ing
Mroz runs it right up the gut again for a 12-yard rush into the end zone.
Circle holds onto the snap and junior kicker R.C. Lagomarsino nails the extra point for a 7-0 Princeton lead.
Princeton takes back over
With Cornell moving upfield after a Tiger turnover on downs, the Tigers sack Big Red quarterback Nathan Ford and junior nose guard Matt Koch recovers the fumble to give Princeton the ball back right back on the Cornell 19-yard line.
1st and 10 at the 19
After another Mroz run out of bounds for the first down. Looking good so far. Let's see if the Tigers can keep the ball in their hands in the red zone long enough to get six points.
The only prescription is more Circle
Did you know that senior fullback Rob Toresco has more receptions this season than Circle, who was a first-team all-Ivy wideout last year? The Tigers absolutely must find a way to get him more involved. Honestly, it wouldn't hurt to see Toresco more involved either. He's looked good lining up at wide receiver, essentially, on a number of snaps, but he hasn't really been used effectively in the running game, when he's proved capable of really moving the chains consistently.
Mroz bursts up the middle
The senior quarterback keeps it himself and brings it deep into Cornell territory, to the 30. All three of the Tiger quarterbacks are really mobile. The problems, of course, have been decision-making, throwing technique, and interceptions.
Circle grabs 100th career catch
Becomes 7th player in Tiger history with 100 career receptions. It was a nice one, too, breaking a couple tackles and bringing it to the Princeton 40.
Woah, the orange just got a whole lot oranger
Princeton just ran onto the field in these crazy bright orange uniforms which, of course, look red on the Powers Field video scoreboard.
The uniforms, my friends, are something else. I am speechless. I am positive that when the Tigers were warming up on the field earlier, they were wearing black. Now, they still have the black pants and the black helmets, but the uniforms are straight-up orange. With black numbers. Crazy.
I'm pretty sure we're experiencing Princeton apparel history.
Nine minutes 'til kickoff
They just played "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the stands are still virtually empty.
Still no official word on who will start for the Tigers at quarterback, although the depth chart lists "Bill Foran OR Greg Mroz"
Junior defensive end Tom Methvin's status is also in question, as he is listed as a co-potential starter with sophomore Joel Karacozoff.
By the way, Karacozoff looked really good in the game against Harvard. The converted tight end--who still wears the pass-catching #85--was all over the place. But it'd be nice if both he and Methvin were available.
Seeing Red
Alright, so this has been bugging me for a while, but tonight its just going to get worse. The Department of Athletics bought this tight new video scoreboard for the beginning of the season, which is really cool to watch replays on and stuff, right?
But the problem is, the color scheme on the scoreboard is screwed up in a way that seems to affect one color and only one: orange. For some reason, on the scoreboard, the color orange always looks red. Isn't this the one color you would not want to show up wrong? Isn't this a problem that is worth fixing immediately? Especially for tonight's game, which is against the Cornell Big Red of all teams. As if it wasn't bad enough that Princeton's going to attract less than 1,000 fans to tonight's game, they are all going to look like Big Red fans on the scoreboard. Might as well have just played in Ithaca.
Fading fanaticism
Tonight's attendance figures could be ugly. Between the rain, the Fall Break student-body exodus, and the Tigers' 2-4 record, there are definitely less than 200 people here.
'Prince' Sports photo editor Wes Shim observes that there are probably more members of the Princeton and Cornell bands out practicing on the field right now than there are fans in attendance. He is correct.
Pre-game observations
Nineteen minutes to kickoff here at Princeton Stadium and the rain is coming down. That's not going to affect the playing field now that the Tigers have the Powers Field FieldTurf, but Princeton's receivers--who really struggled last week against Harvard's all-Ivy secondary--are going to have their work cut out for them in these slippery conditions.
Perhaps more significantly for the passing game, the Tigers were out here warming up a few minutes ago and the practice snaps were split by senior quarterback Greg Mroz and junior Brian Anderson. That means no sign of senior Bill Foran, who must still be feeling the effects of the concussion he sustained last week.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Live blogging of the Princeton-Cornell football game starts at 6:45 on Friday night
Please believe,
For all of you who just couldn't wait a day to go home for Fall Break, Sideline Dispatches is back in action, keeping tabs on the football team as it hosts Cornell Friday night at Princeton Stadium.
Sitting at 1-2 in the Ivy League, the defending champion Tigers know that their already diminished hopes at a title repeat will be gone forever if they can't pull this one out against the Big Red and standout quarterback Nathan Ford.
For now, check out the preview of the game in Friday's edition of the "Prince."
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Sydney Johnson '97 offered men's basketball head coaching position
After a month-long search, Sydney Johnson's possible hire would make him one of the youngest head-coaching hires in program history and within today's Ivy League. At this point, one of the most intriguing things about Johnson is how little we know about him -- his coaching philosophy, his recruiting connections from Georgetown, his sideline personality. We'd really like readers to start a dialogue on Johnson's potential as a head coach and the future of the men's basketball team in general in the wake of last year's often-painful campaign. Please use our Comments feature at the bottom of this post. We at the Prince will throw in our thoughts and clarify details wherever we can.
For the full story on Johnson's potential hire, which we first reported Wednesday night, click here. We'll keep the details coming as we get them, both through Sideline Dispatches and in print the next couple of days. We're really looking forward to discussing Johnson with all the current players, as well as his teammates from his day as a Tiger star.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Any seniors trying to avoid a career in banking?
Try this job opening on for size.
- "CPR and first aid certifications are required subsequent to date of hire." Do we even have to insert a punchline here?
Speculation over possible new coaches
Another post from senior writer Jennifer Hart.
It’s March. That means it’s time for the country’s sports fans to live and breathe college basketball. It’s a time for commentary (read: wild speculation) on who will win which games in the NCAA tournament. It’s the time to enter brackets into pools on the off chance you might win some cash. It's also the time, however, when coaching staffs turn over: firings, hirings and resignations create a whole new round of speculation and commentary on the wild world of NCAA basketball.
At Princeton, we're at the center of speculation in many ways. Athletic Director Gary Walters is the chairman of the NCAA Tournament Selection committee. Not to mention the fact that our head coach suddenly resigned on Tuesday to take a job at the University of Denver.
Names are being bandied around the Princeton basketball community. Will Northwestern’s head coach Bill Carmody — who went 92-25 in his four seasons at Princeton — make a triumphant return? Northwestern’s athletic department says no.
Another pair of options is Sydney Johnson ’97 and Robert Burke. Both are currently assistants at Georgetown under John Thompson III ’88. Scott took over for Thompson when he left to coach the Hoyas, taking the Princeton Offense to the nation's capital three years ago. Now Georgetown is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament who many have picked to win the national title.
What about current Princeton assistant Mike Brennan ’94? Current players think he’d be a great choice.
“I love Coach Brennan,” junior Noah Savage said.
The team, however, isn’t terribly worried about who will take over. They also don’t necessarily care if it’s kept in the Princeton family —- those coaches and former players who attended the Pete Carril school of basketball coaching and believe in the Princeton Offense.
Some outside commentators believe a move away from the much vaunted Princeton offense might be called for.
In any event, the search is underway and speculation is sure to run rampant as it progresses and until a successor is named. When Thompson left, the succession was clear: Scott would take over the program, like the prodigal son returning home. Today the field is cluttered by a plethora of names and a team with only fleeting similarities to the one Scott took control of three seasons ago.
More details and comments from both schools
Here's a post from senior writer Jennifer Hart.
It’s been a hectic few days for Athletic Director Gary Walters. Between his position as the head of the NCAA selection committee and the news that head men’s basketball coach Joe Scott ’87 would be taking the same position at the University of Denver, Walters has had a lot on his plate.
“Joe informed me on Thursday that he had had contact with Denver and that he was a finalist for the job and that he was going to interview,” Walters said in an interview with the Daily Princetonian. “My understanding is that he went through the interview process on Monday and they offered him the job on Tuesday. He called me around 6 o’clock or so on Tuesday evening to inform me that he indeed had accepted the job, and upon hearing that I wished him the best of luck.”
The news was released to the public via ESPN.com in an article written by Andy Katz. The University of Denver held a press conference on Wednesday where Vice Chancellor for Athletics Peg Bradley-Doppes welcomed Joe Soctt to the Pioneer family.
“Throughout college basketball today, right now I think there are 22 Division I programs looking for a coach,” Doppes said at the press conference. “Many programs are looking for the next Joe Scott. We are pleased to bring the original.”
When asked by the Daily Princetonian how Scott’s 38-45 record at Princeton affected their choice, Doppes responded that she had watched game film and felt Scott had a great understanding of the game and was running a good system for the Tigers.
Doppes said she has complete confidence in Scott’s ability.
“[Scott] will help us develop a shared vision, a brand, a brand called Denver Basketball, the emphasis being on Denver, our University, and our city. It's my pleasure, truly a pleasure, to introduce the new men's basketball coach of your Denver Pioneers,” Doppes said in the press conference.
Princeton will now begin its own search for a new coach, and Walters expects it will be completed within the month. There are no hard feelings, however, and Walters believes Scott will succeed in the West.
“For whatever reasons, Joe finally decided it was time to move on, and I wish him the best of luck,” Walters said.
Details on Scott's resignation
Our writers have begun to uncover some of the details of the resignation of former men's basketball head coach Joe Scott. Denver vice chancellor of athletics Peg Bradley-Doppes initiated contact with Scott, who notified Princeton athletic director Gary Walters on Thursday, March 15, that he was interviewing for the position.
Scott’s players, however, were allegedly unaware that Scott was interviewing for another job and only found out that he accepted the position by reading ESPN.com.
While Walters had no intention of firing Scott, he was not surprised the under-fire coach departed. Walters would have sat down with Scott to discuss the progress of the program after Walter finished his duties as NCAA tournament chair, but such a discussion would have occurred regardless of the team’s record.
“I have to say that I wasn’t very surprised [that Scott left],” Walters said. “I think this year in particular was extremely painful for him and his family and just people associated with Princeton basketball. Coaches put enormous pressure on themselves to be successful, and I’m sure that from Joe’s point of view ... it was tearing him up inside.”
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Game over, 64-48 Penn
- Hugs for the departing seniors as they walk off they walk off the floor.
- No hugs for the 2-12 Ivy finish.
Senior Love
- With 1:02 on the clock, Scott takes out Buffmire, Conway and Owings together, giving the fans a chance to give them one last standing ovation.
- I'm not kidding when I say the Penn players got a longer ovation, if not a louder one.
- The Jadwin Jungle seems more interested in chanting "Next point wins" than cheering for the Class of 2007. Buczak hits a free throw and the Jadwin Jungle erupts (next point won). The three seniors deserved better.
64-44 Penn
- With 1:30 to go in the game.
- Penn empties the bench, the huge section of Penn fans in attendance gives their seniors a round of applause in their final moments of reguar season action. 15 seconds into the possession, the standing ovation continues.
A hugely overweight Penn fan...
- Repeatedly shouts "DO NOT MAKE THE SHOT" as Pawel (sorry, I was calling him "Pavel" before, I think that's how you pronounce it) Buczak stands at the free-throw line. Buczak obliges, missing the shot.
- Tigers get the rebound, Buczak is fouled again, heads back to the line. Big man starts shouting again. I mean, he is about to have a heart attack now, he's all veiny and his face is purple. He looks like he wants to eat Buczak more than anything.
- Buczak makes the first, but, visibly shaken, misses the second, fearing for his life.
Cheerleader haters
- One of Penn's male cheerleaders shouts out some smack talk at Princeton male cheerleader Dan Sharpe while he lifts three other Tiger cheerleaders on his shoulders during an on-court routine.
- The Princeton-Penn rivalry has been reduced to this. Yes!
Grandieri almost gets T'ed up
- The Quaker guard yells, "Are you serious?" at an official after teammate Jaaber gets called for a foul, then shoots the ref a glance that says, "I lack any semblance of respect for you." The ref puts his whistle in his mouth like he's gonna call Grandieri for a technical foul, but Grandieri walks away quickly and one of his teammates apologizes to the ref on his behalf.
Freshmen connection
- Buczak gets an easy layup off an inbounds pass from Schroeder.
- Penn answers, leads 60-39 with 5:23 on the clock.
- Buffmire cruises in for a cutting layup off a pass from Buczak, who really looks like he has some potential. He clearly was a step behind Finley in the coaches' eyes early in the season, but lately he's been getting some actual minutes at center, putting himself in the running for a spot in the big-man rotation next season.
Ugly sequence for Schroeder
- With the shot clock winding down and no one else making much of an effort to score, Schroeder drives the lane and gets his shot stuffed really bad. The ball bounces back to about ten feet behind the three-point line, where Schroeder recovers with about three seconds left on the shot clock. He gets set and launches up the deep, deep three, which he airballs.
- Schroeder ends up putting up a lot of ugly shots for the Tigers, but you really can't blame him--he's usually the only one willing to do anything with the ball in situations late in the shot clock, and gets stuck having to create something out of nothing.
Ibby Jaaber with the ink job
- Sporting a tattoo on his left arm that appears to feature some sort of robed figure. Ready for the big time in more ways than one.
- A WPRB announcer just sprinted by the scorer's table, all in a huff. WPRB couldn't possibly be experiencing technical difficulties, could they? That would be unheard of.
"Come on Tiger fans, jump around"
- "Get up, get up and get down"...this is what that guy who was dueling with the Penn cheerleaders before is yelling now.
- Finley scores again, this time on a pretty hook shot after taking his time in the paint. The Tigers might as well keep featuring Finley, not only for this game since nothing else is working, but with an eye to getting him ready to be a post presence in the future as well. He's been pretty up and down this year, but as a freshman, the ups have stood out and its been good he's gotten so much experience this year (although it took away playing time from more versatile, experienced players).
- Savage nails a three, cutting the Princeton deficit to 17.
- 54-37 Penn with 8:35 to play in the game.
Princeton seven fouls, Penn one
- Ibby Jaaber hits both ends of a one-and-one after the Tigers go into the penalty with over 11 minutes still to play in the game.
- Penn picks up its second foul of the half on an and-one move inside by Strittmatter, who hits the layup but comes up way short on the free throw attempt.
- Tigers grab the rebound, run some time off the clock, then freshman guard Lincoln Gunn hits Finley darting into the paint for an easy layup.
Princeton women's basketball
- The other Tiger team plays Penn tonight, too, following the end of this game.
- All the women's basketball players are gathered together in the stands rooting on their male counterparts.
48-28 Penn
- Now you know why we've been steering clear of the on-court action. Things are getting ugly out there.
- Steuerer misses yet another wide-open layup. Wow. The crowd screams in anger and disbelief.
- 11:48 left in the game.
ESPN U
- Like last year's classic (which, again, is immortalized on YouTube), tonight's game is being broadcast on ESPN U. I hear a lot about this channel, but I still don't believe it exists.
- All I know is, last year, one of the ESPN U announcers for this game was my main man Hubert Davis, former Washington Wizard and New Jersey Net.
- Hey, don't you think Hubert Davis looks like former "In Living Color" star David Alan Grier?
Conway to the scorer's table
- The senior forward is ready to check in for his last collegiate game. Nice to see he's gonna get some action when the Penn lead is only 12 (after a Finley hook shot), rather than garbage time. It's been a tough senior season for the former-walk-on-turned-captain, but last year he gave us a really memorable, all-Ivy League campaign--one of the best stories in Division I basketball last year. Of course, this time last year, he scored the game-winning layup against the league-champion Quakers in the final seconds of the last game of the season, off a pass from Scott Greenman '06.
- Check it out on YouTube.
Quaker lead at 12
- After an easy layup for Zoller.
- Next time down the court, Zoller curves around a defender for a circus reverse layup, plus the foul, plus the free throw. 15-point lead.
- Owings responds by hooking his way around Darren Smith for a reverse layup of his own.
Justin Conway, anyone?
- The senior forward still hasn't seen any court time. He's been injured, so it'll be interesting to see if he gets any career-ending garbage minutes, assuming garbage minutes ensue.
Crashing the boards
- Penn out-rebounded the Tigers, 17-8, in the first half.
- Both teams were sloppy with the basketball, amassing 21 turnovers combined.
Stat me!
- Penn shot 57 percent in the first half next to Princeton's 32 percent clip.
- Noah Savage led Princeton with six points, hitting two of four three-point shots in 11 minutes off the bench. Zach Finley shot two-for-seven and finished with four points.
- One other bright spot was Schroeder, who had four assists (on seven Tiger field goals).
- For Penn, Jaaber has his season average of three steals per game already, reaching that number in 16 minutes of floor time.
- Jaaber has six points along with guard Darren Smith, while Zoller leads the Quakers with seven points.
- Princeton shot four-of-15 from two-point range in the first half, including those missed layups by Finley and Steuerer (who only saw four minutes of court time).
Buffmire getting some minutes
- Not showing any ill effects of the injury, locks down on Penn star Mark Zoller outside the three-point arc, forcing him to commit a 24-second violation.
- Schroeder airballs a floater at the first-half buzzer.
- Princeton down 28-17 at halftime.
The Penn Quaker almost stepped on a little girl
- Then, he shook her hand, pointed to the "P" on his chest, nodded excessively, and raised another #1 finger.
28-17 Penn
- Three minutes until this half comes to a merciful end.
- Princeton hasn't been playing awful, the team is just really outmatched. Penn's got two or three subs in now, but they are still scoring relatively effortlessly, and keeping the Tigers from looking very comfortable on the other end.
Old people playing knockout
- Some kind of promotion during a break in the action. Just four random middle-aged dudes playing knockout and airballing a lot of free throws. The winner got a stay at the Princeton Club in New York City. Wooo.
- Meanwhile, the Penn Quaker is harassing the Jadwin Jungle. Lots of chest-bumping and #1-finger raising. The Jadwin Jungle doesn't have much of a comeback for his silent posturing, just yelling "Safety school!" and "Get out of here!" over and over.
Will Buffmire play tonight?
- The senior has been out the past few games with a sprained ankle, but its Senior Night, it'd be nice to get him a few minutes on the court. He's in uniform, so its possible. If this turns into a blowout, Scott would almost have to put him out there.
- So far, the Tigers have been through a few sets of subs and the Arizona-native remains on the bench.
Jaaber with another steal
- Out-races a couple Tigers down the other end of the court for an absolutely effortless dunk.
- Brian Grandieri gets another fast-break layup on Penn's very next possession. 23-15 Quakers with 5:24 to go in the half. This could be getting out of hand.
Freshman center Pawel Buczak is in the game
- This is the third or fourth straight game in which Buczak has seen action. The freshman epitomizes "lanky," making Kyle Koncz look like an obese gentleman.
- Buczak's wingspan has got to be over seven feet. He stands six feet, nine inches.
- In his first appearance of the season (garbage time in a blowout win over Rice) Buczak attempted a three-pointer. He missed it, but the prospect of having a center who is willing to shoot from the outside is an encouraging one. It looked for a while like sophomore forward Mike Strittmatter could fill that role, but he really plays nothing like a center. Still, he could really be a valuable wing player if he picks up his inside scoring a bit.
- In my face, Strittmatter drives in for a pretty baseline floater, pulling Princeton to within two. The shot came right after Buczak absolutely stuffed Penn's 6-7 Tommy McMahon on the other end of the floor. McMahon thought he was wide open for a layup after cutting to the paint, but when he turned around, Buczak was there to launch the ball right back into his face.
Zoller cruises in for a wide-open fast-break layup off a Jaaber pass
- Layup lines were scheduled for before the game, but apparently they have been moved to the middle of the first half.
- Junior forward Noah Savage connects on a corner three with the shot clock winding down. 12-10 Quakers with 9:37 left in the first half.
Jaaber cruises in for an uncontested layup
- This guy is way too good for the Ivy League. He'll definitely be at one of the big NBA pre-draft camps, probably won't get drafted, but I can really see him catching on somewhere eventually. At the very least, he will tear up Europe. How do you say "Ibby" in French?
"Stay awake, stay awake"
- Junior forward Kyle Koncz yells this out to his teammates as the Quakers get into their offensive set. The Tigers force a turnover, apparently not while asleep.
- The Penn Quaker mascot is nodding his head furiously at no one in particular and pointing to his boys in the stands.
8-4 Penn with 13:26 to go in the half
- The Penn Quaker mascot has a huge rat-tail of an early 90s haircut. He claps softly with his chubby hands.
- Junior forward Noah Savage hits a three-pointer, cutting the Quaker lead to one.
Penn's cheerleaders
- They have, like, more male cheerleaders than female ones...that is, if you count this huge Penn Quaker mascot, which would be a dubious act of gender categorization at best.
- The Penn cheerleaders are chanting "D-D-D-Defense" as the Tigers take control of the ball on the far end of the court. Meanwhile, a Princeton alum seated in the first row behind the Quaker Girls is chanting "O-O-O-Offense." All the cheerleaders are giggling at him. He is very loud, and sitting right next to the male cheerleaders for Penn, who look like they want to place a beating on him.
- The Tigers end the possession with a 24-second violation, and the "O-Offense" man appears to have been defeated.
- I wonder if other people have called them the Quaker Girls before.
Honoring the band
- The Princeton band's senior members are out on the court, being honored over the PA system. Their loudness will not be missed.
- The cheerleader seniors are also being honored, including Dan Sharpe, who has been the only male member of the squad the past two years. Props.
Jaaber forces a steal
- Leading to a wide-open Darren Smith layup on the other end. Jaaber ranks fourth in Division I basketball, averaging three steals per game.
New low for the Jadwin Jungle
- Definitely the smallest turnout ever for a Princeton-Penn game.
- Quakers win the tip. Penn superstar guard Ibby Jaaber opens the game by missing a wide-open three.
- On the other end of the court, Steuerer misses an absolutely wide open layup. There was no one within 15 feet of him as he caught the pass underneath the hoop.
- Finley hits a layup to open the scoring, Zoller hits an easy layup to respond, then Finley misses Princeton's second gimme layup on the other end of the floor.
Steuerer, Owings, Finley, Gunn and Schroeder
- Those are your starters, as they have been for the past four or five games.
- "1-2-3, Win!" the players chant breaking out of the huddle in front of their basket.
Senior Night is under way
- Senior guard Edwin Buffmire and senior forward Luke Owings are out on the court, having already been honored for their contributions to the program over four years. The PA announcer is just finishing up the accolades for senior forward and captain Justin Conway.
- Head Coach Joe Scott '87 joins the three members of the Class of the 2007 on the court for a photo op.
- This game will definitely have a lot of meaning for these three guys, but also for the rest of the Tigers, who are definitely seeing this as a chance to send off their outgoing teammates with one highlight for a majorly disappointing final Ivy campaign.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Dartmouth gets it in, Tigers can't foul in time
- Tigers lose a tough one, 45-44, to the lowly Big Green.
- That's 1-5 in the Ivy League for the Tigers, who were predicted to finish second in the conference going into the season.
- Buffmire and Koncz limp off the court behind their teammates, Koncz cupping his hand over a disappointed Schroeder's head.
Owings in for Finley
- Princeton inbounds under own basket.
- Schroeder brings it up.
- Savage air-balls off-balance three-pointer with about five seconds left. Conway misses put-back off of offensive rebounds. Owings tips in Conway's miss.
Mosely swishes second
- Two big FTs for the diminutive sophomore guard to put Dartmouth up 45-42 with 19.2 seconds left.
- Princeton with one last possession.
Shot-clock turned off
- Gunn fouls Mosely immediately. Dartmouth in double bonus. 19.2 seconds left.
- Mosely swishes the first.
Jason Meyer misses open pull-up jumper
- After head-faking his man into the air and blowing past him.
- Princeton tips rebound out of bounds and Dartmouth gets it back with 21 seconds left.
Schroeder, Strittmatter, Gunn, Savage and Conway
- Those are the crunch-time five for the Tigers.
- Strittmatter cruises out of the timeout for a driving layup on what must have been a well-executed set play.
- Interesting that Steuerer and Sargeant haven't gotten any looks down the stretch. The guys who are out there, though, are the ones who have been in these situations before this season.
- Scott goes offense-defense, brings in Finley for Strittmatter.
Gunn passes the ball to Ralph Ellison
- That would be "The Invisible Man." Scott uses that joke in practice when a player passes to no one. Really bad pass. Turnover.
- Jonathan Ball comes right back and gets a put-back off an offensive rebound. The Big Green is absolutely killing Princeton on the boards, must be at least +10 at this point.
- 43-40 Dartmouth with just 1:06 left to play.
Dartmouth with chance to take lead
- Two free throws coming up out of this timeout with 2:24 left in the game.
- Buffmire is limping pretty bad over by the Tiger bench, but was still the last one to sit down after giving all his teammates some last-minute encouragement out of the timeout.
- Jonathan Ball hits 1 of his 2 free throws. 41-40 Dartmouth.
Tie game
- It's Barnett again, this time on a fast break, off a half-court pass.
- Strittmatter throws a terrible pass into some Big Green player's leg and Dartmouth recovers. 2:31 to go.
Barnett answers back again
- Following a banked-in Owings hook shot at the shot-clock buzzer.
- 39-38 with 4:33 to play. This one appears to be headed in the same direction as last night's game, down to the wire.
- Some fan has come down to the press table and is sitting here berating one of the refs from right up close. He keeps yelling, "Help your partner out!" I don't know what he's insinuating.
- Another missed FT for Princeton, this one by Schroeder. He gets the second to go for a two-point Princeton lead.
Three-point game
- After a pretty Barnett turn-around jumper in the post. 37-34 Tigers with just under eight minutes remaining in the game.
- Coach Scott is absolutely losing it over on the sidelines after the refs kept their whistles silent following what he thought was a Dartmouth foul. The sneakers aren't helping the refs take him seriously.
- I just realized who all these sneaker-clad coaches remind me of.
Dartmouth in the bonus
- With 10:41 still to go in the game after Princeton commits its seventh foul of the second half. DeVon "Mini Me" Mosely hits the first of the 1-and-1 before missing the second.
- Princeton, meanwhile, continues to struggle from the line. Sargeant, incredibly, misses both of his free throws. The Tigers were shooting 70.8 percent from the line heading into the game, they're probably down into the shameful 60s by now. Luckily for Princeton, opponents have been shooting an awful 64.8 percent from the stripe on the season.
- Cornell 60, Yale 59. That final score was just announced over the PA system. Penn finished off Harvard by double digits earlier in the night.
Conway goes left
- Blows past his man to get an open layup.
- 37-31 Princeton with 11:04 to go in the game.
- Conway's been in a rut offensively for pretty much the whole Ivy League season, although he's been a solid rebounder and defender since being switched to the forward spot in favor of freshman Zach Finley at center. Conway grabbed three rebounds in the half, but was only 1-4 from the field, struggling to score inside on point-blank attempts against bigger players.
Savage with 12 points
- Buries another three, then hits a pair of FTs two possessions later.
- 8 points in the second half for Savage.
- Princeton up 35-29 with 13:49 left to play in the game.
Oh snap
- Dartmouth shot 64.7 percent in the first half next to Princeton's 45 percent, yet still trailed by three going into the locker room.
- The key was that the Tigers got to the free-throw line 13 times compared to the Big Green's three attempts. Princeton only hit 7 of those 13 free throws (a lousy 54 percent), but that was still the difference.
- The Tigers have been really just bad from the charity stripe all year. They really haven't been getting to the line too much lately, so it hasn't been an issue.
- Princeton made nine field goals in the first half, only two were three pointers. Usually, about half of the Tigers shots can be counted on to be threes.
Barnett first in game to double digits
- The Dartmouth forward with some sweet cornrows hits a pair of free throws for his ninth and tenth points of the game. Barnett was four-for-four from the field in the first half.
Going glass
- Savage banks in a fall-away, leaning three-pointer from a few steps behind the line as the shot-clock buzzer sounds.
- 30-24 Princeton with 16:32 to go in the game.
- Sargeant in for Gunn, who only saw 12 first half minutes and got pulled early in the second half.
Sargeant with 7, Steuerer with 5
- To lead Princeton in scoring at halftime. Those would be the two guards who have been most questionably absent from coach Scott's rotation all season. Now, they're getting minutes and the Tigers are looking reasonably good. Steuerer and Sargeant were a combined 4 of 6 from the floor.
- Third for Princeton in scoring was Savage, who had four. That would be the returning leading scorer from a year ago who Scott has only now decided to give his starting job back.
- All three of these capable players have only been inserted because of the injuries to Buffmire and Koncz, but it certainly seems odd that it took such a rash of injuries to get them into the rotation.
- Unfortunately, all that only happened after the Tigers started 0-4 in Ivy play.
- It remains to be seen if these guys will keep getting looks even when the Tigers return to full strength with Koncz and Buffmire.
Halftime stats
- The lady who usually walks down the press table and hands out the print-out with all the halftime stats on it is avoiding us. I think she's afraid of the band too.
Coaches vs. Cancer Foundation
- That's why all the coaches are wearing sneakers. My bad.
- You can't kick cancer in the butt wearing business shoes.
27-24 Princeton
- With 21 seconds to go in the first half.
- Dartmouth ends the half with a really ugly possession and the Tigers head into the locker room up three.
Sargeant swishes deep three
- Looking Koncz-like with no hesitation from long range, even with a guy in his face and some time remaining on the shot clock. He and Steuerer have really given the Tigers good minutes with Buffmire and Koncz both out of the rotation. Freshman guard Lincoln Gunn has been the odd man out here in the first half after scoring a career-high 22 points last night.
Alex Barnett ties it up for Dartmouth
- 20-20 with just under four minutes to go after Barnett's short jumper.
- Sargent answers with a layup on the other end, off a pretty pass from Justin Conway.
- Dartmouth answers right back with a cutting, open layup of its own.
Sitting by the Tiger band
- Takes years off your life. They are so loud. On the last Tiger offensive possession, they taunted Dartmouth with this chant:
Tear off their arms,
Expose them to massive physical harm."
- Right now, I think I'd trade places with the Big Green.
Dartmouth coaches drinking the Kool-Aid too
- They all left the loafers at home and are wearing sneakers along with the Princeon coaching staff.. Is it possible that I just haven't noticed before that Ivy League coaches where basketball shoes?
Steuerer to Sargeant
- The two little-used junior guards hook up for a cutting layup, with Steuerer feeding the just-checked-in Sargeant from the right wing. The two had only played a combined 8 games and 36 minutes coming into the night, but they've both shown in the past (Steuerer last year and Sargeant two years ago) that they can be solid contributors who give size at the guard position, make great passes and take quality shots.
Sneaks
- This might just be me, but I've never noticed before that coach Scott and all of his assistants (Howard Levy, Mike Brennan, Tony Newsome) wear white basketball sneakers to go along with their black suit jackets and slacks. Maybe they lost a bet and this is a one-time thing. Or, this could just be part of the University's new outfitting agreement with Nike.
Steuerer again
- Gets into the paint with the shot clock winding down and gets a turnaround mini-jumper to fall through. Three points already for Steuerer, who had been scoreless in four games (14 minutes) this season.
- 12-10 Tigers with 11:47 to go.
Steuerer in the mix again
- This time, the junior enters into the game as a third guard, replacing Savage and joining Gunn and Schroeder in the backcourt. He immediately gets to the free-throw line and makes 1 of 2.
Schroeder three gives Princeton lead
- Schroeder started out the season looking like his three-point shot would be his major weakness, but lately he's been hitting big threes at opportune times. This one from the left wing put Princeton up 9-8 with 13:37 to go in the first half.
- Then, he comes up with a steal on the other end.
Savage attacking
- With the Big Green up 8-2, Savage gets to the basket for a layup and draws contact. Can't convert on FT, though, so Tigers still trail by four.
Savage, Conway, Finley, Gunn, Schroeder
- That's the Princeton starting five.
- Dartmouth opens things up with an alley-oop layup. 2-0 Big Green with 18:33 to go.
Koncz on Crutches
- After hitting that huge three to give Princeton the lead for good in the second overtime last night against Harvard, junior forward Kyle Koncz is back on the bench with a pair of crutches, nursing the same foot injury that has been nagging him the entire Ivy schedule.
- He's joined on the bench by senior guard Edwin Buffmire, who missed last night's game as well (ankle).
Cold start
- Big Green has jumped to a 6-0 lead. Freshman center Zach Finley misses a hook, and head coach Joe Scott immediately subs him out for sophomore forward Mike Strittmatter. Princeton's going to need more from Strittmatter than they got last night (1-7 from the field). Especially without Koncz. Strittmatter's length and three-point shooting ability make him a better Koncz replacement than any other Tiger.
Tune in tonight at 7:20
"Sideline Dispatches" will get right back into the action, live-blogging the Princeton men's basketball team's game against Dartmouth (7-13 overall, 2-5 Ivy League). The Tigers (10-9, 1-4) picked up their first conference win against Harvard last night in a thrilling, 74-68, double-overtime victory at Jadwin.
- For our blog coverage of last night's game, click here.
- For the Prince's men's basketball weekend preview, give this one a shot.
- Last night, while the Tigers were duking it out with the Crimson, the Big Green was getting blown out of The Palestra by the host Penn Quakers (13-8, 4-1), 73-53.
- Princeton has won 19 straight games against Dartmouth at Jadwin Gym.
- Harvard guard Drew Housman, who erupted for 33 points against the Tigers last night, is the truth.
- I can't remember if that show "Doogie Howser" had a theme song, but if it did and I remembered it, it would be running through my head right now looking at Housman's picture. I don't know how the Jadwin Jungle couldn't come up with a good chant for this guy.
Sideline Dispatches, The Remix
Welcome to "Sideline Dispatches," the blog that gives you up-to-the-minute updates on all the big Princeton sporting events as they happen, courtesy of The Daily Princetonian sports reporters who know the Tigers best.
The first incarnation of "Dispatches" broke down with just over a minute remaining in the first overtime of the men's basketball team's double-OT victory over Harvard last night, so we kicked it to the curb and are bringing you the revamped version. For archives of old Dispatches (2006 Princeton football games against Yale and Dartmouth as well as men's basketball matchups from the 2006-7 season against Loyola, VMI, Alabam A&M, Manhattan and Lehigh) just hit up The Archives.
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