Common Opponents

Princeton and St. John's have three common opponents this season:

Both teams opened their season at Stony Brook. Neither game was competitive; the Tigers won, 68-43, while St. John's cruised to an 89-52 victory.

St. John's also played Columbia in nonconference play in a NYC-area battle. The Red Storm had some trouble defensively, but pulled out a 75-63 victory. Meanwhile, Princeton played the Lions twice in league play. The first game, at Columbia, was a 77-55 rout, but the rematch was much tougher, as the Tigers were tied at the half before pulling away for a 68-57 win.

If you're a Tiger fan looking for some optimism, I asked a Columbia sportswriter who saw both teams what she thought about Princeton's chances, and she thought the Tigers could play with the Red Storm:

"The Columbia-St. John's game kind of reminds me of the Columbia-Princeton game at Jadwin. The first half was very competitive and the second half was competitive until St. John's was able to open it up a bit and we couldn't recover. I didn't know much about St. John's going into that game, and basically the first half made me think they were not one of the elite Big East teams."

The final common opponent is Rutgers, who is a 9-seed in the Sacramento regional. Princeton jumped out to an early lead over the Scarlet Knights, but fell behind by one at halftime and couldn't recover, falling 60-50. Meanwhile, St. John's played at Rutgers on February 24, coming away with a 60-52 victory.

We're now a half-hour from tip-off. The game is scheduled to start at 12:21.