Two wins not enough as men's hoops settles for second place

With 11 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in Saturday night's men's basketball contest at Jadwin Gym, the game just didn't seem to matter anymore.

It wasn't because the Tigers were 26 points ahead and cruising to an easy 85-57 victory.

Instead, it was due to a seemingly inevitable announcement: Penn 69, Yale 52.

Despite the win over Brown, which followed a 56-46 win over Yale on Friday, Princeton will finish behind the Quakers in the Ivy League for the second year in a row. Instead, the Tigers will look for a bid to play in the National Invitation Tournament.

"We had a pretty good year last year in the NIT," head coach Bill Carmody said. "If we don't get an at-large bid [to the NCAA Tournament] and they invite us, then we'll go."

Part of that postseason preparation was evident on both Friday and Saturday, as senior forward Mason Rocca watched both games from the sideline, preventing his tendonitis-plagued ankle from getting sore and saving future contributions for either Tuesday or after the conclusion of the regular season. Rocca, the Tigers' only senior was ironically the only dressed player not to take the floor in Saturday's Senior Night blowout win.

The Tigers (19-9 overall, 11-2 Ivy League) almost saw their NIT picture get bleak Friday night, when spoiler Yale came to town. By the end of a miserable first half, the Tigers trailed, 18-17, and it looked as if the heartbreaking 44-42 loss against the Elis (7-19, 5-8) Feb. 5 would repeat itself.

"The first half was one of the worst halves all year," sophomore forward Ray Robins said. "If we didn't even come out and have a big second half, we weren't even going to come out with a win."

Things didn't start off much better in the second half, but two quick three-pointers by junior forward C.J. Chapman and Robins put the Tigers up by a slim margin. A Chris Leanza three-pointer with 8:02 remaining drew the Elis to within two, 37-35, but Robins immediately responded with a long-range bomb of his own, pushing the Tigers to an edge they would hold onto for good.

Good news

The key in Saturday's big win against the Bears (8-19, 4-10) was a balanced scoring attack and a huge advantage on the boards. Princeton had seven players score in double figures — the first time in Tiger men's basketball history that feat has been accomplished.

Sophomore center Chris Young spearheaded the aggressive Tiger board attack, hauling in 10 of the team's 42 rebounds. Brown could only muster 23 boards.

In addition, Young nearly recorded a triple double, scoring 11 points, dishing out seven assists and collecting six blocks. And that was only in 20 minutes of work. A 30-second span in the middle of the second half saw an impressive rejection of Yale's Anthony Morin, an assist to Gloger on the ensuing fast break and an authoritative swatting of an errant shot attempt by Brandon Howard that was almost sent into the front row of seats.

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"I thought the whole team moved the ball around pretty nicely," Carmody said. "It's a real difference from last night."

An undersized Eli team faced a barrage from Young on Friday as well. The sophomore poured in 19 points and hauled in 13 boards in 40 minutes of play. The halftime statistics weren't as friendly for Young, or any other Tiger, for that matter. Freshman guard Spencer Gloger led the Tigers at half with eight points on 3-for-8 shooting, while both Robins and sophomore guard Ahmed El-Nokali failed to score in the first 20 minutes.

But Yale was comparably mediocre, shooting a paltry 24 percent from the field in the first stanza and a tepid 1-for-6 from three-point range.

"I'm not satisfied in losing to Princeton," Yale head coach James Jones said. "I thought we had a lot of second-chance opportunities we didn't convert."

Despite an uninspired win on Friday and a blowout Saturday, the Tigers will head to the Palestra on Tuesday in second place for good. A win Tuesday could give Princeton a glimmer of hope for an at-large NCAA bid, but most likely the Tigers will learn about their postseason opponent after this Sunday's NCAA Selection Show has concluded.