Men's Basketball: Hummer hits winner as Tigers survive scare

Entering Wednesday night, the men’s basketball team had not won at Rutgers since 1999. After Princeton blew a 17-point lead late in the second half, it seemed that the streak would continue. But despite a strong push from the Scarlet Knights, the Tigers held off the hosts when junior forward Ian Hummer floated in a game-winning layup with 2.7 seconds left to go, giving Princeton a 59-57 victory.

“We said we wanted to get the ball to him in that post on the last play, and everybody committed to it,” head coach Mitch Henderson ’98 said of Hummer’s layup in the post-game press conference. “He made a heck of a play. That’s a good Rutgers team, so we’re happy to get a win.”

Both during their dominance through most of the game and their resilience in the waning seconds, the Tigers (4-5) flashed signs of last year’s NCAA Tournament team, which beat Rutgers (4-5) at home last year 78-73 in overtime. Leading the Tigers was Hummer with 21 points and eight rebounds, with senior guard Doug Davis contributing 16 points, and Henderson notched his first win over the perennial in-state rival in Piscataway, N.J.

“We had some turnovers — a lot of turnovers, actually, but we stayed in there, and that really shows the character of our team,” Hummer said. “We’re going to keep doing our thing and keep running our offense ... and we played really well in the last 30 seconds.”

After a layup in the paint by guard Eli Carter with two and a half minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights had fully erased a 17-point deficit, tying the game at 52-52. After a Davis free throw, Rutgers took its first lead of the game when wing Dane Miller hit his second free throw.

On the next possession, forward Gilvydas Biruta blocked Hummer’s jumper, but freshman forward Denton Koon came down with a crucial offensive rebound and converted at the rim. Miller flipped the lead on the next play with a good layup, and Rutgers led 56-55.

From there, the game became Hummer’s, and despite the Scarlet Knights’ coach telling their players to deny Hummer the ball, the junior caught a pass and was fouled. Hummer, who entered the game shooting below 60 percent from the line, made both his free throws.

Carter had a chance to put Rutgers back ahead on the next play, but he missed his first free throw before making the second. With just 19 seconds left, the game was tied, with Princeton in possession. After a timeout from Henderson, Hummer nailed the floater with 2.7 seconds left, and the Scarlet Knights’ desperation shot fell short.

“We kind of messed up the play, actually — we were trying to get it to me in the post, we somehow managed to do that even though we deviated from it,” Hummer said. “But once I got it, I was told by the coaches, just face up, I’ll have room to do my thing, and the next part was just practice.”

Neither team shot well in the opening minutes, with Rutgers missing its first four field goals and Princeton its first five, before junior forward Mack Darrow connected from beyond the arc, two-and-a-half minutes into the game. The game turned defensive from there, as the Tigers went on an 11-2 run that ate up almost half of the first period, with several layups from Hummer preceding a Davis three.

The Scarlett Knights woke up offensively after the second media timeout, narrowing the gap to 13-9 following Carter’s three-pointer and, on the subsequent play, forward Austin Johnson’s steal and fast-break layup.

Davis hit another three-pointer one minute later, but Rutgers stormed back, and after a jumper from wing Mike Poole and a three from Biruta, the Scarlet Knights had knotted up the game at 18-18.

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After two Hummer free throws, the Tigers went cold offensively, missing four field goals. But they made up for it with defensive pressure that turned Rutgers over four times in a span of two minutes, including steals from sophomore guard T.J. Bray, Darrow and Davis. As the half wound down, the Scarlet Knights only found points at the free-throw line. With 14 seconds left, senior forward John Comfort nailed a three, and Princeton led 26-20 going into the break.

Guard Myles Mack’s hot shooting sparked Rutgers at the beginning of the second half, and despite a three-pointer from Davis, Myles scored eight of the hosts’ first 10 points to close the gap to 31-30. Princeton then rattled off a 18-2 run, behind strong post play from Hummer and Koon as Davis continued to connect from the outside.

But with just under eight minutes left in the game, Rutgers started on a run of its own, with several points in the paint from Johnson and Miller complimenting Carter’s outside shooting. In five-and-a-half minutes, the Scarlett Knights erased a 17 point lead.

“The [Rutgers] team that we saw in the last 10 minutes of the game is the team we saw on tape,” Henderson said. “They were playing as hard as you could possibly play, and it really affected us ... we were stuck at 52 for what seemed like all night.”

The Tigers’ second consecutive win against its Big East rival is a positive sign. Princeton will look to continue its three-game win streak, trying to reach .500 for the season at Drexel on Saturday.