Updated: Princeton extends season, faces Pitt on Monday

When a team concedes 86 points in a 40-minute game, you expect it to have been soundly drubbed by its opponent. Not the men’s basketball team on Tuesday, though. Forty-eight hours after being snubbed for a spot in the National Invitation Tournament, Princeton beat Evansville 95-86 to keep its season alive in the College Basketball Invitational. The Tigers scored 95 against a Division-I team for the first time since February 1995, when they destroyed Cornell 95-69.

Princeton will now travel to face Pittsburgh in the second round of the 16-team tournament. The Panthers (18-16) advanced by throttling Wofford 81-63 in front of just 1,449 fans, a record-low for the Peterson Events Center. Pittsburgh used a 16-0 first-half run to take the lead and held off Wofford with a barrage of three-pointers and efficient play.

The Panthers' appearance in the CBI ended a 10-year streak of NCAA appearances for the Big East power, which is led by guard Ashton Gibbs and forward Nasir Robinson. The game against Princeton will be played at either 7 or 8 p.m.

In what could have been his last game in the orange and black, senior guard Doug Davis scored a career-high 31 points, pulling within 15 of Kit Mueller ’91 for second place on the Tigers’ all-time scoring list. Davis’ efficiency was as impressive as his total — the Princeton icon made nine of 11 field goal attempts, five of six three-pointers and all eight free throws.

Having finished their Ivy League schedule with eight wins in nine games, the Tigers were disappointed not to have gained a place in the NIT, especially coming off of a win in Jadwin Gymnasium last week that denied a strong Penn squad from a share of the Ivy League title. Nonetheless, a spot in the CBI still gives the peaking Tigers a chance at hardware this season.

The visitors got off to a very quick start, leading 14-7 after just over four minutes. A pair of three-pointers from Davis and fellow senior Pat Saunders preceded a layup by Mack Darrow after some slick ball movement.

However, the Purple Aces pulled back with a 12-4 run to lead 19-18, thanks to nine early points from star guard Colt Ryan. Neither team managed to pull away for good, but both enjoyed snippets of momentum. A deep three-pointer by Davis ended a 10-3 run for Evansville and sparked a 9-0 Tigers response as they entered the half up 48-47.

Thirteen lead changes and seven ties reflected a see-saw first period. Ryan burned the Tigers’ defense for 21 points, making 89 percent of his field goal attempts before halftime. Princeton’s top two scorers at the break together matched Ryan’s total, with Davis and Saunders going a combined five for seven from distance, aiming to extend their college basketball careers by another game.

The high-scoring trend continued well into the second period, as it took 25 further points before a player from either team missed a shot. The sides battled back and forth and remained tied at 85 apiece with less than four minutes remaining until Davis weaved more of his famous late-game magic. He scored the last 10 points of the game to finish with a game-high 31.

After Evansville’s Kenny Harris missed the second of two free throws with fewer than 90 seconds on the clock and the hosts down by one point, Davis crossed up his defender at the top of the key to free himself for an open step-back jumper. Once sophomore guard T.J. Bray grabbed the Purple Aces’ ensuing three-point shot off the front of the rim, the suspense was nearly complete. Davis drained six free throws as Evansville’s futile attempt at winning the game fizzled out.

A dunk during the game made junior forward Ian Hummer the first Princetonian to score 500 points or more in a season since 1972. Davis reached the 1,500-point mark with his first basket of the game, and now has the opportunity to elevate himself above everybody but the legendary Bill Bradley ’65 in the annals of Princeton basketball history.