Off the heels of a narrow escape at Jadwin Gym on Monday over Iona, men’s basketball (3–0 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) overcame an onslaught of physicality from the Duquesne Dukes (0–2, 0–0 Atlantic 10) to persevere 75–68 at the Jersey Jam.
A year after the Tigers upset the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the inaugural Jersey Jam at Trenton’s CURE Insurance Arena, the Tigers fought through a double-digit deficit in the second half, led by 17 points from junior forward Caden Pierce and sophomore guard Dalen Davis.
In a sparsely populated arena where one could hear the coaches yelling out plays all the way up in the press box, the Tigers took the opening tip but failed to capitalize when junior guard Xaivian Lee coughed up the ball.
In the first half, Princeton’s offense stagnated. The Tigers missed several easy shot opportunities, both from the field and from the charity stripe. Duquesne played tight perimeter defense, giving Princeton a hard time working the ball inside.
After an early pair of Duquesne layups, Lee pulled up for three off the dribble to get the offense moving. A few minutes later, Lee found senior forward Philip Byriel for a three of his own, tying the game at eight-a-piece with just over five minutes played. However, the Dukes responded quickly with a three of their own, making the score 11–8.
Free throw shooting has been a bit of a struggle for the Tigers this year. After going 11–22 in their first matchup, Princeton shot 18–29 in their second outing. The poor percentage was underscored by a pair of missed free throws after a technical against Duquesne.
Despite the stagnant offense, the Tigers had several big momentum producing plays in the first half, including an emphatic dunk by first-year forward Malik Abdullahi off an assist from Lee with 13 minutes to play.
With 9 minutes on the clock, senior guard Blake Peters was forced to put up a deep three as the shot clock wound down. Peters connected, putting the Tigers up 15–13. On the night, Princeton shot 45.8 percent from range, a much better effort compared to the 30.77 percent they put up against Iona.
For the rest of the first half, a combination of Tiger turnovers and missed shots gave the Dukes control. At half, Duquesne led Princeton 28–25.
Duquesne came out of the locker room hot, putting up a quick five points to increase their lead to eight, less than two minutes into the second half. It wasn’t until a three pointer from Davis with 15:25 to go that Princeton scored their first points from the field.
During the dry stretch, Princeton struggled to score inside, due in large part to the size and physicality of the Dukes.
“It took us a while,” junior forward Caden Pierce said in a post game interview. “The first two games this year have been really physical … but I like the way our team responded towards the end.”
“Their physicality was very Ivy League-esque,” Lee added later when discussing Dusquene’s size. “It kind of felt like a Cornell game.”
With just 13:16 left in the half, the Tigers trailed by 11. However, like the first game against Iona, Princeton came storming back.
With just under 13 minutes left to play, Lee threw a quarterback pass to Pierce who collected himself mid air and scored an acrobatic alley-oop layup.
“The whole time we were saying you get a stop, you gotta run … because our offense was pretty stagnant,” Pierce said. “So I ran, and I kind of hit Xaivian with one of these [points up].”
On the next possession, Pierce threw up a lob to Abdullahi who slammed it home, bringing Princeton within seven.
Duquesne called a timeout to try and stop the Tigers’ momentum, but the offense had finally found its rhythm.
Following a block down low by Abdullahi, Lee drilled a triple from the top of the key early in the shot clock to make it 42–38, with the Dukes still in the lead. The Dukes tried to stop the bleeding with a few made buckets, but threes from Davis, Lee, and Byriel cut the lead to just one with nine minutes in the game.
Duquesne continued to pressure Princeton, getting some crucial defensive stops late in the game to try and hold onto their lead. With 5:17 to play, however, Duquesne forward Eli Wilborn fouled out after a Pierce and-one layup. Wilborn had been causing problems for the Tigers down low, and with him out of the game, the Dukes’ defense finally collapsed.
After Lee and Pierce ran a pick and pop play to perfection, culminating in a three from Pierce, Duquesne returned to leading by just one. After a little more back-and-forth, Lee put his defender in a spin cycle to put the Tigers up 61–60 with three minutes to play.
From there, a clutch three from Pierce — followed by two made free throws from Peters and a three from Davis — gave the Tigers the push they needed to finish off their come-from-behind win.
Pierce won Most Outstanding Player, scoring his 17 points on 6–11 shooting with five rebounds, and Lee flirted with a triple double — a first in Princeton history — posting 13 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
The Tigers showed grit and determination for a second-straight game, conquering first-half offensive woes and relying on their shotmakers and tough defense.
They next faced off against the Northeastern Huskies (1–1 overall, 0–0 conference) on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Boston for their first trip outside of New Jersey this season. Princeton solved their slow start dilemma, coming away with a 79–76 victory after a 35-point first half and moving to 3–0 on the season.
Harrison Blank is an assistant Sports editor at the ‘Prince.’
Doug Schwartz is a Sports contributor and a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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