In a rising 77–69 win against the St. Joseph’s Hawks on Tuesday night, star junior guard Xaivian Lee put together a first in Princeton men’s basketball history. With 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, Lee secured the first-ever triple-double in 123 years of Princeton men’s basketball.
“It’s pretty cool to be the first Tiger to record a triple-double,” Lee told The Daily Princetonian after his historic performance. “There have been so many great players in this program who have been really close to doing it before, so to be the first to actually go out there and get it done is a pretty special feeling.”
Xaivian Lee has recorded the first triple double in program history for Princeton 👏
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 4, 2024
(via @PrincetonMBB)pic.twitter.com/jNPx9jJM9J
The triple-double is considered the gold standard for single-game basketball performances. To be credited with a triple-double, a player must record at least 10 points, assists, rebounds, steals, or blocks. Most players — including Lee on Tuesday — do so with points, assists, and rebounds. While already rare at the professional level, the triple-double is even more obscure in the college game. Lee had come close many times before, but he never managed to seal the deal.
Despite the difficult task, Lee told the ‘Prince’ that he was confident he would secure the first of this milestone in program history at some point this year.
“I expected myself to get one at some point this season,” Lee said. “A couple of games earlier in the season, there were a few times where I thought I was going to get one, to be honest.”
Scattering six points across the first half, Lee’s rebounds and assists quickly piled up enough to put national media on triple-double watch. Headed into the second half, Lee had already amassed eight rebounds and seven assists.
“Basketball is an up-and-down kind of sport,” Lee told the ‘Prince.’ “Going for rebounds, a lot of that is effort, but sometimes the ball just rolls your way and that’s exactly how I felt tonight. Every single rebound was just coming my way.”
Already a lock on the team at the guard position, Lee's consistency has been vital for the Tigers' success so far this season. His season-high 30 points against Texas State and 27 points against Iona on opening night are further proof of his necessity to this team. In all games where he's played more than 15 minutes, he has got into the double-digits for points and continues to add rebounds and assists to his tally too.
Early in the second half, Lee crossed the 10-rebound threshold with a pair in the first two minutes. He quickly did the same in points, nailing a pair of jumpers to notch his 10th point.
“With 14 minutes left I saw that I only needed two more assists to get it, and then with three minutes left I still hadn’t gotten them,” Lee told the ‘Prince.’ “At that point, I was just like ‘It’s fine, it’s just another time I was close.’”
But with just over two minutes left in the game, it seemed that the record would have to wait as Lee looked poised to take every shot and see the Tigers through to a win. Instead, Lee served the ball up to Byriel for another three, putting just one assist between him and history. Lee again took the ball in his hands with roughly one minute remaining.
A basket here would win the game for the Tigers, but Lee instead drove from the arc to the far-left edge of the paint finding junior forward Caden Pierce cutting through traffic under the rim.
“I knew I was one assist away, but the game was in the balance at that point,” Lee told the ‘Prince.’
Following Lee’s last-second decision to pass, Pierce fought through contact for the layup, putting the Tigers in the win column and Lee in the national eye once again. Finishing the game with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, Lee tread where no Tiger had gone before.
Tuesday’s triple-double adds yet another accomplishment to Lee’s already impressive resume for the Tigers. Scouts see him as a player with NBA potential, not unlike recent Tiger great Tosan Evbuomwan ’23, who appeared in 17 NBA games last season.
“Tosan, right after the game, texted me to congratulate me and reminded me how close he was a bunch of times before,” Lee told the ‘Prince.’
Though Evbuomwan and Lee played dramatically different roles for the Tigers, their knacks for playmaking and scoring at will gave them the opportunity to make history for the Orange and Black. After six combined years of trying, Lee finally sealed the deal on Tuesday.
Lee will look to make another splash against Furman (8–1, 0–0 Southern) on Dec. 7 this week as the Tigers look to stay in winning ways.
Joe Uglialoro is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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