Men’s basketball (13–4 overall, 2–0 Ivy League) capped off a successful trip to New Hampshire with a down-to-the-wire win over Dartmouth (7–8 overall, 1–1 Ivy League) on Jan. 18. Junior guard Xavian Lee scored a game high 33 points on 12–19 shooting, including the game-winning step back triple with just six seconds to play. The final score was 81–80.
“We practice a lot of late game situations in practice,” Lee wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “So I try to just imagine it’s one of those sort of situations, and it kind of takes some pressure off of me.”
“So I’m not too stressed during that,” Lee added. “I just kind of feel the flow of the game and make a read, make the right play, and then hope for the best outcome.”
The Tigers, coming off a win over Harvard in their Ivy League opener and looking to put early season struggles behind them, survived a spirited upset attempt by the Big Green. As they have in big games past, the team relied on huge performances from Lee and reigning Ivy League Player of the Year junior forward Caden Pierce.
Pierce started the game off hot, hitting a triple from the top of the key after the Tigers won the tip, followed by a contested layup in the paint two possessions later.
“I really was trying to just take what the defense gave me,” Pierce wrote to the ‘Prince’ after the game. “Early on, I was very aggressive trying to get to the rim to put pressure on the defense, but later I was recognizing that some shooters were open on the weak side.”
Pierce stuffed the stat sheet, recording 19 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
Pierce’s passing ability helped open up the Tigers’ vaunted three-point attack, which was 12–28 for the game and included five different players making shots from deep. “I was able to find them and they did a great job of knocking down shots,” he added.
With just under 14 minutes to play in the first half, sophomore guard Jackson Hicke scored following a pump fake down low to put Princeton in front 12–6. The basket capped off a series of possessions with flowing ball movement from the Tigers, something they struggled with earlier in the season in non-conference games.
However, Dartmouth’s efficiency from beyond the arc kept them from falling behind. The Big Green shot 45.5 percent from three on the day, a much higher number compared with the 25 percent they shot against Penn during their Ivy League opener on Jan. 11.
After a transition three by Dartmouth guard Ryan Cornish, Lee responded with a triple of his own, putting Princeton ahead 18–17 with 11:56 to play in the first half and marking the star guard’s first points of the contest.
The next couple minutes were all Lee and Pierce for the Orange and Black. Despite continuous answers from Dartmouth, the pair stayed active, with Lee finishing several acrobatic layups, including an and-one, and Pierce assisting several shots while putting in the work on the offensive blocks.
Despite the strong offensive showing for Princeton, Dartmouth continued to answer, hitting jumpers from both inside and outside the arc. Following a Lee second-chance layup, the Big Green scored five unanswered from the free throw line to put them ahead 41–35 with under a minute to go.
To end the half, Pierce forced the defense to collapse on him in the paint before kicking it out to sophomore guard Dalen Davis for three. At the break, Princeton trailed 41–38.
The second half started slow for both teams, with only four points scored over the first four minutes of play.
The Big Green seemed determined to slow down Lee and Pierce, consistently doubling and trapping the pair whenever they had the ball.
However, they didn’t account for other playmakers on the Tigers’ roster like Davis, who hit a jumper and a pair of three-pointers thanks to the double teams that Lee and Pierce drew.
“Ivy League for sure, teams start to focus on me more,” Lee said. “But to be honest, in our non-conference this year it’s been pretty competitive and teams have been doing that already, so I think that was good … preparation for us coming into league play.”
With 11:36 to play in the game, Lee drew a foul to shoot only the third and fourth free throws of the game for Princeton. After hitting them both, Lee tied up the game at 52 apiece.
On the day, Dartmouth shot over twice as many free throws as Princeton, going 18–20 from the line while Princeton went 7–8. Despite the lopsided opportunities from the charity stripe, the Tigers refused to be dismayed and kept their intensity high.
Princeton went on a 10–0 run with under 10 minutes to play, turning stingy defense into efficient offense. To cap off the run, Pierce stole a Dartmouth pass intended for a backdoor cutter before finding Lee, who drilled a three-pointer and put Princeton up 67–59 with 6:44 to play.
“My coaches and my teammates allow me to play in a very free way,” Lee explained. “A lot of our actions and stuff just give me the opportunity to make a read and kind of play loose. I think that draws upon my strengths as a player.”
Slowly but surely, the Big Green clawed their way back into the game. With around a minute to go, an official review reversed a blocking foul on Dartmouth to a charge on Lee, bringing Dartmouth within one point of Princeton, 78–77.
With 25 seconds left, Dartmouth swarmed Lee, stripping the ball and nailing what could have been the game-winning triple to put the Big Green ahead 80–78.
But Princeton has been in this situation before. Including this game, the Tigers have won five games by one point or fewer on the season, including back-to-back game winners against Rutgers and Akron back in December.
With the clock ticking down under 10 seconds, Lee sized up his defender, head faked a drive right, brought the ball between his legs with his left hand, and stepped back before drilling the game winner with 5.6 on the clock.
“I just kind of made plays when I needed to and it worked out for us in the end,” Lee said. “Definitely a good week of practice and preparation helped me feel good during the game.”
Princeton heads back to Jadwin to take on Columbia (11–4 overall, 0–2 Ivy League) on Tuesday.
“We truly believe that we’re going to win every game we play in, no matter the time or the score,” Pierce told the ‘Prince.’ “We’ve been getting off to some slow starts this year but we have full confidence in our group that we’re going to come out on top.”
Doug Schwartz is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com
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