“I think we’ve developed a small rivalry with them over the years,” Yale guard John Poulakidas told The Daily Princetonian postgame.
Coming off a loss to the Cornell Big Red (13–6 overall, 5–1 Ivy League), the Tigers (15–6, 4–2) needed to bounce back against rivals Yale (13–6, 6–0) to create a three-way tie atop the Ivy League standings.
On national television in front of over 3,200 fans at Jadwin, the Bulldogs got off to a strong start and never looked back en route to a 77–70 win, handing the Tigers their second Ivy loss.
The following day, the Tigers beat Brown 69–49 in one of their best defensive performances of the season. The win — their most complete game of Ivy League play so far — avenged their 2024 Ivy Madness loss to the Bears.
‘We have a problem on our team’
Since the 2014–15 season, Princeton and Yale have dominated the Ivy League. The two squads have combined for nine Ivy League regular season titles, five Ivy Madness titles, and four NCAA tournament wins, with three of them occurring in the last two seasons.
However, Yale has won 12 out of the last 15 games, including Friday night’s contest at Jadwin where Princeton had won 41 out of its last 48 games.
“That’s the best team we’ve seen this season, and hopeful to see them two more times,” Henderson said postgame, referencing a potential Ivy Madness matchup to come in March.
Poulakidas led the Bulldogs with 23 points, while the Yale defense held junior standout guard Xaivian Lee to two points and junior forward Caden Pierce to five. Notably, Head Coach Mitch Henderson ’98 benched his upperclassmen duo for the final 7:36 of the game.
“We did a great job defensively, individually,” Yale Head Coach James Jones said. “Nick Townsend on Pierce and Bez [Mbeng] on Lee, they had just tough nights.”
The Tigers only led for 25 seconds on Friday night. It was all Yale early on as a triple from Poulakidas put the visitors up 22–12 within the first eight minutes. The Tigers responded as consecutive triples from sophomore guard Jackson Hicke cut the lead to six.
The Bulldogs — who came into the game as three-point favorites — opened up a 14-point lead with just over four minutes remaining in the half after Poulakidas drained his second three-pointer.
After a three by sophomore guard Dalen Davis with seven seconds left in the first half, it looked like the Tigers were garnering momentum. However, Yale guard Bez Mbeng drained a three of his own as time expired to give Yale a 44–34 advantage at halftime, ending the half on a bitter note for the Tigers, who needed to enter the locker room with energy.
Yale shot an impressive 62.1 percent from the field in the first half, including seven of nine from beyond the arc.
“It’s just unacceptable how many games in a row we’ve just dug ourselves a hole,” Hicke noted.
After both sides exchanged buckets to start the second half, a 22–10 run by Yale gave them a 20-point lead with just over seven minutes remaining.
This is when Henderson made a bold coaching decision, benching his starting five for the remaining eight minutes and putting out a lineup with four first-year players. The decision paid off as eight consecutive points by first-year guard Jack Stanton made it 71–61 Yale with four minutes remaining. In under 10 minutes of play, Stanton finished with a career high 17 points.
Despite cutting the lead to five points with 27 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs held on for a 77–70 victory.
“We have a problem on our team, for sure,” Henderson said.
Henderson has lost 12 out of his last 15 games against James Jones and the Yale Bulldogs
Ryland Graham / The Daily Princetonian
‘We looked like us’
When the Tigers returned to the court on Saturday against Brown, they looked very different.
Coach Henderson mixed up the rotation, giving Stanton 17 minutes after his breakout game. Aside from a garbage time cameo, he also benched senior forward Phillip Byriel, with first-year forward CJ Happy logging a career-high 21 minutes. Henderson’s changes were rewarded, and the Tigers put forth one of their best performances of the season in a 69–49 win.
The Tigers have been crushed by starting slowly all season long. Against the Bears, they had one of their best starts of the year. After a three by Stanton, the Tigers took a 37–23 lead into halftime. That 14-point advantage represents the Tigers’ second best first-half performance of the season.
“We set the tone early on,” said junior forward Caden Pierce.
After the break, it briefly looked like the Tigers’ old problems might be returning. Princeton failed to score during the first three minutes of the second half, and a layup by Brown guard Aaron Cooley made the score 37–33.
However, the Tigers responded. Jackson Hicke nailed a tough and-one layup to end the 10–0 Brown run, and the Tigers led by double digits for the final 12 minutes of the game.
The Tigers continued to extend their lead, and a three by senior guard Blake Peters gave them a 20-point cushion with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
Peters was excellent for the second straight night, and he finished the weekend with 30 points on 53 percent shooting over two games.
“He played like a senior,” said Henderson.
Princeton star Xaivian Lee bounced back after a brutal two-point showing against Yale. Lee led all Princeton scores against Brown with 16 points and notably scored his 100th career triple. Moreover, he played excellently on defense. Henderson called the game his “best defensive game this season, which we really needed.”
7:30 2nd | Princeton 53, Brown 43@JacksonHicke kicks it out to @xaivianlee for his 100th career three-pointer!
— Princeton Men’s Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) February 1, 2025
💻: https://t.co/SI4hnzZ16g #MakeShots 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/UfUmmsgIr1
It wasn’t just Lee who played great defense. The Tigers put forth a complete showing on that side of the ball, holding the Bears to 49 points, the fewest the team has allowed in any game this season. The Bears shot just 33 percent from the field.
The Tigers ended their weekend with a split against last year’s Ivy finalists and gained some momentum as the conference season heats up.
Henderson’s mood after the game was very different from what it had been the night before.
“A long 24 hours, but really like months. And finally, I feel like we looked like us,” he said.
The Tigers will return to Ivy play on Friday night when they travel to play Penn (6–13, 2–4) at the iconic Palestra.
Hayk Yengibaryan is an associate News editor, senior Sports writer, and Education Director for the ‘Prince.’
Zachary Meisel is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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