Tag: Amir Bell

Princeton’s Defense Continues To Be Missing

Princeton did lose Spencer Weisz and Steven Cook to graduation last season, both huge pieces in a squad that was supposed to usher in a new era of Ivy League dominance for the Tigers, which had finished 28-2 in the last two years in Ivy play. However, Princeton had also somehow maneuvered around season-ending injuries to starters Henry Caruso and Hans Brase and came within seconds of beating Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.

Devin Cannady, Myles Stephens, and Amir Bell returned, so surely the Tigers would find enough from newcomers to at least contend for another Ivy crown.

Continue reading “Princeton’s Defense Continues To Be Missing” →

#1 Princeton 72, #4 Penn 64 (OT): Stephens’ Putback Saves Tigers

The Princeton Offense is known for several things: Passing, cutting, shooting, spacing, you name it. One thing it is decidedly not known for is offensive rebounding. So it’s funny that the three biggest plays of the Tigers’ season have been second chances. The biggest of all came Saturday at The Palestra, where Myles Stephens picked up Amir Bell’s errant layup and dropped it through the net with six seconds left, sending the first men’s Ivy League Tournament game ever to overtime. Continue reading “#1 Princeton 72, #4 Penn 64 (OT): Stephens’ Putback Saves Tigers” →

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: On To The Palestra

What Happened Last Week: Princeton is 14-0, thanks to another Harvard-killing shot (now with Titanic music!). Penn is the 4-seed, thanks to its own Crimson-beating game-winner. On the women’s side, Penn is the repeat champion, and Brown won a de facto play-in game to punch its Palestra ticket. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: On To The Palestra” →

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Tiebreaker Madness

Last Week in the Ivy League: Princeton clinched at least a share of its 27th championship. Columbia kept its postseason hopes alive by beating Penn, throwing the final week into tiebreaker chaos. The Lady Bulldogs got hot, shaking up the other playoff race. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Tiebreaker Madness” →

Princeton 71, Yale 52: Complete Performance From Cannady, Tigers

Devin Cannady’s minutes increased this season, as happens with many players who move from freshmen to sophomores in college basketball. His numbers have not, however. Last season, he torched opponents by shooting 45.6% on three-pointers (48.3% in Ivy League play) and 48.5% overall.

This season, although Cannady moved up from 11.6 to 12.6 points per game, he was shooting 37.9% from behind the arc and 41.0% overall. Amazingly, Princeton was winning anyway, 11 straight heading into Friday night’s game at Yale, which included a game two weeks ago at Harvard in which he was shutout on 0-8 shooting, and a 6-point performance at Penn three days later. In the first meeting against the Bulldogs, Cannady had seven points on 2-11 from the field as Yale nearly stole it before falling 66-58.

Offense isn’t everything, of course, and Cannady has helped the Tigers grab a two-game Ivy League lead in other ways, but there is one conference game that leaps off his stat page: the opener against Brown, where Cannady shredded the Bears for 29 points on 10-14 from the field, 7-9 from three. The result was a 97-66 bludgeoning for Princeton that set the tone for what it has done since.

Continue reading “Princeton 71, Yale 52: Complete Performance From Cannady, Tigers” →

Ivy League Weekly Recap: Princeton Reclaims Pole Position

Last Week in the Ivy League: Princeton held serve at home, taking a two-win lead on the league. Yale split, thanks to “the dog and Oni show.” Columbia won on the road in a back-and-forth opener. Penn’s #PathToThePalestra is 0 miles, but it just got a whole lot longer. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Recap: Princeton Reclaims Pole Position” →

Princeton 66, Yale 58: Tigers Win, Bulldogs Go Down Fighting

The uniforms said “Yale” on the front, but you’ll be forgiven if the players inside them were unrecognizable to the fans at Jadwin Gym Saturday night. The defending champ Bulldogs again came in as possible Ivy League contenders, but did so like a Broadway show whose original cast had moved on to bigger and better things.

Yale’s only Ivy loss last season came on Feb.19 in Princeton, but of the 200 minutes used by James Jones in that contest, only 9 were on the floor Saturday, with Sam Downey being the only Yale player to participate in both games.

Yes, the Bulldogs were going to have to rebuild after graduating Justin Sears, Brandon Sherrod, Nick Victor, and Khaliq Ghani (who accounted for 122 of those minutes, and doesn’t even take into account Jack Montague, who was not on the team by then), but preseason Ivy Player of Year Makai Mason (37) broke his foot, and current captain Anthony Dallier (34) became ill after Friday’s game at Penn and did not play.

Continue reading “Princeton 66, Yale 58: Tigers Win, Bulldogs Go Down Fighting” →

Ivy Favorite Princeton Searches For Answers After 0-2 Start

This first real snowfall hasn’t come yet, so it might have been a bit premature to sound the alarm, but there was Princeton coach Mitch Henderson in the postgame press conference after Sunday afternoon’s 76-67 loss at Lehigh sounding like a team on a 10-game losing streak in mid-February: Continue reading “Ivy Favorite Princeton Searches For Answers After 0-2 Start” →