STEPPING UP: Princeton University men’s basketball player Jackson Hicke flies upcourt in recent action. Last Wednesday, junior star Hicke scored 21 points with nine rebounds and five assists in a losing cause as Princeton fell 59-56 to Merrimack. The Tigers, now 3-10, play at Temple on December 22. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
It proved to be an unfortunate case of dèjá vu for the Princeton University men’s basketball team as it hosted Merrimack last Wednesday.
Trailing 32-29 at halftime, the Tigers led 56-55 with 44 seconds left in regulation only to lose 59-56. It marked the seventh straight defeat for Princeton, with the last six coming by an average of four points per contest.
Tiger junior star guard Jackson Hicke, who scored 21 points with nine rebounds and five assists as Princeton moved to 3-10, acknowledged that the latest near miss was tough to take.
“I think it is hard not to be frustrated as a competitor,” said Hicke. “The locker room spirit is still so good. I think we are improving, we know that. It is encouraging that in the last six games we have lost by an average of four or five. Winning games is a skill and we haven’t been able to do that yet. Once we learn how to do that, I think we will take it to the next step. It is frustrating but we have to take it the next level.”
As for his performance, Hicke credited his teammates with putting him in position to succeed.
“I was getting the ball in the high post and things were kind of slowing down for me,” said Hicke. “My teammates were doing a good job of getting me the ball and spreading out so it was easy to find them. I was able to go one-on-one with the middle guy for a little bit. We needed to get in the paint a little more in the second half, going inside-out like that was good for us.”
Having tallied at least 20 points in four of Princeton’s last six games, Hicke has been looking to shoulder more of the scoring load with point guard Dalen Davis currently sidelined with an ankle injury.
“I think with Dalen out someone else has to step up a little bit,” said Hicke, a 6’5, 200-pound native of Radnor, Pa., who is now averaging 13.9 points and 4.8 rebounds a game and leads the Tigers in assists with 32. “Twenty points sounds great but I would rather have a win so I need to make a couple of more winning plays. I would rather have that stat.”
In assessing Princeton’s string of narrow losses, Hicke doesn’t see any pattern behind the slide.
“It is the usual stuff, today we made our free throws and free throws have been an issue,” said Hicke. “Fouling has been an issue. I don’t think there is any recurring thing, they all happen a little bit different. We are getting better with each of them. The first couple of losses we were really shooting ourselves in the foot in a lot of different ways. I think we did better today. Malik [Addullahi] did a great job making his free throws. [Jack] Stanton made his free throws. We didn’t get any o-boards at the end, we didn’t get a stop when we needed to. I think that is the easiest one to fix.”
Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson was disappointed to see his team fail to get over the hump in yet another close game.
“It was a tough one tonight, I broke my glasses,” said Henderson, picking the glasses off the floor at the postgame media session. “We didn’t play terribly but that zone really messes you up. We were right there but they scored some really important buckets at the end and we just couldn’t come through.”
While the losing streak has stung, Henderson sees reason for hope.
“It is very frustrating; I think that is what we are, we are not there yet,” said Henderson. “I am encouraged by the group. We are getting better. We have to get healthy but no excuses. The schedule has been brutal and now we go into a long break. We are figuring out ways to lose right now. We are what our record says we are but we are confident we can get better.”
Henderson credited Hicke with emerging as a bright spot for the Tigers.
“It was 21, nine, and five from Jackson, he has been amazing,” said Henderson. “He has been great, first with his positivity.”
The return of Abdullahi from injury was a positive as the sophomore forward contributed eight points and eight rebounds.
“Malik made his free throws at the end, it took him a while to get going,” said Henderson. “We have missed him. I thought he was fatigued early on. He found his way back into the mix. He gave us a chance to win, he made some huge plays. We just came up a little short.”
With rematches against Temple and Vermont on the horizon, who Princeton previously lost to at the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Fla., during Thanksgiving week, Henderson is hoping to see progress.
“I think it is terrific, I love it, the idea of multiple games,” said Henderson, whose team plays at Temple on December 22 and then hosts Vermont in December 30. “It is like the NBA with a seven-game series, it is like our league. We are at Temple and then Vermont is here so we will get a chance to see what we can do to improve, they are two very good teams.”
Hicke, for his part, believes the Tigers are poised to make a breakthrough.
“We talk about it takes four or five plays to win games and we are like two plays away from winning these games,” said Hicke. “We needed one more stop at the end. We have to do a better job. It is getting our principles for the last three minutes. It is a young team, I know we can’t keep saying that. It comes with experience and being in these games to do this. We definitely are getting better. One of these days we are going to get over the hump, and when we do that it will stack up wins in the future.”