BOUNCING BACK: Princeton University men’s basketball player Dalen Davis dribbles the ball against Penn last Monday night in the Ivy League opener for both teams. Returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him since late November, Davis scored 19 points off the bench to help the Tigers edge the Quakers 78-76. The Tigers, now 5-11 overall and 1-0 Ivy, host Yale on January 10. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
After losing eight straight games from Thanksgiving week through Christmas, the Princeton University men’s basketball team ended 2025 on a high note.
Overcoming a feisty University of Vermont team that rallied to force overtime, Princeton pulled out a 75-69 win over the Catamounts in the extra session on December 30 before a crowd of 2,816 at Jadwin Gym.
“That was a very important win for us we haven’t won in a really long time but not once have they hung their heads and not worked as hard as they could,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson. “They have done everything we have asked them to do. We have been getting better, we have seen it as a staff. We have been right there. It is hard when you can’t show wins on the record.”
Sophomore guard Jack Stanton and his teammates were determined to snap the losing skid.
“It was we are sick and tired of this,” said Stanton, who scored a career-high 19 points in the win and was later named the Ivy League Co-Player of the Week. “We are getting it done this time. It is not happening again.”
On Monday evening, Princeton started 2026 by getting it done again, edging visiting Penn in a 78-76 thriller in the Ivy opener for both teams.
Trailing 30-16 late in the first half, the Tigers went on an 8-2 run to to narrow the gap to 32-24 at intermission.
Opening the second half with a bang, Princeton drained 16 straight shots to build a 63-48 lead and seize momentum. Returning from an ankle injury that had sidelined him since late November, Dalen Davis tallied 10 points in the 39-16 run while CJ Happy scored nine and Stanton contributed 12.
But Penn responded with a run of its own, cutting the Princeton lead to 77-76 with seven seconds left in regulation. Davis added a free throw to make it 78-76 and then Penn’s AJ Levine missed a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Tigers held on for the win with the Jadwin Gym crowd of 2,438 roaring its approval.
In reflecting on Princeton’s stunning start to the second half, Henderson pointed to the return of junior guard Davis as a key.
“We haven’t played like that but No. 3 is back,” said Henderson, whose team is now 5-11 overall and 1-0 Ivy. “The guys have had opportunities without Dalen to get aggressive and learn how to win and score. It is Stanton and [Jackson] Hicke and all of these guys and now you introduce Dalen back in the mix and he gets 19 points in 20 minutes. Everything moves a little different.”
In Stanton’s view, the Tigers got moving faster in that brilliant stretch.
“We just pushed the tempo a little bit and everything seemed to be open; there is an energy with the ball,” said Stanton, who established a new career-high as he scored a game-high 23 points in the win. “When the ball is moving like that you can take a really tough shot and it still feels pretty solid to you. I think that was that feeling.”
While Davis got off to a tough start, scoring just two points on 1 of 5 shooting in the first half, he got rolling in the second half as he hit 7 of 8 shots on his way to the 19-point performance.
“I was just keeping with it,” said Davis. “The team did a good job of practicing and staying together and keeping with it in my time of absence. It was staying with it and trusting my teammates. They made some big plays, I made some big plays. I am glad we got the win.”
Having sprained his ankle in 70-57 win over Northeastern on November 20, Davis was chomping at the bit to get back on the court for the Penn clash.
“That is probably the longest I have been out without playing basketball in my life,” said Davis, a 6’0, 190-pound native of Chicago, Ill. “It was hard mentally. The guys were improving each and every day even though we didn’t get into the win column. I wanted to come back and make a push in the Ivy.”
Henderson was thrilled to have Davis return to action. “It is not just the scoring, which is awesome,” said Henderson. “It is his defense and ability to get over ball screens. He got posted up in the first half on [Dalton] Scantlebury and just reached around and took it. We don’t have any seniors, but that is what seniors do. He had a couple of really important steals. His passing is also underrated. I am just so glad he is back.”
Henderson was glad to see Princeton continue its dominance over Penn as it posted its 14th straight win over the Quakers and overtook Penn in the all-time series, 127-126, which had been tied for the first time since 1905.
“We have had a nice streak going,” said Henderson. “I was watching the Ravens-Steelers last night. It is an awesome series. That is what Penn-Princeton was for a long time. We have to go back there in a month, it will be a tough game.”
Breaking through with the win over Vermont and following that up by edging Penn, Henderson believes the Tigers are on the right track.
“We have been knocking on the door against really good teams and then we got a really good win against a very good Vermont team and that is a very good Penn team,” said Henderson, whose team hosts Yale on January 10. “So two in a row, now we have to start to behave like that in the big moments which means taking care of the ball down the stretch. In the last three minutes we had six turnovers.”
It was big return for Davis. “We are close as a group, I love these guys, they are fun to be around,” said Davis. “I think anybody with an injury would have that eagerness just get back and compete with the guys that you want to fight for.”