DOUBLE PLAY: Princeton University men’s basketball player Jackson Hicke heads to the hoop in recent action. Last Saturday, junior guard Hicke posted a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds to help Princeton top Brown 63-53. The Tigers, now 7-13 overall and 3-2 Ivy League, play at Cornell on January 30 and at Columbia on January 31. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Justin Feil
After late-game slides cost the Princeton University men’s basketball team in consecutive heartbreakers on the road the previous weekend, much of practice last week focused on closing out games better.
On Saturday against visiting Brown, it paid off as the Tigers pulled away over the final eight minutes, holding on to a lead in a 63-53 win over the Bears before a crowd of 3,314 at Jadwin Gym.
“That’s the biggest win we’ve had because it was rough,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson. “It was a really rough game, very physical game. We were a little off, I thought. And then they wrapped it the last 10 minutes of the game. They figured it out together.”
Princeton improved to 7-13 overall and more importantly 3-2 in the Ivy League for a three-way tie for second place, one game behind Yale, whose only loss came to Princeton. The top four teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the Ivy League Tournament.
“We’re right where we’re supposed to be and we’re learning,” said Henderson. “And these guys are hardened and they’re becoming calloused over with certain things. And that’s the only way you learn.”
Tiger junior star Jackson Hicke recorded his second career double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. His other came against now-defunct Division III Bryn Athyn. Dalen Davis poured in a game-high 22 points off the bench, including his 100th career 3-pointer. The duo was a combined 18 for 18 from the foul line as the Tigers went 22-for-22 as a team, the second game in a row in which they’ve been perfect.
“I wish it had helped us at Dartmouth, it really helped us tonight,” said Henderson. “We have a good free throw shooting team. I didn’t think any of them were even close to missing tonight. Very important.”
Hot shooting from the charity stripe helped the Tigers close out a game that was tied at halftime and close throughout until Davis hit a pair of free throws for a technical foul on Brown coach Mike Martin.
“It’s what you live for, it’s what we practice for,” said Davis. “I’ve been in this situation my whole life, so I get more excited when there’s more pressure.”
They broke a 41-41 tie, and CJ Happy followed with his only field goal of the game, a 3-pointer. Princeton never trailed again.
“That was a real key moment in the game right there,” said Henderson. “But I’m proud of our guys for getting it done. Not a pretty game, but a really important win.”
A 3-pointer by Hicke gave Princeton a 49-41 lead with 6:12 left. That’s when the learning kicked in.
Princeton suffered back-to-back excruciating losses coming into Saturday’s game. They lost 87-80 in overtime at Harvard on January 17 after leading by 14 with 3:20 left and then fell 71-69 on a last-second shot at Dartmouth two days later after leading by six points with 3:30 left. That led to plenty of late-game simulation in practice.
“Press breaks and situations, we do situation stuff in practice, we’ll put two minutes up there and act like end the game,” said Hicke. “I think that really helped us a lot, just to kind of duplicate it to an extent. But it was much better today than it was the past weekend, so just to see some tangible improvement was good.”
This time, when Brown cut it to five points, Princeton responded and never let them within six the rest of the way. The Tigers took care of the basketball — they had just seven turnovers all game — and made shots and free throws down the stretch.
“I think those last four minutes, obviously that’s kind of where it hurt us both games,” said Hicke. “So I think today just proving to ourselves and proving to everyone that we’ve worked on it a lot and that we were mature enough to kind of handle the situations and we’re gonna improve throughout the course of the year like we did today.”
Princeton will go back on the road for important tests at Cornell on Friday and at Columbia on Saturday. So far this season, the Tigers have struggled away from Jadwin, going 0-8 in road games and 0-4 in neutral site games. Both New York schools sit one game behind Princeton in the standings with every team in the league looking for some separation and security as they look to book a spot in the Ivy tourney.
“You want to win every game, and we feel like we can win every game that we play,” said Hicke. “But I mean, you can’t. These losses, you can’t let them affect you. It’s so early in the Ivy League season right now, you can’t let it drag you down. You gotta learn from it, even as tough as it is. It was a tough weekend for us last weekend, but I think the guys did a great job of refocusing on Wednesday when we had practice, and we’re locking in on Brown, and that’s top to bottom. So I mean, it’s really just a testament to the whole group.”
Sophomore forward Malik Abdullahi also came up big for the Tigers, scoring eight points, including a pair of highlight dunks, once alone on the break and once on an alley-oop from Davis on a break. He finished with four fouls while battling Brown’s talented frontcourt tandem of Landon Lewis and N’famara Dabo. Princeton freshman Landon Clark also had to match up with their bigger forwards at times, and he also delivered four rebounds and two assists and a pair of free throws late.
“A lot of our guys really stepped up,” said Hicke. “Malik’s doing an unbelievable job guarding guards and big. Having a guy like that on your team, it’s unbelievable. So he did a great job. Then I think Landon Clark was doing a great job, especially for a freshman. I mean, he obviously plays well above his years, but he was on Landon Lewis a lot at the end of the game, and I think he did a great job making him take tough twos.”
Princeton went deep into its bench during the game with freshmen Sebastian Whitfield getting a few more minutes than usual and freshman Jacob Hammond playing his first minutes since December 30. Hammond had a key offensive rebound and kicked it out to Davis for a 3-pointer early in the second half after Princeton had briefly trailed. Whitfield also had an assist and a rebound.
“I like the way they’ve been playing, Jacob and Sebastian,” said Henderson. “I like the way the guys have been coming along, and I did think that we needed a little bit of pop. It’s Jacob’s first minutes in many games, and Seb had a really nice baseline drive kick to the corner for Landon. Freshmen, anytime we can get them better, helps us in the long run. So they have bright futures, both of them.”
Their minutes helped keep some Princeton starters a little fresher for the closing minutes when they made the plays. Davis came off the bench again for the Tigers, something he’s done since returning from injury, but he played starter minutes — 30 — third best Saturday.
“I’m just focused on winning the league and then making the March Madness,” said Davis. “So whatever the guys need me to do, whatever, I’m ready to do it.”
With Davis back in the fold, regardless of his role, the Tigers are a better team. He gave them a big spark at the offensive end, often creating his own shot late in the shot clock or in isolation situations. And he connected on all 12 of his free throws.
“We spent eight games without Dalen and the group really came together,” said Henderson. “So when he came back, it was like a really nice breath of fresh air. And it still feels that way because we were right there, and then we beat Vermont without him. And I’m so glad to have him back. But that was a really good win for that group. It was just getting there. So I like where we are.”