END OF THE RUN: Princeton University men’s basketball player Jackson Hicke dribbles past a foe in game earlier this season. Last Friday, junior guard Hicke scored 15 points in a losing cause as Princeton fell 58-56 to Harvard. That defeat combined with wins by Cornell and Penn mathematically eliminated the Tigers from finishing in the top four in the Ivy League standings and earning a spot on the league’s postseason tournament. It marked the first time since the 2017-18 season that the Tigers failed to qualify for the Ivy tourney. Hicke had another big game on Saturday, tallying 22 points as Princeton defeated Dartmouth 82-61. The Tigers, now 9-19 overall and 5-8 Ivy League, will wrap up their season by playing at Yale on March 7. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
In mid-January, the Princeton University men’s basketball team built a 65-48 second half lead at Harvard only to lose 87-80 to the Crimson in overtime.
Last Friday, Princeton experienced an unfortunate case of déjà vu as it hosted Harvard. The Tigers went ahead 38-21 early in the second half but ended up squandering that lead in falling 58-56.
That defeat combined with wins by Cornell and Penn mathematically eliminated Princeton from finishing in the top four in the Ivy League standings and earning a spot on the league’s postseason tournament.
A subdued Tiger head coach Mitch Henderson acknowledged that ball handling miscues by Princeton played a key role in the defeat.
“It is a difficult loss for us, credit to Harvard, their pressure wore us down,” said Henderson, whose program last failed to qualify for the Ivy tournament in the 2017-18 season. “We had 15 turnovers. We had some really bad ones down there in the stretch and then they made really big plays there at the end of the game when they needed to on some tough shots. It is a hard one for us.”
Midway through the second half, Harvard reeled off a 19-2 run to seize momentum.
“The ball stopped moving and then Landon [Clark] got in foul trouble, I thought he was doing a great job moving the ball for us offensively,” said Henderson. “They put a lot of pressure on us, it affected the game. That said, the turnovers killed us. That really was the factor in the game. It is free points automatically with layups going the other way.”
Henderson credited junior guard Jackson Hicke with keeping Princeton in game as he drained a long 3-pointer to put the Tigers up 54-52 with 2:43 left in regulation.
“He made a big shot to put us up by two and a couple of big buckets around the rim,” said Henderson.
In the waning seconds of the contest, Hicke launched a desperation 3-pointer that clanged off the basket as the buzzer sounded.
“I would vote for advancing the ball to half court like the NBA, it would be nice to have that ball at half court,” said Henderson. “That last one is a tough one to make.”
The Tigers did show some toughness on defense as they held the Crimson to 25.8 percent shooting (8-for-31) in the first half in building a 33-21 lead at intermission.
“We made progress there,” said Henderson of the defensive effort. “We lost CJ Happy for the season last week, so we were down in the post. Guys are stepping up. Peyton Seals had a nice 20 minutes for us. The guys are working hard.”
Hicke, for his part, refused to attribute the defeat to the attrition caused by injury as star guard Jack Stanton was also recently sidelined for the season.
“I think it was a lack of discipline from us; the two [Tey] Barbour threes were big, we knew he could shoot the ball,” said Hicke, who scored 15 points in the loss to Harvard. “It was the rebounding too. There was a lot of plays that we needed to make to just go up and get it with two hands. I don’t think we were really fatigued out there. It was just the will to make a play.”
Like Henderson, Hicke pointed to turnovers as a key factor in the setback.
“There was so many ways we could have won the game today,” said Hicke. “If we had taken opportunities to take care off the ball, we could have won by 10 points. It starts with the juniors, we have to lead by example better. It trickles down.”
Hicke showed his leadership with his big 3-pointer that gave Princeton a short-lived lead late in the second half.
“[Jacob] Huggins made a good play; I drove on my guy and he stepped the other way,” said Hicke. “Huggs screened him so I had a great look at it. Huggs got me that shot and then we got a big stop down there.”
On his last shot, Hicke got the best look that he could.
“I was supposed to come back and get it and it worked out pretty well,” said Hicke. “I knew I had three seconds. I knew I had one or two dribbles to put it up.”
Despite the disappointment of the Tigers being eliminated from the Ivy tourney, Henderson knew his team would put up a good fight as it hosted Dartmouth on Saturday.
“They just continue to do everything we are asking them do, we haven’t been in this situation which is being eliminated,” said Henderson. “We get to play tomorrow night and that is a real gift. We have guys that get a chance to play significant minutes we have an opportunity here to keep getting better.”
Hicke took advantage of that opportunity, scoring 22 points to help Princeton defeat Dartmouth 82-61 as it improved to 9-19 overall and 5-8 Ivy League.
“I think the mindset is the same — to compete and win,” said Hicke, who will keep competing hard as the Tigers play at Yale on March 7 in their season finale. “I don’t know what the standings look like but nothing changes inside that locker room.”