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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| Princeton (6-12, 4-1 Ivy) |
27 |
33 |
60 |
| Harvard (12-8, 4-3 Ivy) |
25 |
34 |
59 |
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
Harvard led by six inside the final minute when Princeton’s Edwin Buffmire corralled the rebound off Mike Strittmatter’s miss and laid it in to cut the Tigers’ deficit to four with 55 seconds left. Princeton trapped and went for the steal instead of fouling, and Harvard tried a long pass to Brian Cusworth. But there was a collision in the air and no foul was whistled, leaving Kyle Koncz to gather the loose ball. At the other end, Koncz found Scott Greenman for an open three-pointer to cut the margin to one with 31 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Princeton appeared to foul Harvard’s Jim Goffredo, but no call was whistled and the Tigers came up with the steal. Greenman worked the clock down and found Noah Savage wide open on the baseline for the game winner with 0.2 seconds left. |
| Key sign it was over |
With just 0.2 left on the clock and inbounding the ball 94 feet away from its own bucket, Harvard could only hope for a tip-in. But Princeton’s Justin Conway batted away Brad Unger’s long inbounds pass and the clock expired. |
| Key performance |
Kyle Koncz. The Princeton forward finished with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from outside the arc, including a huge three-pointer with 3:09 left in the game when Harvard appeared poised to pull away. |
| Key statistic |
Harvard’s 0-for-7 three-point shooting. The Tiger matchup zone is designed in part to guard the arc, and Princeton did an excellent job tonight. Joe Scott talked after the game about how they had worked all week on guarding Goffredo, and the Tigers did just that. Princeton held the leading scorer in Ivy play to six points on 1-for-9 shooting. Goffredo missed all five three-point attempts on the night — three of which were blocked. |
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| Notes |
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Harvard had problems fighting through screens in the first half, giving Princeton many open looks from three-point range. But the Tigers were only able to hit on 5 of 17 three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes and led just 27-25 at halftime, despite outplaying the Crimson in the half.
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Princeton was plagued by foul problems in the first half, with the tone set by two fouls in the first 33 seconds. Justin Conway picked up two fouls in a 17-second span and spent most of the first half on the bench, and Greenman joined him after picking up his third personal foul at the 11:10 mark. In the second half, Luke Owings fouled out with 5:11 left on a questionable blocking call. |
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The Crimson frontcourt of Cusworth and Matt Stehle combined for 33 points, 19 rebounds, and six blocks. |
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Harvard did not score in the final 1:17, as Princeton ended the game with a 7-0 run to win by one. |
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Joe Scott’s bench outscored its counterparts on the Harvard bench 11-0. |
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Twice in the final nine minutes, Cusworth blocked a Tiger shot, only to see Princeton grab the rebound and find the open man for a big three-pointer. |
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Harvard owned a big 25-4 edge in free throw attempts and Princeton was called for 21 personal fouls compared to 13 for the Crimson. |
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This was the sixth straight Princeton-Harvard game at Lavietes that hasn’t been decided until the final minute. Princeton has won five of those six games, despite a cumulative scoring advantage of just 363-352. |
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