Gamecenter: North Dakota State 57, Princeton 50

	1st	2nd	Final
North Dakota State (4-2)	21	36	57
Princeton (4-2)	26	24	50


Pepsi Blue & Gold Classic
Bradley Center – Milwaukee, WI	Boxscore

Keys to the Game
Key sequence	Having watched North Dakota State reel off a 14-0 run bridging halftime to equalize, Princeton responded with a 9-2 spurt to build its lead back up to seven. But the Tigers suffered turnover problems and went cold from the field over the next nine minutes, scoring only three points in that span. Ben Woodside knotted the game at 36 all with a lay up at the 10:16 mark, then the Bison claimed their first lead of the night on two Mike Nelson free throws a minute later. When Brett Winkelman sank a jumper the next trip down the floor, Princeton suddenly found itself trailing 42-38 after allowing a 14-3 run.
Key sign it was over	The Tigers still trailed by four with under three minutes left, when Lincoln Gunn came up with a steal. However, Luke Owings couldn’t connect on a three-pointer, and after a missed jumper at the other end, Edwin Buffmire could only hit one of two at the line to make it a one-possession game with 1:42 left. The Bison milked the clock, and with the shot clock running down, Nelson was left open in the corner, and drilled the three to make it 51-45 with just 69 seconds left. Following a Gunn miss, Princeton caught a break when Winkelman missed the front end of a one-and-one. But the Tigers couldn’t box out, allowing Andre Smith to grab the offensive board and get two free throws to push the margin to eight with 52 ticks left. When Marcus Schroeder missed a three-pointer, Winkelman went back to the line, hitting one of two for a 54-45 lead with only 25 seconds remaining.
Key performance	Woodside was the game’s top scorer with 20 points, and hit a number of important shots as North Dakota State made its game-turning runs. He finished 6 of 12 from the field, 2 of 6 from three-point range, and a perfect 6 of 6 from the line, adding two rebounds and four assists.
Key statistic	After improving on the boards during the four-game winning streak, Princeton once again was pounded on the glass. North Dakota State claimed 48.4 percent of the boards at its end, while holding Princeton to just three offensive rebounds out of a possible 26 (11.5 percent). The Bison outscored the Tigers 15-3 in second-chance points.

Notes

– Kyle Koncz was once again the high point man for Princeton with 13 points in 36 minutes.

– Tiger captain Justin Conway left the game with 5:30 left after susatining a rib injury. Joe Scott speculated after the game that Conway may have broken a rib.

– Princeton controlled the tempo, with just 53 possessions per team.

– The Tigers hit five of their first eight three-point attempts (62.5 percent) while building up a 23-8 lead. Princeton would hit just 4 of 15 attempts (26.7 percent) from outside the arc after that.

– The Bison missed their first six three-point attempts, then went 5 of 10 (50.0 percent) from long range the rest of the way.

– Princeton held NDSU’s leading scorer, Andre Smith, to just two points on the night by aggressively denying post feeds. Smith went 0-for-4 from the floor and committed five turnovers.

– Princeton will look to leave Milwaukee with a win when it faces Northwestern State in the tournament’s consolation game on Saturday, December 2, at 6:30 pm ET.

Basketball U.

Gamecenter: North Dakota State 57, Princeton 50

Jake Wilson

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Basketball U.

Basketball U.

Jake Wilson

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Basketball U.