Jadwin hosts battle of unbeatens

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Not since 2004 has the men?s basketball team strung together five consecutive wins. Not since 2004 has the Ivy League Championship banner been raised in the rafters.

Cornell (14-6 overall, 4-0 Ivy League), the lone Ivy League team with a longer winning streak than Princeton?s (7-8, 2-0), visits Jadwin Gym on Friday.

?Everyone is ready to go in practice,? sophomore guard Dan Mavraides said. ?We?re especially excited to play Cornell; there?s no other team we?d rather play. Everyone?s excited, ready to go and confident.?

That confidence manifested itself in the Tigers? first Ivy League road trip, which culminated in a pair of impressive wins against Dartmouth and Harvard.

Mavraides led the charge for Princeton, pouring in 35 points over the two contests, an achievement that netted him Ivy League Player of the Week honors. Still, if anything stands out about the way this Tiger team has played lately, it?s been the squad?s versatility and balance: Five different players scored eight points or more against the Crimson.

?I think in general it?s the whole team,? junior guard and captain Nick Lake said of his team?s improved play. ?It?s all the coaches and all the players. We?re more comfortable playing with each other.?

Earlier in the season, Princeton could never seem to fit the pieces together. The Tigers would commit crucial turnovers or fail to execute their plays at the end of games, errors that ultimately resulted in a number of painful losses.

But they learned from those mistakes.

?The Ivy League is very important, but the preseason was really important for us to prepare for it,? Lake said. ?We made a lot of mistakes, and we learned from them. We?re a much better team now.?

Mistakes were in short order last Saturday against Harvard, while execution was the norm. There were assists on 18 of 25 field goals, but only six turnovers, an impressive 3:1 ratio.

?We?ve been hitting shots and making the big ones that we need to hit,? Mavraides said. ?We?re getting used to playing with each other. We?re kind of a young team, we have a lot of freshmen getting a lot of minutes, and it just comes down [to] getting used to playing with each other. The more we play together as a team, the more everyone is gaining confidence and improving their own games.?

The hot start in 2009 has inevitably led to cautiously excited chatter about a potential lead in the Ivy League standings that the Big Red currently possesses.

If Princeton is hot right now, then Cornell is flat-out scalding. The Big Red has a number of impressive streaks in the works, including one of nine straight wins and another of seven straight victories by double-digit margins.

Perhaps the most impressive run is Cornell?s 19 consecutive Ivy League wins, dating back to last year?s 14-0 season-long romp through the conference.

The Big Red is coming off a pair of blowout victories over Brown and Yale. Cornell dominated both games offensively and defensively, winning 90-58 and 64-36, respectively.

A threesome of All-Ivy players forms the Big Red?s nucleus: guard Louis Dale (14.8 points per game, 3.6 assists per game), forward Ryan Wittman (18.7 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game) and center Jeff Foote (12.3 points per game, 7.0 rebounds per game).

With Cornell doing so many things right, there isn?t really any one player or one part of the game for the Tigers to focus on. Instead, they will attempt to play their game to perfection.?We?ve got to play our game. That?s what has been working for us,? Lake said. ?If we focus on defense, and we?re able to get stops, we?ll be in the game.?

It will be important for Princeton, however, not to get too caught up in the hoopla surrounding the matchup of Ivy League unbeatens on Friday night. The Tigers will take on Columbia (7-11, 2-2) on Saturday night.

Columbia also played Yale and Brown last weekend, and it swept both games. Defense was critical in those contests, as the Lions held the Bulldogs to 42 points, only 15 of which came in the second half. Columbia forced 18 turnovers against the Bears.

Offensively, forward Jason Miller has been driving the Lions recently. Miller had 16 and 14 points against Yale and Brown, respectively. He leads the Ivy League in field-goal percentage at 62 percent.

The Lions have already been beaten by the Big Red this season.

?The main thing this year that the coaches have been pushing for is the focus is on us, on our team,? Mavraides said. ?We go over scouting reports for both teams, we spend the same amount of time on each team, but the focus is on us. We?ve just been working on our games, working hard on defense.?

This weekend should reveal whether that focus has turned the Tigers into serious title contenders. The players know that they haven?t accomplished anything yet, as last year?s results show.

?Everyone?s really excited,? Mavraides said. ?I mean, we have a good little streak going, we?re playing well, but we haven?t done anything yet; 2-0 is nothing different from last year.?

Indeed, Princeton beat Dartmouth by a score of 57-53 and Harvard by a convincing score of 68-54 to open the Ivy League season last year, only to finish 3-11 in the conference.

Mavraides noted that the Tigers still can improve.

?We?re getting better,? Mavraides said. ?But I don?t think we?ve reached our potential at all yet.?

The race to the top heats up this weekend.

 

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Red-hot guards locked and loaded for Princeton, Penn




"Less is more" aptly describes the surge of two-way production from Steve Donahue's guards during Cornell's current nine-game win streak. Fewer minutes has translated into more headaches for opposing coaches.


That group's collective productivity spiked last weekend in a home sweep of Yale and Brown, on both ends of the court. The return of senior guard Adam Gore only adds to the flexibility of Donahue's rotation, whose front man is reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Louis Dale.

"Less minutes, stay fresh. You don't always have to dribble the ball up the court, you don't always have to be the guy that makes the shot," Donahue said. "I just think they're playing well with a little lesser role. Obviously, they've been doing terrific things with that role."

Donahue's group will want to dictate the pace against Princeton (7-8, 2-0) tonight and Penn (5-11, 1-1) on Saturday, both of whom rely heavily on a freshman-sophomore backcourt combination.

"Absolutely, (Cornell's) better," Princeton coach Sydney Johnson said. "You're talking about 94 percent of the scoring and they're all experienced. The emergence of guys like Reeves and (Adam) Wire, and it's a good story to see Gore back out there. They're playing significantly better."

Cornell's guards have been so efficient over the last nine games that their minutes directly reflect the team's 22.6-point average margin of victory. Since the streak began with a 30-point rout of Boston University on Dec. 29, the primary trio of Dale, Reeves and Wroblewski is each averaging between 22.6 and 23.7 minutes per outing. Each is shooting better than 50 percent from the field and from beyond the three-point arc, staggering numbers at any level, and each is contributing consistently on the defensive end.

"We pride ourselves on how unselfish we are," said Wroblewski, who has drained 13 of 24 3-pointers during the streak. "It starts with Lou making everyone better, and it kind of just feeds off that."

Defensively, Reeves has transformed from a liability two years ago to a versatile workhorse, as he exhibited by defending a number of players of varying skill sets and sizes recently. He helped shut down Columbia point guard Patrick Foley (1-for-7, 6 pts.) on Jan. 24, Brown point forward Chris Skrelja (0-3, 0 pts., 1 assist) on Friday and Yale scoring guard Alex Zampier (0-8, 0 pts.) on Saturday. Collectively, Cornell's opposing Ivy backcourts have been held to 33 percent shooting from the field and 32 percent from long range.

Teammates have taken notice.

"Geoff, whether it's picking up full court or putting him on the best scorer, we're asking him to do so much defensively," senior captain Brian Kreefer said. "Him coming back a little bit stronger and keeping his speed and athleticism, we can put him on someone ranging from 6-7 to 6-foot. It can really help out with our defensive strategy."

When Dale missed the team's first eight games with a hamstring injury, and Gore the first 18 with a knee injury, it was a severe blow to Cornell's chances of springing a major non-league upset.

Still, Wroblewski and Reeves comprised an unexpected new starting backcourt and passed with flying colors as the team went 10-6. Both played minutes in the mid- to high 30s, a merciless trial by fire that went against Donahue's normal philosophy of balance. Highly regarded opponents like Syracuse and Minnesota weathered Cornell's initial storm before wearing down the Big Red in the second half.

Now healthy, Cornell (14-6, 4-0) is reaping the benefits from that experience. Competing every day in practice against University of Massachusetts transfer Max Groebe, a 6-4 combo guard, hasn't hurt either.

Johnson's club enters tonight's matchup on a five-game win streak, thanks to a similar surge in backcourt production. Freshman Doug Davis (13.7 ppg) is a rookie of the year candidate, and sophomore Dan Mavraides, last week's player of the week, scored a career-high 22 points Saturday in a win at Harvard. The Tigers have already surpassed last year's win total.

Penn freshman point guard Zack Rosen may be the frontrunner for rookie of the year, and sophomore Harrison Gaines scored 19 points twice as a freshman against the Big Red.

"(Rosen) is a terrific point guard," Donahue said. "He can really pass it, he makes his teammates better, and played great this past weekend. Great in transition, inconsistent on his shot but he's a young player, so that's a matter of time."

No team, since the inception of the Ivy League in 1956, has swept the Princeton-Penn road trip in consecutive years. Cornell's simply focused on distancing itself from the league's perennial Goliaths, regardless of their struggles in recent seasons.

A similar dose of Dale given to Brown last weekend would do the trick.

The 5-foot-11 point guard was 9-of-11 from the field for 23 points, five assists and four rebounds in 22 minutes. On the defensive end, he limited Brown guard Adrian Williams to two points.

"On defense, on offense, he set the pace for us," Gore said. "He really got us going. When the ball's in his hands, he's making good decisions and knocking down shots, we're harder to beat."

 

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Scouting Princeton


Last time out: Sophomore guard Dan Mavraides scored 22 points, en route to the Ivy League Player of the Week award, and Princeton downed Harvard, 77-71, to complete a weekend road sweep Saturday.

Last season vs. Cornell: L, 71-64; L, 71-62.

Probable starters: Douglas Davis (5-11, 155, Fr., G), Marcus Schroeder (6-3, 180, Jr., G), Mavraides (6-3, 200, Jr., G), Pawel Buczak (6-10, 230, Jr., C), Kareem Maddox (6-8, 225, Soph., F).

Statistically: Princeton ranks first in the league in field goal percentage defense (.398) and three-point percentage defense (.301). ... Davis leads the Tigers in scoring (13.7 ppg). ... Princeton's current five-game win streak followed up a six-game losing streak. During the losing streak, the Tigers' backcourt averaged 27.1 points per game. In the five wins since, that number jumps to 46.4. ... Princeton beat Cornell 34 of the first 36 times at Jadwin Gymnasium (est. 1969), but Cornell has won four straight there in the series. ... Princeton's 77 points Saturday were the most scored in regulation against a Division I opponent since an 89-point outing against Lafayette in 2002.

Outlook: There's little doubt around the league that Johnson will be the man to restore Princeton to its place among Ivy League basketball's elite programs. The Tigers have already surpassed their win total from last season, Johnson's rotation is largely senior-less and essentially overhauled from a year ago, and the program reportedly has a strong recruiting class arriving next fall.

Davis has made an immediate impact, and is shooting a shade under 40 percent from beyond the arc. His poise has been a big attribute.

"He doesn't seem to get too caught up in whether it's a Big East team, a big conference weekend ? he seems like he tries to play the same way," Johnson said. "His demeanor is calming and it's refreshing to see from a coaching aspect."

Mavraides is Princeton's most improved player. He saw almost no time as a freshman, but has come on of late, leading the Tigers in scoring six times in the last 11 games. He's shooting .426 from 3-point range.

Cornell enters tonight's game on a blistering nine-game win streak where it has outscored opponents by an average of 22.6 points, including 32- and 28-point drubbings of Brown and Yale last weekend, respectively. That puts Princeton squarely in the underdog role. But playing on the road is much different than the cozy confines of Newman Arena, and the Big Red understands that. It also understands that this weekend will be much different than last season's road trip through Penn and Princeton, when Cornell had already sewn up the league title.