Princeton Blows Out Tired Crimson

PRINCETON, N.J.—The weary Harvard men’s basketball team was ambushed Saturday night at Jadwin Gym, dropping its seventh straight game, 75-48, to Princeton. The loss, coming a night after falling in overtime to Penn, was the worst league defeat for Harvard (12-13, 4-8 Ivy) in two years.

The Tigers executed the famous Princeton offense to near-perfection, putting on a clinic in offensive efficiency that translated to 62.5 percent shooting for the game and 68.4 percent from beyond the arc.

From the very start, things went the way of the Tigers (10-14, 8-3). Forward Luke Owings, who stands at 6’6, stole the opening tip from 7’0 center Brian Cusworth as the ball was on the way up, leading to a three-pointer from forward Kyle Koncz on the Tigers’ first possession.

“Tonight was our night,” Princeton coach Joe Scott said. “I think last night, obviously, Harvard played extremely well [versus Penn]. They had their chance down there. It’s the battle of the Friday-Saturday [fatigue], and it helped us tonight.”

Princeton, which never trailed, jumped all over Harvard early, utilizing nine first-half three-pointers to take a 37-19 lead into halftime.

The Tigers, whose trademark attack is built around long-range shooting and constant cuts to the basket, converted five lay-ups and kept up a constant assault from three-point range.

For the game, Princeton hit 13-of-19 three pointers and was 12-of-21 on shots in the paint, as the Tigers got all of their 75 points via threes, short shots, or from the free-throw line, where they were 12-of-14.

Harvard managed to stay close to the hot-shooting Tigers in the game’s initial segment, as Jim Goffredo hit three straight long jumpers to pull the Crimson to 14-11. On its next trip down the floor, Koncz drilled a pull-up three. He then stole the ball, which led to another three, this time from center Justin Conway.

All told, Princeton reeled off a 23-8 run, effectively clinching the easy victory by the intermission.

Harvard appeared to be fatigued, both physically and mentally, following the team’s 74-71 overtime loss to Penn at the Palestra the night before. After coming out with a great deal of energy against the league-leading Quakers, the Crimson could not find any kind of rhythm on offense and let the screening, cutting Tigers run circles around them on the other end.

“I think the [Penn-Princeton trip] requires more stamina, certainly on the back-end tonight than we were able to put in,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “This is one of those classic [games] where Princeton knows that you were tested to your limit on Friday night and come in on Saturday and try to spread you out.”

Koncz led all scorers with a career-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He scored 20 points earlier this month in Princeton’s 60-59 win at Lavietes Pavilion, the only two times Koncz has scored 20 or more in his career.

“That’s why a guy like [Koncz] is really valuable,” said Scott about his third option on offense. “If he’s going to be open, he’s a good shooter, he’s got to make them, and he did tonight.”

Greenman, who helped break the Crimson’s heart with a late three in the earlier victory, had 11 points and six assists, while Conway, called up from the junior varsity team earlier this year, added 10 to go along with five rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Harvard was paced by Goffredo, who scored 14 points after being able to shake himself free for some open looks, a rare occurrence of late. The team hit just one three-pointer on nine attempts, however, after making zero from beyond the arc in the first game against Princeton.

“Goffredo is the key,” Scott said. “If he’s banging threes, it really helps them. I’d rather see if you can eliminate that, and then see what you can do with [Cusworth and captain Matt Stehle].”

“[It was] the same issue that we had at home,” Sullivan said. “You have to make some threes to stay in the game with Princeton.”

Harvard fell below the .500 mark for the first time this season, a grim sign of a once-promising season gone awry. The team also lost its 17th straight game at Jadwin Gym, a streak that began in 1990.

Princeton, which has now won seven of its last nine games after beginning the season 3-12, remains two games behind Penn in the league standings with three to play.

“We’re in the race until the final weekend,” Scott said. “We are the only other team that can say that. That says the most about what our guys have done, how far they’ve come.”

Harvard returns home next weekend to play Cornell and Columbia in the final two games of the 2005-06 season.

—Staff writer Caleb W. Peiffer can be reached at cpeiffer@fas.harvard.edu.