MBB Facts

Coming soon to goprincetontigers.com will be TigerBlog's feature story on Ellie Mitchell and Caden Pierce and their ridiculous ability to rebound.

He doesn't want to give it all away, but he will tell you these facts:

1) Mitchell and Pierce between them have 55 double figure rebounding games. For the entire decade of the 1980s and the 1990s in Princeton men's basketball, there were 48 double figure rebounding games.

2) Since the start of last year, Mitchell and Pierce have 35 double figure rebounding games. That's more than Princeton's men had in either the 1980s or 1990s.

3) Mitchell is on pace to the be the all-time leading rebounder in Princeton women's basketball history. Pierce is on pace to be the all-time leading rebounder in Princeton men's basketball history.

As for the rest, it'll be on the webpage soon.

Meanwhile, here are some other Princeton men's basketball facts:

* Princeton is ranked No. 8 in Division I in the NET rankings. 

* Princeton is one of 15 unbeaten teams in the country.

* Princeton has more road wins than any other team in the country.

Okay, one more:

Princeton is 8-0 for the fourth time in program history and first since 1966-67. A win in the next game would match the best start the Tigers ever, and you have to go back a long, long way to see the last time, as in 1914-15 and 1919-20 seasons. 

Perhaps recent graduate Hobey Baker saw the 1914-15 Tigers play? 

Princeton can tie the record tonight at 7 in Jadwin Gym, when it takes on the Drexel Dragons. Next up after that is another Philadelphia opponent, St. Joe's, on the road Saturday at 1. 

Drexel comes in at 5-3 after defeating Villanova 57-55 at the Big Five Classic Saturday. The Dragons are used to playing close games; of their eight so far, three have been decided by two points, one was decided by six and another was decided by seven in overtime.

Princeton, of course, won a thrilling 70-69 game against Furman Saturday afternoon, taking its only lead of the second half when Matt Allocco hit a three-pointer with 4.2 seconds to play. Princeton had trailed by 11 with less than five minutes to play in that one, which came a few days after the Tigers rallied from 11 down in the second half to beat Bucknell.

By the way, speaking of buzzer beaters in the Ivy League and Big Five Classic, Penn lost 93-92 in overtime to La Salle Saturday on a halfcourt shot at the buzzer, one that looked similar to Furman's last gasp that almost went in.

And Princeton and Penn's endings seemed routine compared to what happened in the Yale-Vermont game. The Bulldogs were up by five after making two foul shots with three seconds left and lost in regulation. How? Vermont went end-to-end for a layup, making it a three-point game, and then got the ball back when Yale was called for an offensive foul on the inbound. Vermont's T.J. Long then took an inbounds pass, got fouled, banked in his three to tie it and them made the winning foul shot with 0.3 seconds to go. 

That's an extraordinary ending.

Drexel's win over Villanova fairly closely mirrored its season stats. Amari Williams scored 12 points to lead the team (that's just below his average) and nobody else was in double figures (nobody besides Williams averages double figures). 

The Dragons defend well and rebound well. If TB had to guess, he'd say it will probably be another close one. 

These are the kinds of games that you love to play at this time of year. They are exciting, and they definitely test you. They also pay off in a big way when you get into the league, which like every other year will be wildly unpredictable. 

For Princeton, the league opener comes up Jan. 6 at Jadwin against Harvard. There are only five more games between now and then, with the two against the Philly teams, home games against Byrn Athyn (Dec. 13) and Delaware Valley (Dec. 22) and then at Delaware (Dec. 30).

You'll want to take advantage of every opportunity you have to see these Tigers play. 

So far this season, they've more than been worth the price of admission.