Again, Xaivian?

TigerBlog had lunch Monday with his friend Zack DiGregorio, two Penn grads 30-plus years apart who have spent most of their lives rooting for Princeton. 

Actually, it was a late lunch. Zack was supposed to be there by 2:30 or so, only he was running really behind schedule, so TB had some time to kill.

As he waited, TB kept track of the Princeton-Columbia men's basketball game — and it didn't look promising. Princeton trailed by 20 points, in fact, at 33-13, late in the first half when TB stopped checking the LiveStats.

He went back one more time, this time with less than eight minutes to go, when it was a 19-point game at 55-36 Columbia. 

Meanwhile, Zack ordered a Caesar salad, something that seemed simple enough. TB went with the Tuna tartar, for the record. 

It wasn't long before TB's lunch arrived. Zack's? It was nowhere to be seen. 

Meanwhile, the game went on. And it got closer and closer, which is more than TB could say for Zack's salad. 

In fact, Zack asked the waiter and then another waiter, both of whom said they would check on it and neither of whom actually did. They could have at least made the pretense of checking by actually walking into the kitchen, no? 

On the bright side, it wasn't like TB had to worry about having his food get cold. It's supposed to be cold. 

Now it was 63-58 Columbia, with three minutes to play. And now Zack's salad arrived too. 

Why did it take so long? The WiFi was down. Neither TB nor Zack really could unravel that logic. Nor was the waiter's statement that because the salad took so long to get there, it would be on the house — and would these be separate checks? 

Back the basketball game, TB checked it out just in time to see that it was now 69-67 Princeton with 10 seconds left. Final score: Princeton 71, Columbia 67.

How'd the Tigers take the lead? That would be on a three-pointer by Xaivian Lee. Does that sound familiar at all? 

Hmmm, when was the last time Lee hit a late three-pointer to give Princeton a win? That was in the team's previous game, at Dartmouth Saturday. The most amazing thing about Lee's two game-winners is that he was a combined 4 for 16 in those two games from three prior to going 2 for 2 on last-second massive shots. You need confidence, unwavering confidence, to even take those last two shots, let alone drain them.

Not stunningly, Lee was the Ivy League Player of the Week for his two game-winners, not to mention his other 30 points against Dartmouth and his 19-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist stat line against Columbia, barely missing out on a second triple-double.

Oh, and he now has 955 career points as he closes in on 1,000, and beyond.  

Caden Pierce went for 21 points and nine rebounds of his own. How many career points does he have? That would be 951.

In case you're wondering, yes, it has happened before that Princeton has had multiple players reach 1,000 points in the same game. Off the top of his head TB knows that Kate Thirolf and Maggie Langlas and then Allison Cahill and Maureen Lane reached the mark on the same night.

Back at the game against Columbia, as a team, Princeton shot 2 for 19 from three in the first half and then 12 for 22 in the second half. That's a good cause-and-effect situation. 

Blake Peters finished with 14 points on 4 for 7 three-point shooting, including 4 for 5 after missing his first two. 

The Princeton men are now 3-0 in the league, one of two unbeatens along with Yale. Princeton's three wins have been by four points over Harvard, one point over Dartmouth and the massive comeback win over Columbia.

This is a team that is never out of a game, as its many comebacks this season tell you. Princeton has won seven straight and 10 of its last 11, and during that seven-game streak, there have been six wins by four points or fewer, including three by one point. 

That is the mark of a team built on toughness. 

Next up for Princeton is a home game Saturday at 2 against Cornell, who is 2-1 after an 82-81 loss to Brown Monday.