A Busy Weekend Before The Break

TigerBlog might as well start with Richmond Aririguzoh again and make it a clean sweep of the week for the men's basketball big man.

Princeton is at Penn tomorrow afternoon (2 pm tip at the Palestra) for the second game in eight days between the teams after the Tigers won 68-65 in overtime in Jadwin Gym last Saturday. Aririguzoh is coming off a career-high 20 points, with seven rebounds, to earn Ivy League Player of the Week honors.

It'll be interesting to see the rematch between Aririguzoh and Penn center A.J. Brodeur, who had 18 points and 15 rebounds of his own in the game. Beyond that, there are all kinds of unknowns going into the rematch, and both teams can take confidence in some of them.

For instance, Penn's Michael Wang is another week healthier, while Princeton's Devin Cannady and Jaelin Llewellyn will probably shoot better than a combined 1 for 12 from three.

Beyond any of that, though, it just figures to be a very close, very hard-fought game between the two long-time rivals. And then for Princeton, it'll be the long break for first semester exams.

In fact, all of Princeton Athletics will shut down for exams after this weekend's events, of which there are a bunch. Also in fact, there are 19 events featuring 11 different teams between today and Sunday.

And then after that? All will be quiet until the 26th, when exams are over. For this weekend, there are some great events beyond just the men's basketball game.

HERE is the complete schedule for the month.

The weekend started yesterday, when the third-ranked women's squash team beat No. 2 Trinity 5-4, marking the second straight year the Tigers have beaten Trinity. Up next are the Ivy opening matches at Brown tomorrow and Yale Sunday.

Also, if you haven't seen this week's edition of "Beyond The Stripes," click HERE and check out the impact that Hurricane Katrina had on a brother/sister Princeton squash duo.

As for today's events, TigerBlog will start on the road, in Ithaca.

The Princeton women's hockey team is unbeaten in 16 straight games and ranked fifth in the nation. This afternoon at 3, the Tigers take on the team ranked one spot above them, fourth-ranked Cornell.

There aren't a lot of matchups in any sport between teams in the top five in the national rankings. That alone makes this one special, not to mention the impact it can have on the ECAC race.

Back on Nov. 17, Princeton and Cornell skated to a 2-2 tie, by the way. These teams are 1-2 in the league standings, and they are also the two highest ranked ECAC teams in the national poll.

No matter what happens this afternoon, Princeton will have a quick turnaround to the game tomorrow at 3 at Colgate, who happens to be ranked ninth and who made it all the way to the NCAA championship game last year.

The women's hockey team will return from exams on the 29th to host Penn State. Then it'll be the final eight ECAC regular season games in the first 23 days of February, followed by the ECAC playoffs - and possibly the NCAA tournament beyond that.

You can watch the game today at Cornell on ESPN+.

The men's hockey team, meanwhile, hosts Harvard and Dartmouth tonight and tomorrow with face-off at 7 both nights. Princeton, the defending ECAC champion, tied Harvard and beat Dartmouth the first time around.

Also at home this weekend the women's swimming and diving team will be in DeNunzio Pool tomorrow against Villanova and Rutgers. That meet starts at 11.

Then there is the wrestling team.

The 25th-ranked Tigers host a pair of nationally ranked opponents in matches that have been moved to Jadwin Gym. First up is No. 15 North Carolina, who is in Jadwin tonight (no admission charge). Then, tomorrow at 1, third-ranked Oklahoma State will be in Jadwin (you will need to purchase tickets for that one).

Both matches can be seen on ESPN+.

Here's the first line of the preview story by TB's colleague Craig Sachson:
This type of weekend was almost unthinkable not too long ago, but two of the nation's top programs will make their way to Jadwin Gym to take on a nationally ranked Princeton wrestling team that features a trio of Top-10 wrestlers with NCAA championship aspirations.

And HERE is the rest of his preview.

As TB said, it's an interesting weekend.

And then nothing for two weeks after that, other than exams.