Princeton At Indiana

TigerBlog got a text message yesterday asking about leaving tickets for "the game tonight."

Which game, was TB's first thought.

Princeton Athletics, of course, had no events last night. He had a hunch that the reference was to this coming Tuesday, when Princeton will host Arizona State on Carril Court at Jadwin Gym.

When that was confirmed, TB got this response:

"I will now take pleasure in admonishing a certain family member who hates to be wrong."

That's pretty much what parenthood is once your kids get into their 20s. That, and requests for money.

Princeton hosts Arizona State next week. This week, there's another big-time challenge.

Princeton is at Indiana tonight, with tip-off at 7 at Assembly Hall. Indiana comes into the game at 4-0, with 1) no team that has stayed with 11 of the Hoosiers, 2) an average score of 93.5-66.5 and 3) no Power Five opponents yet.

Tonight's game can be seen on the Big Ten Network.

This will be the fifth meeting between Princeton and Indiana. It'll also be the first time that one venue has hosted two games in this series.

The teams first played on Dec. 27, 1969, a game that Princeton won 82-76. That game was played where?

Pauley Pavilion, of course, the fabled building on the campus of UCLA. In fact, the next night, Princeton lost to UCLA 76-75 in the second game of the Bruin Invitational.

UCLA in the 1969-70 season would go 28-2 and win the NCAA title, the team's fourth straight in a streak that would eventually grow to seven in a row, all part of a 10 championships in 12 years run.

Meanwhile, back at the series against Indiana (who has only won five NCAA championships), the next game was at the 1972 NIT in Madison Square Garden, again a Princeton win, this time 68-60.

Game 3 in the series was the only one played in the 1980s. This time, it was an 83-54 win by the Hoosiers, in a game played in Indianapolis.

Then, in Game 1 of the 1996-97 season (which happened to be Bill Carmody's first as head coach), Princeton lost to the Hoosiers 59-49, also in the same Assembly Hall where tonight's game will be played.

That's the only game in the series to date that TB has attended - barely, he should add, after he missed his flight that morning out of Newark and then had to get to Philadelphia to fly to Indianapolis and drive to Bloomington.

Mitch Henderson, an Indiana native, was a junior point guard on that team. He had a six-point, three-assist, two-steal game for Princeton.

That game was technically Princeton's third straight in the state of Indiana, after the two NCAA tournament games the previous March in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Princeton, you might recall, knocked off UCLA in the opening round 43-41 before falling to Mississippi State in the second round in what would be Pete Carril's 775th and last game as Tiger head coach.

It was, in fact, in Indiana that Carmody officially was named Carril's replacement.

Princeton has started the current season at 0-3, but hey, nothing that happens before Thanksgiving can really define a season. Or even Christmas for that matter.

The Tigers have been led by senior Richmond Aririguzoh and sophomore Jaelin Llewellyn, who are both averaging 17.3 points per game. When was the last time Princeton had two players average that many per game for a full season?

Geoff Petrie and John Hummer in 1969-70.

Drew Friberg is averaging 13.3 points per game for the early season. Also, his nine three-pointers are a team high.

So that's Princeton-Indiana at 7 tonight on the Big Ten Network.

And it's Princeton to host Arizona State Tuesday night at Jadwin Gym. You remember how last year's game at ASU went, right?

Anyway, you can watch tonight's game.