Friday Catch Up

This week's catch-up comes a day later than usual:

* So TigerBlog made two bad mistakes the other day.

First, he said that before Wednesday night, Princeton's last game against Duquesne was in the 2020-21 season. It was actually in the 2019-20 season.

The second is a by-product of the first. He wrote that no Princeton player had played against Duquesne and that head coach Mitch Henderson had neither played nor coached against the Dukes. That was clearly wrong as well. 

Consider this a TB correction.

Henderson was actually 1-0 against Duquesne at the time. Now he's 2-0 after the Tigers won 70-67 in Pittsburgh Wednesday. 

It was a career-high night for two Tigers: Matt Allocco (23 points, 10 for 13 shooting) and Xavian Lee (20 points). Blake Peters did what he does (three three's, four steals) on a night when Caden Pierce "only" had eight rebounds.

Lee seems to have taken a major jump in his game from a year ago to now, and his time with the Canadian U19 team this past summer clearly has helped. Princeton basketball history is filled with players who were supporting players as freshmen who then became huge contributors as sophomores.

Here are a few examples. Can you name who the players are? TB will ask you at the end:

Player 1
Fr. - 18 total minutes, three total points
So. - 33.2 minutes per game, 9.7 points per game, second on the team in points, assists, rebounds

Player 2
Fr. - 14.6 minutes per game, 5.5 points per game, 2.4 rebounds per game
So. - 27.7 minutes per game, 12.5 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game

Player 3
Fr. - 4.4 points per game, 29 percent three-point shooting, 27 assists
So. - 11.3 points per game, 40.3 percent three-point shooting, 118 assists

Princeton is at Monmouth tomorrow at 2.

*

If you find yourself in Lubbock, Texas, this evening at 7 Eastern time, then TB invites you to attend the Princeton-Texas Tech NCAA tournament second-round women's soccer game. Princeton, who defeated Michigan 1-0 in the first round, is the No. 7 seed in this portion of the bracket. Texas Tech is the No. 2 seed in the bracket and fourth-ranked team in the country.

The day starts with the game between the third-seed in the bracket, North Carolina, and the sixth-seed, Alabama. The winners plays Sunday, and one of the four teams will advance on to the quarterfinals.

The Ivy League went 4-0 in the first round of the tournament, which means Princeton's league did better than Texas Tech's, as the Big 12 advanced three teams. That means nothing, of course, since Texas Tech was easily the Big 12's best.

The Red Raiders are 16-1-2 this season, including an 8-0-2 run through the league and an 11-0 record at home. On the other hand, the team's last eight games have all either been ties or decided by one goal, including the lone loss for the year (a 1-0 decision against Texas in the final game of the regular season) and the first round of the NCAA tournament (a 1-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast).

*

There is home men's hockey this weekend, as the Tigers host Colgate tonight and Cornell tomorrow, with face-off at 7 both nights. It's way too early to make any definite conclusions about what February and March will bring, but the Tigers have been really good to date. 

And really exciting, as in four ECAC games, three OTs, one shootout and one regulation one-goal game.

Princeton is 2-1-1 in its those ECAC games, with the only loss 5-4 to Dartmouth on the road. Princeton also has a shootout win over Harvard and the two OT wins last weekend at home, against Brown and Yale. 

Colgate is 1-2-1 in the league. Cornell is 2-1-1.

* 

Looking for something to see on campus? There's home swimming and diving tomorrow, as the Tiger men and women host Cornell and Penn at DeNunzio beginning at 11 am, and home men's and women's squash Sunday (11 and 2).

Looking for something to do in New Haven? Princeton plays Brown in the first round of the Ivy women's volleyball tournament at Yale today at 4, followed by Yale-Harvard at 7. The winners play tomorrow at 7 for the league's NCAA bid.

Looking for something to do in Los Angeles? It's Princeton at No. 3 UCLA in women's basketball today at 5:30 Eastern time (and Princeton at the University of San Diego Sunday at 5 Eastern).

Looking for the full schedule? Look no further: HERE it is.

*

The 2023 football season ends at Penn tomorrow at 1. Neither the Tigers nor Quakers will win the Ivy League championship, but this figures to be a fun one. 

If the rest of the season is an indicator, it also figures to be a close one. At no point of this season, not for even one play, has a Princeton game had a larger margin than 14 points. 

*

The answers? 

Player 1 was Kyle Wente. Player 2 was Myles Stephens. Player 3 was Gabe Lewullis. There are countless others.