The Ivy Opener, Starring Xaivian Lee

It was about 10 minutes after Princeton had opened the Ivy League portion of its men's basketball season with an 89-58 win over Harvard, and Xaivian Lee was standing beyond the edge of the Jadwin court, surrounded by little kids, all of whom wanted his autograph.

About 10 yards away stood another fan, a woman named Kirin, who along with her husband Kumar had just attended their first-ever Princeton Athletic event. They didn't exactly want an autograph from Lee. They just wanted to be a part of the moment.

As it would turn out, they got a photo with Lee — and Lee got two new adoring fans.

Well, actually way more than two. Kirin and Kumar had to have a lot of company after the day Lee had.

The 6-3 sophomore's performance was extraordinary. It was as dominant a game that a Princeton basketball player has had in a very long time, and it came on a day when nearly 5,000 fans were watching in Jadwin, a half-dozen of whom were NBA scouts. 

Lee came very close to the first triple-double in Princeton men's basketball history, finishing the day with 33 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He completely took over the game as the Tigers turned a five-point game with 15 minutes left and turned it into a 31-point Tiger win, not to mention a showcase of his extraordinary abilities. 

To fully appreciate how much he exploded, you have to break the game into three segments. It started with the first 11:12 of the day, which saw Harvard build a 21-14 lead. Lee, to that point, had no points, going 0 for 3 from three-point range. 

The third segment came with 2:43 left, when Lee checked out of the game for the final time, with the Tigers up 86-56. 

It's the middle segment that was craziness. Lee scored those 33 points in that middle segment, which lasted 24:05. That's more than a point per minute.

Lee missed two more threes before making one and them made five of his last six. He got to the basket any time he wanted. He found open teammate after open teammate. He was completely unstoppable. 

For the day he was 13 for 22 from the field, including 8 for 11 on two-pointers. He only had one turnover. 

It clearly was the Ivy Opener, starring Xaivian Lee. What it wasn't was a one-man show.

The biggest shot of the day may have come not from Lee but instead from Jack Scott. Princeton led 41-32 at the break and 46-36 shortly after it, but Harvard cut it to just five at 46-41 with 15 minutes to play. Would it become a game? 

Nope. Scott drained a very long three, snapping a four-minute scoreless stretch for the Tigers and starting his team on a  run of, well, who knows whether it was a series of runs or just one long run. Either way, starting with Scott's three, Princeton outscored Harvard 43-19 the rest of the way.

Caden Pierce had 19 points and 10 rebounds, giving him six double-doubles. Scott had four points, but he made a huge impact on the game beyond just his big three-pointer. Zach Martini continues to be very consistent, as he finished with 14 points, including 4 for 5 from three-point range.

The story, though, was Lee.

It was his second game this year with at least 30 points (he had 30 against Northeastern), and he's now reached at least 20 six times. If you take away the games against Bryn Athyn and Delaware Valley in which he played 19 total minutes, and he's averaging 20.5 points per game. Even with those two, he's at 18.1.

The crowd, of course, loved him. And pretty much everything that happened. 

The big turnout was due to the team's strong start (the Tigers are now 13-1) and the fact that this is the year after a Sweet 16 trip. 

Kirin and Kumar had their first Jadwin experience end on an even higher note than just the way the game went, if that was possible, as they walked past Lee in a hallway in Caldwell and got a picture with him. They were all smiles, and a bit awed. 

Next up is a home matinee on Martin Luther King Day against Dartmouth. With the way this team plays, every home game needs to be circled on the calendar.

Certainly Kirin and Kumar will be back.