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Chapman is lead man in Princeton's 2-0 Ivy start
Junior's play has Tigers in first-place tie with Penn
By Justin Feil
Princeton Packet Sports Writer
Monday, Jan. 31, 2000
C.J. Chapman and the Princeton University men's basketball team started off their first Ivy League weekend the way they had hoped.
The junior guard nailed a three-pointer to kick off an 11-0 run to open the Cornell game Friday night and played well in key moments against Columbia as the Tigers swept their two-game New York swing, the 25th time in the last 29 tries they've taken both games in an Ivy weekend. Princeton, 10-7 overall, sits in a first-place tie at 2-0 with Pennsylvania, who also defeated Cornell and Columbia this weekend.
"It was bang, bang, bang," Princeton head coach Bill Carmody said of the start against the Big Red. "When you start on the road, that's the way you want to go. We have to keep it up now."
Chapman, who made his second and third consecutive starts over the weekend, will be a key player as the Tigers look to dethrone the Quakers this season. He currently has the most experience of any of the 10 healthy Princeton players. And that showed not when Princeton was coasting, but when the weekend's games got closest.
After establishing an 18-point lead over Cornell, Princeton saw its cushion fall to just four points with 10 minutes left in the game. That's when Chapman hit a three-pointer again to begin a 17-2 Tiger run to secure the win, 59-44.
Chapman, who entered the game with a 6.8 scoring average, finished the game with a career-high 19 points, including 5-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc. At the same time, he held Cornell's leading scorer, Ray Mercedes, to two points, 13.1 below his average.
"We've never given C.J. this assignment to wipe a guy out," Carmody said. "That guy's a big scorer. His only basket came when he pushed off and hit a 12-footer.
"Normally, with that kind of defense, you would expect he wouldn't have the offensive game he had. He was terrific. He was not nervous, and he helped show the young guys that's how it's done."
Chapman, who at 6-foot-1 was the second shortest player on the court Friday, came back from guarding the 6-foot-5 Mercedes to take on a Columbia forward Craig Austin, who was an inch taller than the Cornell forward. While Austin led all scorers with 24 points, Chapman held him without a basket during a 10-minute span in the second half as Princeton came from three points behind to go ahead by
eight.
"They told me early in the week I'd be guarding those guys," Chapman said. "Austin's their leading scorer. I'm a few inches shorter and I knew he was going to try to post me. I've been playing against Ray (Robins) and Conner Neu in practice to get ready. They're both about 6-foot-7 so that helped."
Chapman only scored seven points against Columbia, but they were crucial points. Up just two, 38-36, after a Columbia rally early in the second half, Chapman cut the Lions' momentum with a deep three-pointer with a man in his face. Then the Aurora, Colo. resident hit both ends of a one-and-one situation to keep Princeton ahead by five after a Columbia basket. The Tigers held on to win, 53-46.
"Against Cornell, I got a lot of open shots," Chapman said. "Tonight they played completely opposite. They didn't double down and they made good decisions. There weren't as many opportunities but we shot the ball all right. At the end we hustled and we got the loose balls and they had to foul us."
Without injured starter Mason Rocca and with Nate Walton and Eugene Baah's minutes limited due to their own injuries to a combined five total minutes this weekend, Chapman's play became more important for Princeton's title chances.
"He helps an awful lot," Carmody said. "It was tough for C.J. This guy Austin is more athletic than Mercedes and he's got longer arms. Armond (Hill, the Columbia head coach) puts him in situations where it's tough to get help. We'll have to figure that out for the next time we play them."
But after Chapman's strong weekend play, it is Cornell and Columbia who will be figuring a way to stop Princeton's most veteran presence. He's been there before, and Chapman knows what it will take to regain the Ivy crown for the Tigers.
"It feels good to be 2-0," he admitted. "But we could be 2-0 and not win another game. I don't think that will happen, but we can't let up. We have to keep focused on our goal."
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