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Ivy basketball title eludes Tigers
Princeton playing Penn for pride Tuesday night at Palestra
By Bob Nuse
Princeton Packet Sports Editor
Monday, March 6, 2000
The Princeton University men's basketball team did its part Saturday night, beating Brown, 87-52, in a game it needed to win to stay alive in the Ivy League race.
But at the same time the Tigers were winning, so was Pennsylvania. And with the Quakers' 69-52 win over Yale came a clinching win in the Ivy race. Even a Princeton win Tuesday night over Penn at the Palestra (8 p.m.) won't make a difference. Penn is the Ivy League champion and has earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
But should Princeton being eliminated from the Ivy League race automatically mean the Tigers have to set their sites on the NIT? Why can't Princeton hold onto NCAA tournament hopes the same way other second-place teams around the country do when they're one win away from a 20-win season?
"I think somebody should try and make the case," said Princeton coach Bill Carmody, whose team improved to 19-9 overall and 11-2 in the Ivy League with its win. "Other teams that are 19-9 are being considered, why shouldn't we be considered? I think a case should be made every year if a team is 19-9. The same thing should be true with Penn if they're 19-9.
"It seems like we're the only ones where there isn't a case being made. Why does it have to be that only one team from our league can go?"
Injuries have hurt the Tigers this season and probably cost them two or three wins that would have gone a long way towards improving their credentials for an at-large bid. But the way Princeton and Penn have proven themselves on the court over the last several years should certainly factor into their case.
"I think we should have seen it last year with Princeton and Penn both going," said Brown coach Glenn Miller, whose team has now lost 50-straight games in Princeton. "Princeton has had a lot of injuries and if they were at full strength all year I think we would have seen it.
"They had a good performance in the NIT last year and I think if they do that again this year people will notice."
The second-place Ivy finish will likely be enough to earn the Tigers a second straight trip to the NIT, where they won two games last year before falling in the quarterfinals.
"If (the Princeton players) want to play and we get invited, we'll go," said Carmody, whose team was led by the 11 point, 10 rebound, seven assists, six blocked shot performance of sophomore center Chris Young Saturday night. "But if (Friday) night was an indication of how we were going to play, there would be no sense in going. I talked to them a little after the game and told them we would treat it like a regular game."
The Tigers did not play well in a 56-46 win over Yale on Friday, but came back with a great effort Saturday. The Tigers jumped out to a 22-4 lead nine minutes into the game and were never threatened. Princeton finished with seven players in double-figure scoring, led by Ray Robins with 13 and 12 apiece from C.J. Chapman and Spencer Gloger. Eugene Baah and Nate Walton both scored 11 points off the bench, while Ahmed El-Nokali added 10 points.
"Right now we just want to win as many games as we can," Carmody said. "If we win (Tuesday night) we'll make a good account of ourselves. We had a pretty good year down there in the NIT. You want to play as much as you can."
Even though there will be no Ivy League title on the line at the Palestra, the game should still have its usual excitement and electricity.
"It's a great rivalry with a great basketball atmosphere," said Young, whose six blocks Saturday night moved him within nine of the Ivy League single-season record of 93 set by Brian Gilpin of Dartmouth. "We're playing for pride and we don't want to lose. I think we're a very good team and we feel like we can compete with anybody."
And for Young, who has been the only Princeton player to start all 28 games this season, there may actually be a silver lining in all the adversity the Tigers have gone through this season.
"All teams have to grow and we've gone through our growing pains this year," Young said. "It's been tough with all the injuries and bad breaks, but we think we'll benefit from it in the long run.
"So far I've been lucky and hopefully it will stay that way the rest of this season and the next two years. It's tough when you have so many guys getting injured, but I think it will benefit us because a lot of guys have had to step up and play."
And it looks like the Tigers will continue to play this year, although it won't be in the tournament they had hoped for.
"The NIT is a chance to keep playing and only so many teams get a chance to play in post-season," Young said.
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