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Players Mentioned
Princeton's Most-Played Non-Ivy Rivalry Resumes Wednesday as Rutgers Visits Jadwin Gym
December 08, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Princeton (2-4, 0-0 Ivy) vs. Rutgers (5-3, 0-0 Big East)
Wednesday, Dec. 10, at Jadwin Gym, 7 p.m.
Princeton Head Coach: Sydney Johnson (Second season, 8-27 at Princeton/Overall)
Radio: WPRB 103.3 (John Sadak, Play-by-Play; Jerry Price, Color)
All-Time Series: Princeton leads 72-42 overall, 43-15 in Princeton, 12-7 in Jadwin Gym
The annual rivalry: It's just under 17 miles as the crow flies from Jadwin Gym to the Rutgers Athletic Center, and the Tigers and Scarlet Knights have taken advantage of their proximity. Princeton holds a 72-42 lead in the all-time series, which has renewed annually since a one-year break during the 1995-96 season.
Most-played rivalries: Princeton-Rutgers is Princeton's most-played non-Ivy rivalry at 114 games. Princeton's most-played opponents overall, by rank, are: Columbia (219 games), Penn (218), Yale (218), Cornell (208), Dartmouth (195), Harvard (159), Brown (114) and Rutgers. The Princeton series is Rutgers' second-most played with just one fewer game than Rutgers-Lafayette entering today.
Starting streak: Princeton has used the same starting lineup for the first six games this season, its longest stretch of consistency since a nine-game streak last season. In his first season as head coach, Sydney Johnson selected the same five starters for the first 12 games last season. Though two are still on the team (Zach Finley and Marcus Schroeder), the current starting lineup has turned over completely from last season.
Sydney Johnson vs. Rutgers: Last season's 54-50 loss to Rutgers was Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson's first loss to the Scarlet Knights in any capacity. As a player, he was 3-0 against Rutgers, and as a Georgetown assistant, he was 4-0.
Staying close to home: Princeton and Rutgers will not be leaving the Eastern time zone at any point during the regular season. It's somewhat of a common theme in the Ivy League, as Penn, Brown and Columbia will also not have to change their watches. Rutgers is the only team in the Big East that will spend its entire season in the same time zone.
Youth will lead us: Both Princeton and Rutgers count a freshman as their leading scorers in Princeton's Doug Davis and Rutgers' Mike Rosario. Princeton is the only Ivy League team to be led by a freshman.
Second-half struggles: Princeton has led at halftime four times this season, but only one of those times have the Tigers come away with the win.
Sub-40: Princeton's opponents have scored 40 or more points in the second half in each of the last two games. South Carolina scored 46 and St. Bonaventure scored 40. In the Bonnies' case, it was twice (20) what SBU had scored in the first half.
See you in 2009: Wednesday's game is Princeton's last home game of 2008. The Tigers will open 2009 at home Jan. 3 with an ESPNU-televised game against UNC Greensboro.
Common foes: Princeton and Rutgers have two common opponents this season, St. Bonaventure and Lehigh. St. Bonaventure got the best of both teams, 64-63 over Rutgers in overtime Nov. 23 and 60-53 over Princeton Dec. 6. Rutgers lost to Lehigh at the RAC 76-71 on Nov. 26, and Princeton will play Lehigh Jan. 7 in Princeton.
Carolina-Rutgers, redux: Princeton has not had visits from two “big six” conference teams in the same season since the 1996-97 season. This season, it is South Carolina and Rutgers. A dozen years ago, it was North Carolina and Rutgers.
Big East historical tidbits: Rutgers joined the Big East for the 1995-96 season along with two other teams, West Virginia and Notre Dame, to make a 13-team league. In the league's first season, 1979-80, the Big East had seven teams, six of which remain after Boston College's switch to the ACC.
50s and 60s: Princeton has scored in the 50s in five of six games, with the 73-point effort at Fordham as the lone exception. Princeton's opponents have hit at least 60 in each of the last three games, two of which have been won by the opponent.
Highs and lows for the Bonnies: In the St. Bonaventure game, Princeton's shots were blocked a season-high 10 times. The previous high was four blocks against Army. However, Princeton held St. Bonaventure to a Princeton-opponent season-low 11.8% from three-point range. Princeton's opponents this season are shooting 24.1% from beyond the arc.
More 3-point D: Princeton's opponents have shot 30% or better from beyond the arc three times this season, all opponent wins. Princeton's foes have shot below 20% in the other three games, with two out of three of those games going to the Tigers.
Double-digit scorers: While one Tiger, Doug Davis, saw his double-digit scoring streak end, two others hit 10 points for the first time this season in Kareem Maddox and Jason Briggs.
Fresh legs: In five of six games this season, and in each of the last four, at least 10 Tigers have seen game action. Three times, all 12 available Tigers have seen game action.
Briggs' boards: Jason Briggs had 10 points and seven rebounds at St. Bonaventure, setting a season-high for points and tying a season-best for rebounds. The totals are a career-best for a non-Ivy game for Briggs.
Five squared: Freshman Patrick Saunders has had exactly five rebounds in each of the last four games. He has 25 on the season after a combined five in his first two games. He also had a season-high eight points at St. Bonaventure.
Always there to help: Kareem Maddox is the only Tiger with an assist in every game this season.
Low turnovers: Princeton had a season-low 13 turnovers Saturday at St. Bonaventure. Twice this season, Princeton has had more than 20 turnovers, and Princeton's opponents have not yet had 20 in a game this season.
Turnover troubles: Princeton's opponents have won the turnover battle in all six games this season.
Switch it back: In the first four games this season, which were two wins and two one-possession losses, Princeton outshot its opponents from the field. In the last two games, Princeton's opponents have won the field-goal percentage category.
Tigers for three: Princeton has had as many or more three-pointers as its opponents in every game this season. The Tigers have also outshot their opponents from beyond the arc in each of the last five games since the opener.
Get to the line: Princeton's opponents have never shot fewer free throws than the Tigers in a game this season.
Running our offense: Princeton has had as many as or more assists than their opponents in every game this season.
Princeton vs. the Big East: Princeton is 6-28 all-time against the Big East, counting only games against Big East schools at the time of the contest. By school, Princeton is 4-9 against Rutgers, 0-8 against Seton Hall, 1-3 against St. John's, 1-0 against Georgetown, 0-5 against Syracuse, and 0-1 each against Connecticut, Villanova and Boston College.
The Big East at Jadwin Gym: Princeton is 3-9 against the Big East in Jadwin Gym. Two of the three wins came against Rutgers (2-4), on Jan. 6, 1997 and Dec. 8, 2004. Seton Hall (0-3) and St. John's (0-2) were the other Big East schools to visit.
Tigers vs. the Big East in the postseason: Not so surprisingly considering the close proximity, the Tigers have met Big East teams in the postseason on four occasions. Boston College (1983), Villanova (1991) and Syracuse (1992) have taken NCAA games from the Tigers, while Princeton beat Georgetown at Jadwin in the 1999 NIT first round.