The Tigers may have the best pedigree among Ivy League teams thanks to the scare Pete Carril’s squad put in Georgetown and the upset of UCLA it engineered, but Princeton had been one of the lesser Ivy League in the 2000s until Sydney Johnson took over as coach. Since Johnson’s arrival, a senior class that suffered through Princeton’s worst Ivy League season ever has grown into the 2011 Ivy League champion, scored one of the more dramatic victories in Ivy League history with a buzzer-beater to beat Harvard, and given Jadwin Gym its first NCAA Tournament-bound tenant since 2004.
NCAA Bracket Preview: Complete Princeton Tournament Primer
Record: 25-6, 12-2 in the Ivy League
RPI: 41
Key wins: Princeton nipped Rutgers 78-73 in overtime in its season opener on Nov. 12, edged Tulsa 82-78 in double overtime on Dec. 12, and beat Harvard 65-64 on March 12 for the Ivy League title. Sadly, the Tigers cannot play on April 12 even if they win the NCAA Tournament.
Key losses: An early 69-67 loss to Presbyterian on Nov. 24 is bad; the Tigers’ 75-65 loss to Brown on Feb. 19 nearly cost them their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Players to watch: Senior guards Dan Mavraides and Kareem Maddox are Princeton’s go-to players. Maddox is a lockdown defender who also contributes efficiently on offense, while Mavraides is the streaky shooter Princeton has turned to in recent scoring slumps. Four Tigers — Mavraides, Maddox, Ian Hummer, and Harvard-slayer Douglas Davis — average more than 11 points per game.
See the printable 2011 NCAA tournament bracket.
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