HAZEL EYES: Princeton University men’s basketball player Ben ­Hazel heads to the hoop in recent action. Junior guard Hazel played a key role in two wins for the Tigers last week, scoring a career-high 14 points in an 81-80 overtime victory against Lafayette on November 20 and then chipping in 11 points and seven rebounds as Princeton topped Rice 70-56 last Saturday. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Ben Hazel and the Princeton University men’s basketball team got off to a slow start last Wednesday against visiting Lafayette.

Princeton trailed the Leopards 36-31 at halftime as junior guard Hazel was held scoreless in 12 minutes of action with only a turnover and a missed shot on his stat line.

Hazel acknowledged that it wasn’t the best half for the Tigers. “I definitely feel like we were sleepwalking, especially in the first half,” said Hazel, who was making his third career start after taking a year off from Princeton in 2012-13.

“We weren’t talking, we had missed communication and mental lapses, giving up open shots. That is more stuff that we need to correct than our offense. They made shots but we didn’t make it as tough as we should have.”

Hazel and the Tigers woke up in the second half. The 6’5, 181-pound native of Bowie, Md. scored 11 points in a 2:29 span to help the Tigers go from trailing 45-43 to up by 54-51.

Princeton built its lead to 66-57 before Lafayette rallied to force overtime with the teams knotted at 68-68 at the end of regulation. In the extra session, the Tigers forged ahead 77-72 and were able to hold on for an 81-80 win.

Hazel, who ended the evening with a career-high 14 points, was more focused on the team’s success than his breakthrough performance.

“I don’t really think it means so much for myself; it was a good win,” said Hazel, who produced another good effort last Saturday, scoring 11 points with seven rebounds as Princeton topped Rice 70-56 to improve to 3-1.

“My team called on me to make a few more shots so that is just what I tried to do in the second half. It is more of a team win than  just me shooting the ball. Guys contributed throughout the second half.”

Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson wasn’t surprised that Hazel made a big contribution in the win over Lafayette.

“In all the shooting stuff that we do in practice, Ben is one of our top guys,” said Henderson. “He’s got a good feel for the game. I think that going forward, this is the third game in almost two years. Unfortunately I am not cutting him any slack for that. I have high expectations for Ben, I think he can be a very good player. I expect to see improvement game to game.”

Henderson expects to see the Tigers bring more passion to the court than they displayed in their uneven effort against Lafayette.

“I think we were very fortunate tonight,” said Henderson. “That’s a huge understatement. I think we were a little bit happy with the way that we played on the road against a Butler team. A really good Lafayette team had us and we were very fortunate to get the victory. That’s where I am going to leave it. There were some positives on our end but for the most part, we just didn’t approach the game the right way.”

Princeton is getting a positive contribution from freshman Spencer Weisz, who had 14 points in the win over Lafayette and then chipped in eight points and six rebounds in the victory over Rice.

“I think Spencer has an understanding, a feel for the game,” said Henderson.

“We really work hard on that and Spencer does that naturally, making reads, making the right plays. I like the way he talks, he can talk to these guys and tell them what he thinks and what he sees. That is important for us and I don’t care if he is a freshman. There are freshmen all over the country playing well. If he is good enough, which he is, he is going to play.

With senior guard T.J. Bray having been sidelined for the first three games due to a hand injury, other players have gotten the chance to show their game.

“It is a huge opportunity; I see it as a huge positive for us,” said Henderson, whose team plays at Bucknell on November 30.

“T.J. does so many things that we rely on and that’s taken away from you so what are you going to do when you really need a basket or you really need to come together and you really need someone to step up and say this what we are doing and this is how we are going to do it. I’d like to think there have been some really good positives from it.”

Hazel, for his part, has honed his shooting touch so that he can do well when offense is needed.

“I have been working pretty hard on it in practice and the offseason so when the time does come I am able to step up and do what I have to do to help the team win,” said Hazel.