DARTING BY: Princeton University men’s basketball player Tosan Evbuomwan looks to get by Dartmouth’s Aaryn Rai last Saturday. Junior star Evbuomwan scored 15 points and had five rebounds as Princeton defeated Dartmouth 85-40. The Tigers, now 17-5 overall and 7-2 Ivy League, play at Brown on February 18 and at Yale on February 19. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Over the course of the 2021-22 campaign, the Princeton University men’s basketball team has featured a high-octane offense but has been a work in progress at the defensive end.

Through 21 games, the Tigers had scored at a clip of 80.9 points a game but had yielded 71.4 points per contest and been plagued by some defensive lapses at key times.

Last Saturday against visiting Dartmouth, though, Princeton produced a defensive masterpiece, jumping out to a 43-13 halftime lead over the Big Green and cruising to an 85-40 triumph. The Tigers held Dartmouth to 23.1 percent shooting from the floor (12-51), including 1-20 from 3-point range, and built a 50-27 edge on the boards.

The most important thing for us has been guarding,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson, whose team improved to 17-5 overall and 7-2 Ivy League with the victory.

“We can score and we finally guarded tonight the way we have set out. We had a really good focused week of practice.”

Henderson, who missed last weekend’s games at Cornell and Columbia due to COVID protocols, was happy to finally have a stress-free evening on the sideline.

“It was so nice to get a win where we are not sweating it out the whole game,” said Henderson. “I watched the games on TV last weekend and I tried to claw my eyeballs out. It is really hard watching the team play.”

Princeton junior star Tosan Evbuomwan set the tone against the Big Green on Saturday, scoring the first seven points of the contest as Princeton jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back.

“All week coach said it is having a good start at both ends, imposing our will on the other team,” said Evbuomwan, who ended up with a game-high 15 points and five rebounds in the win.

“That is something we really talked about. There have been quite a lot of games where we have had a slow start so that was big for us.”

It was good for the Tigers to have fans return to Jadwin Gym after spectators were allowed back in the building with attendance limited from January 6-31 due to COVID-19 concerns.

“It was a great feeling, it was great to have them back,” said Evbuomwan. “It has obviously been a while, they give us energy, especially when we are making plays. They really support us in the right way.”

Henderson like the energy he saw from his squad at the defensive end as the Tigers showed a lot of progress against Dartmouth after edging the Big Green 84-80 on January 22 in the previous meeting between the rivals.

“That is a good team; we played very well, we really struggled to win up there,” said Henderson. “Their No. 32 (Dame Adelekun) being in foul trouble really hurt them; he got two quick ones and that changed the game. Drew [Friberg] was physical on [Aaryn] Rai on the very first possession. I thought that set a tone. The lid was one basket for both teams a little bit up front and then we kind of broke through.”

With Princeton heading to New England this weekend for games at Brown on February 18 and at Yale on February 19, the Tigers will need to maintain the defensive intensity.

“That will be what is important next weekend,” said Henderson. “Brown got an important win today in the league (81-80 over Cornell). It is a crucial weekend in the league. This has to be more of the norm. It is time, it is championship time. The days are getting a little nicer. We want to be playing the best basketball when the days are getting longer.”

Evbuomwan and his teammates realize they have to be sharp to be at their best.

“The margin of error is really small,” said Evbuomwan. “We know we have a lot of big games coming up.”