LOCKED IN: Princeton University men’s basketball player Matt Allocco heads to the hoop in a recent practice. Senior star guard and co-captain Allocco figures to play a key role this winter for a Princeton program coming off a historic run to the NCAA Sweet 16 last winter. The Tigers open their 2023-24 campaign by renewing their rivalry with Rutgers as they face the Scarlet Knights on November 6 at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Carving out a niche as the lovable underdog who has historically put scares into powerhouses in the NCAA tournament, the Princeton University men’s basketball team flipped the script last March.

Knocking off second-seeded Arizona and seventh-seeded Missouri, the 15th-seeded Tigers advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Looking ahead to the 2023-24 season, Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson knows that the Tigers won’t be going under the radar in the wake of last year’s success.

“We are not sneaking up on anyone this year; we still have a lot of key pieces from that team but we have to put it away in its own way and try to draw on what got us to that moment,” said Henderson, whose team went 23-9 overall and 10-4 Ivy League last winter. “We were an improving defensive team all season. We had some really bad losses in February and I remind the guys of that all of the time. It just sort of came together. We are a work in progress and we are embracing that.”

Henderson likes the way things have been coming together in the preseason.

“Mush (Matt Allocco) doesn’t stop talking; the vibe is him, Zach Martini, and Blake Peters — our captains,” said Henderson, whose team opens its 2023-24 campaign by renewing the rivalry with Rutgers as they face the Scarlet Knights on November 6 at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton. “We have a very verbal upper class and that tends to be a really good sign. The efficiency offensive and defensive matters but we have really vocal, verbal leadership and that helps the vibe.”

Senior guard Allocco likes the vibe around the squad. “It has been awesome, very competitive, we have a tough group,” said Allocco, who averaged 10.7 points and 4.8 rebounds a game last season. “I am looking forward to it. We have got a lot of guys back who can play. I have been very impressed with our guys who just got here. I am excited, it is going to be a great year.”

While last March’s great run is in the rear view mirror, Allocco believes the team can apply the lessons gained from that experience this winter.

“We have to remember what that success felt like,” said Allocco. “If we want to get back to that point, we have to approach everyday like it is the ultimate.”

The Tigers will have to change their offensive approach with the graduation of versatile star forward Tosan Evbuomwan.

“He is a really special generational player,” said Henderson of Evbuomwan, who averaged 15.1 points and 6.3 rebounds and led the Tigers in assists with 161 in his senior campaign. “What I am trying to encourage is that there is a lot of minutes there that were being played and it is an opportunity for somebody else to be himself. We really figured out a way to play with Tosan and his skill set. Now we have to figure out a way to play without Tosan and the skill set of this group. It has been fun, it has been a challenge for us. We are going to play some young guys too.”

Princeton is getting an infusion of talented young guys with the arrival of five freshmen.

“The freshmen are like last year’s group, very competitive; it is like iron sharpens iron,” said Henderson. “We have got a good group. Dalen Davis, a guard, is tough, we have high expectations for him. Derek Sangster out of Northern California is long and athletic in the mold of a lot of guys we have had here. Ryan Duncan is from great basketball family and is really helpful for us. Jacob Huggins is going to have to help us inside, we really are slightly undersized. Jackson Hicke is like a Spencer Weisz ’17; he can really distribute the ball, he has a great feel for the game. He is a really nifty, crafty passer.”

The Tigers boast two key sophomores in forward Caden Pierce (8.2 points, 7.3 rebounds in 2022-23) and guard Xaivian Lee (4.8 points, 1.8 rebounds).

“Caden couldn’t dunk his junior year in high school. Now he is jumping, he has a 36-inch standing vertical,” said Henderson. “I have never seen anything like that, he gets every single rebound all of the time. He does all of the little things. Now he is doing them at a higher level. That is what you would look at. If  Tosan has moved on, there are more opportunities for Caden to grow. We just want him to try more things, he is certainly capable. I think so highly of what Xaivian can do and now we are trying to make sure that he sees it that way too.”

The squad’s two seniors, Allocco and Martini (4.0 points, 2.8 rebounds), are setting the tone with how they do things on a daily basis.

“I am proud of them, they are  really locked in on the things we are all about here,” said Henderson. “They are focused on the details, they are here every day. We measure things that aren’t in the stat sheet, like deflections, loose balls, long rebounds, 50/50 balls, charges taken, and offensive rebounds. Zach and Mush are there every day, it is the same thing every day. That is all you can ask. If you don’t have that, it is very difficult to point to guys and say this is what it is all about. There is no hiding here, there is a lot of competition.”

Henderson is looking forward to a competitive opener with Rutgers as the local rivals face each other for the first time since 2013.

“I am so happy, I am thankful to coach [Steve] Pikiell for playing us, it is so nice that it is the opener,” said Henderson. “We absolutely love it. We want to win, I am sure they want to win. I think it is so good for the local community. It is so good for New Jersey basketball. We think we are very much like Rutgers and Seton Hall, we think of ourselves in that vein. Our alums do.”

The opener will be a test for the Tigers as they are a bit undersized.

“We are going to be small at times, but we have a lot of firepower at that small level,” said Henderson. “We think we can get away with it a little bit in the league, it might be a challenge for us in non-conference.”

Allocco, for his part, believes that Princeton possesses the grit and athleticism to overcome that challenge.

“We are tough, we are not super big; we lost Tosan and Keeshawn [Kellman] last year who were a pretty big inside presence,” said Allocco. “I think we are fast, athletic, and hopefully we can play that way. We can get up and down a little bit and just compete. It is a competitive group, at least practices have been. We will see when the ball really goes up for sure. We are doing great.”

Facing Rutgers in the opener will give Princeton a good sense of how it is doing.

“It is going to be great, I am looking forward to it,” said Allocco. “It should be a great crowd. I know Rutgers has a heck of a following and hopefully off the ending of our season last year and all that support we got, I am hoping those people will come back out. We are going to compete, put on a show, and hopefully get a win.”

With a target on their backs, the Tigers know that foes will be competing hard to topple them.

“That is how you want it,” said Allocco. “We expect to get everyone’s best shot and we are trying our best to prepare for it in practice.”

Henderson hopes that battling the Scarlet Knights will bring out the best in his players.

“We are opening up with a Big 10 team, they are a local rival,” said Henderson.

“This is why you came here, to play against the best competition. We have got a team that is 15 miles up the road and it is a great motivator. Whenever we stink and we have stunk a little bit lately, I tell them you are going to get rolled.”