OPENING SALVO: Princeton University men’s basketball Xaivian Lee dribbles upcourt last Monday as Princeton hosted Iona in its season opener. Junior guard Lee tallied a game-high 27 points as Princeton overcame a 58-42 second half deficit to pull out an 81-80 win over the Gaels. In upcoming action, Princeton faces Duquesne on November 8 in the Jersey Jam at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton and then plays at Northeastern on November 10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

There was plenty of hype surrounding the Princeton University men’s basketball team as it headed into its season opener against Iona last Monday night at Jadwin Gym.

The Tigers were a nearly unanimous selection as the favorite in the Ivy League Preseason Poll. NBA scouts have flocked to their practices and the squad’s two junior stars, Caden Pierce and Xaivian Lee, were both included in the ESPN Preseason Top 100 players. Some media outlets have been forecasting the Tigers as a potential single-digit seed in the NCAA tournament.

But as Princeton took the court against the Gaels, they seemed to be resting on their laurels as they found themselves down 49-37 at halftime.

Reflecting on the shaky start, Pierce acknowledged that Tigers were a bit lackadaisical early on.

“We didn’t really come ready to play in the first half,” said Pierce. “I think we kind of expected to just walk out there and do our thing. We got punched in the face and I think we needed that.”

Pierce implored the Tigers to punch back in the second half.

“At the end of the day, I didn’t think they were doing anything special and they put up 49 points in the first half, ” said Pierce. “They were just beating us one-on-one, out-toughing us. I told the guys when we broke the huddle in the second half, let’s toughen up and take some pride and win our one-on-one matchups.”

Displaying that toughness, Princeton overcame a 58-42 deficit with 16:35 left in regulation to pull out a dramatic 81-80 win before a roaring Jadwin crowd of 1,690. The key sequence in the rally came when the Tigers reeled off a 16-0 run to turn a 60-46 deficit into a 62-60 lead.

Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson credited his players with picking up the intensity.

“We decided to play harder, we finally just played harder,” said Henderson. “We made some plays but the defense got better. I am happy that we had a game like this early, right up front. It taught us so much.There is a lot of noise around us and I thought we played like it for the first few minutes of the game and then we found toughness in the second half. That is a really good team and difficult to guard. It was downhill with every single guy out there. There is lots to learn from in that one.”

Lee started going downhill himself, scoring 17 of his game-high 27  points down the stretch.

“I thought the game started to come to me a little bit more,” said Lee, who hit 9-of 14 shots, including 3-of-7 from three-point range. “It started with the defense. In the beginning of the second half we came out and made more stops. Once we got steps I felt like the momentum kept coming. It is lot easier to play when they are not scoring on us. Eventually for me, at least, I started feeling a little bit better and they started dropping.”

With Princeton trailing 80-79 in the waning seconds of the contest and fans in an uproar, Lee sliced to the hoop, drawing a foul. He proceeded to drain both free throws to provide the margin of victory.

“I was honestly trying to get downhill, there wasn’t really much of a play,” said Lee, who had blood stains on the front of his jersey and leapt for joy after an Iona shot clanged off the basket at the buzzer. “I was trying to get something at the rim. It was a similar situation in the first half and I took a step back. Coach told me I have to get to the rack there. I was trying to get a layup and get fouled and that is what happened.”

Henderson credited Lee with taking the Tigers on his shoulder down the stretch.

“He was terrific,” said Henderson of Lee. “He made it look simple and then he made his free throws when everyone else was struggling.”

Reflecting on the triumph, Henderson acknowledged that it was a struggle.

“Every single guy had multiple scratches; it was a really physical game, there was bleeding everywhere,” said Henderson. “I am glad to get one like this under our belt early. It felt like a later in the season kind of game environment with how physical it was. I think winning a game when you go 11-of-22 from the line and play defense as poorly as we did, that is a good thing. That is where we have been really good in the past few years. We have figured out ways to get it done.”

In the frontcourt, Princeton got some good things from sophomore Jacob Huggins, who contributed 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting, with freshman Malik Abdullahi chipping in six points as he hit 3 of 4 shots.

“Between Jacob and Malik, they were 9-for-10 from the floor,” said Henderson, whose team faces Duquesne on November 8 in the Jersey Jam at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton and then plays at Northeastern on November 10. “They had never played in really in any significant minutes. I am very pleased but we will see if we can keep getting a little bit better because there is real room for improvement.”

Pierce, for his part, believes that getting the gut check against Iona will help him and Lee become better leaders.

“I think the first half kind of exposed us a little bit, the last two years we were lucky to have leaders like Zach [Martini] and Mush (Matt Allocco),” said Pierce, who ended up with 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in the win. “In the past two years when times got tough we always had those consistent voices. Now that those voices are gone, it is up to me, Xaivian, and Blake [Peters] to step in and fill that role. In the first half we didn’t do a good job of that. It is a young season. We are figuring things out as well and we will improve on that.”

When things got tough on Monday, Pierce and Lee certainly stepped up.