SHARPSHOOTER: Princeton University men’s basketball player Blake Peters puts up a shot in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior guard Peters scored 20 points off the bench in a losing cause as Princeton fell 85-76 to Cornell. The Tigers, now 14-3 overall and 3-1 Ivy League, host Yale (11-6 overall, 4-0 Ivy) on January 31 and Brown (9-8 overall, 1-3 Ivy) on February 1. (Photo by Steven Wojtowicz)

By Justin Feil

The Princeton University men’s basketball team survived slow starts and sloppy play through its first three Ivy League games this season.

Not the fourth.

Hosting Cornell last Saturday, the Tigers rallied from a 23-7 first half deficit to take the lead at halftime, then built a small lead in the second half but could never pull away as the Big Red made some big baskets down the stretch to pull out an 85-76 win over Princeton before a crowd of 4,094 at Jadwin Gym. The Tigers dropped out of a first-place tie in the Ivy League after falling to 14-5 overall, 3-1 Ivy League. Cornell improved to 11-6 overall, 3-1 Ivy.

“Big picture is we’ve been sloppy in all three of our Ivy League wins and that was the case again and first you give credit to your opponent,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson. “We know that we’re going to have to be much sharper going forward. I thought we made far too many mistakes. I think it was tied with about 5 minutes, Xaivian (Lee) fouls out of the game and we just we ran out of our usual our magic there. But I don’t think that it was sustainable the way we were going.”

Princeton already has had five comeback wins this season when it trailed by double digits. They were down 16 points to Cornell barely 10 minutes into the game. But in true Tigers fashion, they stormed back with the bench igniting a run over the next 10 minutes. Blake Peters, who would finish with 20 points and six 3-pointers, and Jack Scott, who played a season-high 31 minutes and finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists, helped Princeton fight back into the game.

“It was a very good positive and we need that fire,” said Henderson. “We’ve got guys that are willing to say they’re coming into the game and giving us the fire. We have to keep getting that. Jack Scott, Jackson Hicke, Blake, those are really important minutes that we get from the bench. We’ve found different ways to win games and we’re going to need people. Who are the Xs and who are the Os that are going to make the difference?”

Peters and Scott each hit a 3-pointer in the final 2:37 of the half, Caden Pierce provided his usual gritty play, and Lee’s layup with seven seconds left gave Princeton a 37-36 halftime edge and completed an incredible first-half comeback.

“I thought we actually played harder this game and Cornell is really a good team, very difficult to match up with them, and we had a great stretch there in the second 10 minutes of the first half where we were terrific,” said Henderson. “And that’s the way we want to play. And then it was a back-and-forth game.”

Princeton seemed to have chances to pull away in the second half, but never could. Pierce hit a 3-pointer for a 55-49 Tigers lead, but Cornell responded with an 8-0 run.

“They had an answer for everything,” said Henderson. “And then when the game mattered the most, they made the most points. And really you have to tip your hat to them, they were better.”

Peters drained an open look in transition for a 64-62 lead with 6:32 left and Princeton held its final lead on a 3-point play when Scott hit Caden Pierce for a 67-65 edge with 5:00 to go. Princeton missed a couple of free throws and some tightly contested shots over the next three minutes, and their fate seemed sealed when Lee fouled out with 1:09 left and the Tigers down six still. Princeton could not make one more comeback, and the focus going forward is not putting themselves in those tough spots.

“What’s no good is slow starts, which is a reflection of who you are,” said Henderson. “At this point there’s enough body of work to say this is what you are. So practices are extremely important for this group. And once we own those and make them very important, we’ll make some progress towards addressing that need for that first part. And then the second part is we’ve been bailed out, Xaivian’s bailed us out a couple times and those games are exciting, but it’s more fun to win well and kind of have it be workmanlike and that’s what we need to discover.”

Pierce tied Peters for team-high scoring honors with 20 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists. Lee scored 19 points, three assists, and three steals. Those were big performances again for the Tigers, but not enough to keep Cornell at bay. Now the Tigers are looking for a lift in the urgency from a group that Henderson called “casual” earlier in the season. He’s looking for an increase in intensity beginning in practice.

“When you talk about the team, you talk about everybody,” said Henderson. “And when we decide that we will play really hard in practice, then it will show up in the games. That’s our charge here as a group because there’s a casualness to us. I’m sure it’s quite evident to everybody around who’s been watching us and coming to our games of late. And so we still have a few weeks left. We still have a lot of important games coming up and looking forward to getting in it together with them and that’s the goal, can you change your stripes a bit? And I believe in that and otherwise it’s really frustrating and everybody hates it. But I think you have to try.”

Princeton faces its first back-to-back weekend when it hosts Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday. Both teams were in the Ivy League Madness tournament last year. Yale, which won last year’s tournament, is off to a 4-0 start in Ivy play while Brown is 1-3.

“They’re both very good,” said Henderson. “They’re very challenging. Yale’s in first place in the league. They’re super solid. They don’t make many mistakes. They have guys that have won a lot of games. Brown has (Kino) Lilly and more weapons. Their record doesn’t reflect how good they are. It’s going to be a really difficult weekend.”

Only Columbia is 0-4 in Ivy play. Yale is the lone unbeaten and Princeton and Cornell are tied at 3-1. Dartmouth and Penn are only a game back at 2-2.

“We’re very aware of the importance of the weekend,” said Henderson. “Our charge is always we want to try to get two. The back-to-back is here and I always call the Saturday night game is just guts. Our week of preparation this week is as important of a week for us as we’ve had all season. That’s how I view it. And I’m sure the guys will think of it in the same way.”