PEP TALK: Princeton University men’s basketball head coach Mitch Henderson makes a point to Xaivian Lee, left, Jackson Hicke (obscured), and Blake Peters during Princeton’s 83-82 win over Rutgers on December 21. Last Saturday, the fourth-seeded Tigers fell 59-57 to top-seeded and eventual champion Yale in a semifinal contest at the Ivy Madness postseason tournament in Providence, R.I. The defeat left Princeton with a final record of 19-11. (Photo by Steven Wojtowicz)

By Justin Feil

Xaivian Lee took the last-second shot like he had so many times with success this winter for the Princeton University men’s basketball team.

But this 3-pointer caromed off the back of the rim at Brown’s Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I., as fourth-seeded Princeton battled top-seeded Yale last Saturday in the semifinals of the Ivy Madness postseason tournament.

“I gotta make that shot,” said Tiger junior guard Lee as his voice trailed off. “I gotta make that.”

The potential game-winner bounced high and by the time Blake Peters corralled it the clock had run out on the Tigers as they ended their season with a 59-57 loss to the Bulldogs. Yale went on to defeat second-seeded Cornell 90-84 on Sunday in the championship to earn the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“We’re glad to be able to play in a meaningful game,” said Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson after his squad finished 19-11 overall, 8-6 in the Ivies. “It was really good for our program and our guys. Yale’s a really good team and we weren’t competitive with them the first two games of the season. I thought this was as resilient as we’ve looked all season. We had chances there at the end. We felt really good about the looks we were getting.”

Both teams displayed a balanced attack in a game that ended up quite balanced across the board. Lee and Peters tallied 14 points apiece to lead Princeton. Caden Pierce and Dalen Davis, the latter off the bench, scored 11 points each. Yale was led by John Poulakidas who scored 13 points, while they also had three other players in double figures — Bez Mbeng and Nick Townsend tallied 12 points each and Casey Simmons chipped in 11 points.

“I thought we competed really hard today,” said Lee. “I’m proud of the way my guys played. I thought we showed a lot of toughness, matched their physicality. It didn’t go our way today, but I thought we put ourselves in a position we wanted to be in to win that game. Sometimes things like that happen, but I’m really proud of how we played.”

Princeton trailed 12-0 to start the game, and the Tigers looked in danger of suffering the same fate as they had in two regular-season meetings with the Bulldogs. A month ago, Yale beat Princeton, 84-57, and earlier at Jadwin Gym, the Tigers fell, 77-70, after trailing by 20 points with under eight minutes to go. The Tigers didn’t wait as long Saturday to begin whittling away. By halftime, they were behind just 31-25.

“We weren’t competitive against them in the first two games,” said Henderson. “Totally different game tonight.”

Given how the regular-season games went against the Bulldogs, Henderson would have signed up ahead of time for a one-possession game in the final minutes. Thanks to some stellar play over the second half, the Tigers put themselves in striking range to win it at the end.

CJ Happy’s 3-pointer from the corner off a feed from Davis gave Princeton its first lead, 54-53, with 3:29 left in regulation. It was Happy’s lone points in the contest. His next 3-point attempt that would have put the Tigers up four points spun out with 2:43 to go.

“We had great looks to put the game out of reach, I thought, or up four at least,” said Henderson. “I felt really good about what we were able to do there in the last two minutes of the game.”

After Princeton’s defense held, Lee hit Pierce for an open look at a 3 that he missed with less than 2 minutes left. Yale pushed the ball upcourt and Mbeng scored a 3-point play over Lee with a pull-up jumper in the lane to give Yale a 56-54 lead.

Lee responded right back by crossing up Mbeng and burying a 3-pointer for a 57-56 Princeton lead, its last of the game as Yale got two big plays by its top players.

“(Ivy) Player of the Year/Defensive Player of the Year (Mbeng) gets fouled with 50 seconds left and we’re up two,” said Henderson. “He makes it, and then Poulakidas made a really tough shot. We had a shot at the end of the game to win the game. I’m happy about that. We didn’t play great, but we’re right there.”

Poulakidas made an off-balance 3-pointer moving to the right wing with Peters draped on him. There was exactly 1:00 left.

“I was just trying to guard him,” said Peters. “He made a tough shot. I tried to influence him (to go to the) right, but he’s a great player. I know him well. That’ll eat at me forever, but things like that happen.”

Pierce and the Princeton bench all reacted as though he was fouled on his drive to the basket that would have tied it with 36 seconds left. The Tigers did not foul with the game clock winding down, and forced a shot clock violation that gave them the ball with 6.5 seconds left and down two points.

“We were trying to foul early, and we got into a situation where we didn’t foul and it worked out,” said Henderson. “We got the shot clock violation and plenty of time with the ball back. It didn’t work out for us the two previous possessions, but they made huge plays.”

After throwing the ball to half-court to call another timeout, Princeton inbounded to Lee who crossed the ball in front and then back between his legs before taking a 3-pointer that Mbeng contested. The ball bounced off the back of the rim and Peters fought to grab it as time expired.

“We felt really good,” said Henderson. “Had the right guy. Xaivian has won five games for us. I thought, ‘That’s going in.’ That’s just what he’s been doing.”

The Tigers’ loss means the end of the Princeton careers for their three seniors — Philip Byriel, Darius Gakwasi, and Peters. Peters was the only one of the three to play Saturday, and he was emotional after the narrow defeat that denied him and the Tigers a shot at another Ivy championship.

“We accomplished a lot in my four years,” said Peters, who helped Princeton win three Ivy regular season crowns and make a magical run to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2023. “I’m really proud to get to play with some Princeton legends on the court. These guys will be in my life for a while and so many memories we’ve made, it’s hard to put into words. This was my dream my whole life. And I got to live that out every day. I’m just thankful for that.”

The Tigers are hopeful to return Lee and Pierce among this year’s junior starters. Lee set a new program mark with his 165th assist this year Saturday. He had six assists as the season ended against Yale.

“I’m really proud of this group, in particular Blake,” said Henderson. “It’s a real pleasure to coach somebody like him, be around him all the time. All he’s done is make Princeton basketball better. He personifies what we are. We talk a lot about the who, and Blake is the who and I’m really proud of the three championships in four years.”