MYLES AHEAD: Princeton University men’s basketball player Myles Stephens drives around a Harvard defender in recent action. Last Saturday, freshman guard Stephens, a former Pennington School standout, scored six points with three rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes of action as Princeton topped Brown 77-66. Princeton, which defeated front-running Yale 75-63 last Friday to tighten up the Ivy League title race, is now 18-5 overall and 8-1 Ivy and will host Columbia (19-8 overall, 8-2 Ivy) on February 26 and Cornell (9-15 overall, 2-8 Ivy) on February 27. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Although Myles Stephens is a freshman on the Princeton University men’s basketball team, he has been around the program for a while.

“I grew up in Lawrenceville and I used to come to games a lot,” said Stephens, who starred at the Pennington School before wrapping up his high school career with two seasons at St. Andrew’s School (Del.).

“I came to camp here when I was in sixth grade, fifth grade so I did grow up as a Princeton fan, watching the games.”

Emerging as a key player off the bench for the Tigers, Stephens has been giving the Princeton fans plenty to cheer about this winter.

“It has taken a little while,” said Stephens, a 6’4, 198-pound guard who has been averaging 5.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 13.4 minutes a game.

“At the beginning of the year, it took me some time to figure out my place. I am figuring defensively, that is what gets me going, starting off, getting into people and I think the offensive game comes to me and I just flow from there.”

As the season has gone on, Stephens feels like he is getting more and more into the offensive flow for the Tigers.

“It is getting to know all the offense, the cuts and where to be, spacing on the floor,” said Stephens.

“It is all a factor, I am learning game by game. All of us are learning to play together, making the right passes to each other to lead to open shots.”

For Stephens, coming home to Princeton has been the right move. “I left home for a little bit to go to Delaware for my junior and senior year,” said Stephens.

“To come back home and play and be close to family so they can watch me play, that is what I wanted to do.”

While Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson liked how Princeton completed a home weekend sweep by topping Brown, he acknowledged that his team wasn’t at its sharpest.

“I am pleased with the win, I didn’t think we played very well,” said Henderson, reflecting on a game which saw the Tigers build a 72-47 lead with 8:28 remaining in regulation before Brown went on a 19-5 run to cut the final margin to 11.

“We have a lot to work on but the guys are willing and ready to get after it for another really important week.”

Henderson feared a bit of a letdown after Princeton posted an important 75-63 win over league frontrunner Yale on Friday night to hand the Bulldogs their first league loss.

“Obviously I was a little concerned about the Saturday game, always after a Friday game that is so meaningful in the league,” said Henderson, who got 14 points apiece from junior stars Henry Caruso and Steven Cook in the win over Brown.

“I thought tonight was the first time I have seen in months with this group where we were a little casual. We have made some mistakes but they were aggressive mistakes. We got a little casual, maybe rested on our laurels a little too much. I think they are aware of what happened. It wasn’t on purpose; it is a little bit too much human nature.”

Stephens’ sense of purpose has impressed Henderson. “He gets better every game, it has been fun to watch,” said Henderson.

“He can really shoot, He is known as a little bit of a driver; I love that he made a three tonight and he took another one.”

Henderson loves the play he is getting off the bench from Stephens and classmate Devin Cannady, who was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week after scoring 20 points in the win against Yale and adding 10 against Brown.

“They don’t play like freshmen and they don’t act like freshmen,” said Henderson.

“The only thing is this league tends to reward teams that have been there or have been through it. Myles, Devin, Noah Bramlage, and Elias Berbari, our freshmen, are eager learners so they are catching on fast, they know what’s going on.”

The Tigers have something positive going with their second unit. “We have got a good group between Devin and Myles, Alec Brennan, and Jackson Forbes, who gave us some solid minutes tonight,” added Henderson.

“We have a lot of different ways we can go. When you watch practices, this is the best indication of a good team, they are very competitive. You can have a good team and the first team wins all of the time. That is not the case with us, our first group doesn’t necessarily dominate, and less so now as we go further in the year. I think that is a good thing.”

Henderson will need a lot of good things from his team as it faces another critical weekend, hosting Columbia (19-8 overall, 8-2 Ivy) on February 26 and Cornell (9-15 overall, 2-8 Ivy) on February 27.

“I just told the team, they had us, we were really fortunate, just like the Penn game (a 73-71 overtime win on January 9),” said Henderson, referring to Princeton’s come-from-behind 88-83 overtime win at Columbia on February 13.

“They are a really, really solid team. We are going to have to be much sharper and I think we will be ready.”

For Stephens, being in thick of an Ivy title race is something he has dreamed about since coming to Jadwin as a kid.

“It is big, it is unreal coming in here, knowing that we have a chance to go to the tournament,” said Stephens.

“We just have to focus on ourselves and do what we have been doing and not let anything get to our heads. As long as we are playing hard and we are focused on details that will help us win, I think we will be good.”