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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Wallace Finds His Offensive Rhythm To Spark Streaking Tiger Men's Hoops
By Bill Alden
Last December, Judson Wallace had an afternoon to forget as the Princeton University men's basketball team fell by a bucket at Rutgers.
Wallace struggled mightily that day, hitting 1-of-8 shots on the way to a measly five-point performance which earned him the jeers of the Scarlet Knight fans. As the two teams renewed their storied rivalry last Wednesday at Jadwin Gym for Princeton's home opener under new head coach Joe Scott, Wallace was determined to make amends for his awful effort. "Last year I was playing pretty well offensively and then we came into Rutgers and I put up a horrible game," recalled Wallace. "This year, I wanted to get it back. That wasn't me that the fans saw last year."
Wallace made this season's clash a night to remember as he scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Princeton to a 53-40 win before a Jadwin crowd of 5,135.
The Tigers needed Wallace's heroics as they trailed 23-20 at the half and were behind 33-31 with 11 minutes remaining in regulation.
During those last 11 minutes, Wallace took over the contest as he contributed nine points, seven rebounds, a blocked shot, and an assist to spur a decisive 22-7 Tiger run that broke Rutgers' spirit and its five-game winning streak in the series between the local rivals.
In reflecting on his outburst which saw him go 3-for-7 from three-point range, Wallace said he wasn't focused on scoring coming into the game.
"I told Scotty Greenman before the game to look for me running," said the 6'10 Wallace, who followed his stellar effort against Rutgers by scoring a season-high 23 points and hitting a school-record 13-of-13 free throws in Princeton's 56-52 win at Monmouth last Sunday. "I was just going to rebound and run. The three-pointers just came to me. I was open on all of them."
In Wallace's view, spending much of the second half on the court with twin tower Mike Stephens helped open things up for him.
"We were outrebounding them when both of us were in there," explained the Atlanta native who was a first-team All-Ivy selection last season and is currently leading the Tigers with a 13.3 scoring average.
"You don't see two 6'10 guys on the court at the same time. We're both pretty skilled and capable. When he's on the floor, that gives me the opportunity to run in there instead of being bodied up with those big center guys. Mike and I love playing together."
Scott loved what he saw as Wallace and his teammates made his home debut as the Tiger head coach an evening to remember.
"To me, they're all special," said Scott in reflecting on the night. "In college basketball, you don't see rivalries like this any more. It's all conference stuff. These are two teams that have proud histories who think it's important to play each other at each other's court every other year."
Scott was proud of how his team performed down the stretch. "It's a good win because we hadn't beaten Rutgers the last five times we had played them which hasn't happened in this series," explained Scott, whose club outrebounded Rutgers 33-30 and committed only eight turnovers while forcing 12.
"All I talked about at half was confidence and aggressiveness, both offensively and defensively. I said to them going out at half that Rutgers is shooting 50 percent against us, how is that? Obviously we did a very good job of that in the second half because we held them to 20 percent (4-of-20)."
In Scott's view, Wallace did a very good job as well. "I think Judson played really well tonight right from the start," said Scott, who was particularly pleased with the fact that Wallace had only one turnover on the evening.
"He was all over the place. He's getting what I'm trying to emphasize to him ‹ don't turn it over, and get rebounds. If you don't turn it over and you get rebounds, you are doing well no matter what else you are doing."
With Princeton at 5-2 and riding a 4-game winning streak, Scott believes his team is collectively getting his approach.
"It's been hard for the older guys learning all the new stuff," said Scott, whose club faces a stern test when it plays at Temple on December 20.
"Maybe we have learned how to pull away from a team. I think our defense did it, we kept stopping them and stopping them. You don't turn the ball over and you get defensive rebounds; you are going to win a lot of games."
In Wallace's view, the win over Rutgers could have long term implications. "Absolutely," replied Wallace without hesitation when asked whether the win gave Princeton a shot of confidence.
"Especially the way we finished the game. We have to concentrate on finishing games. It was 38-36 and we went on a 15-4 run, that will definitely help us."
If Wallace can keep in his offensive groove, the Tigers should produce a lot of strong finishes over the next few months.
