BOSTON – The start to this season wasn’t exactly how Princeton probably drew it up. The Tigers were 1-5 in the first six games, with three losses being by six points or less, and they had some question marks offensively. While the offense is always a subject of conversation, an improvement at the defensive end has helped changed the team’s success, as Sunday’s 71-62 win at Northeastern was their fifth in six games.
In the Tigers’ five losses early on, they allowed the opponent to shoot 45.6 percent from the field. In addition, two opponents made more than half of their shots from long range. While the Tigers struggled offensively in those games, topping 38 percent just twice, the impact of their defense could not be understated.
“Our defense has carried us in every game, so we’re always going to hang our hat on the defensive end,” said head coach Mitch Henderson. “What we did today, when we didn’t turn it over, was score efficiently.”
The Tigers certainly did that. While they had 19 turnovers, they shot 54.3 percent from the field, going 12-18 in the second half. And while the defensive wasn’t spectacular all around, as they allowed Northeastern to shoot 50 percent from the field, they forced 20 turnovers and that was where they shined. They also took advantage of Northeastern’s lack of guard depth, as it made the matchup more favorable to them.
Sunday’s game was also big in that the Tigers won despite Doug Davis not doing much. Earlier this season, that would almost certainly have spelled defeat for this team, as Davis and Ian Hummer were the two guys they could count on to score. Davis had just five points on 1-4 shooting, with four turnovers on the day. Instead, Hummer had 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals, and had good help with three others scoring in double figures. Patrick Saunders had 13, including a couple of key three-pointers in an early second-half run that gave them the lead for good, while Mack Darrow had five assists without a turnover to go with 10 points.
“This is not Ian and the other guys, and we’re not that team at all,” Henderson said. “Ian does so much for us, and the guys on the team know that. They show that they’re a huge piece of this team, too. It’s what we’re capable of, which is fun to me as a coach.”
Indeed, Hummer’s impact on the game was not lost on Northeastern head coach Bill Coen, who offered, “I think he is the best individual player that we have faced so far this season, just in the sense that he does so many things for his team.”
Davis does a lot for the Tigers as well, although he had an off game on Sunday. The other double-digit scorer on Sunday, T.J. Bray, is clearly showing signs of emerging for this team. The versatile sophomore leads the team in assists and looks like he’s on the verge of becoming a consistent double-digit scorer after scoring 12 points against the Huskies for his second straight game in double digits.
The Tigers have had a minor transition going on offensively with Henderson taking over for the departed Sydney Johnson, but it’s been just that: minor. The offense has the same base, and there’s continuity from a personnel standpoint. Even so, there is a sense that they are better with it of late.
“When it comes down to it, it’s still the Princeton offense, and that’s what we pride ourselves on,” said Bray. “It’s the back cuts, making good passes, it’s making your teammates better, and I think we’ve stepped that up the past six games.”
The Tigers’ biggest improvement, however, is on defense. Even on Sunday, when the Huskies matched the season high of 50 percent by an opponent, the Tigers got the job done by forcing turnovers. That’s a big key in a low-possession game like the ones Princeton usually plays, and with their offense scoring well when they didn’t give the ball away, they were in position to win again.
The Tigers are in the midst of a stretch of 12 straight Division I road games, with a home game against the College of New Jersey mixed in on January 8 after the first seven. Having won three of the first four in that stretch, with trips to Siena, Florida State and Florida A&M ahead before Ivy League play starts with five straight on the road, they are building confidence and getting to a better place.
Henderson said the wins don’t matter as much as where the team is on January 13, when they open Ivy League play at Cornell. But they certainly help from the standpoint of the team’s confidence, and the wins are more plentiful when they were early on now that they’re defending better since the offense is taking care of itself.
