It will mark just the second all-time meeting between the two programs, with Princeton triumphant in the only other meeting between the two, taking a 70-69 win over the Paladins last season with a furious rally in the final four-plus minutes to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat.
Princeton, which was a Sweet Sixteen qualifier two years ago and went to the NIT last season, brings with it to Greenville a certain pedigree of a program. Greats like head coach Pete Caril, who helped the Tigers shock defending national champion UCLA in the 1996 NCAA Tournament and basketball innovator for his creation of the "Princeton Style" offense, which focuses on back cuts and screening off the ball, is just one of the many legends that the program has produced--player or coach--over the years.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, after a strong start in the 2023-24 season, Princeton fell in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament to Brown (L, 90-81) and then after reaching the NIT, the Tigers were knocked out in the first round with a rare loss at Jadwin Gym, as the UNLV Rebels came to New Jersey and delivered the final verdict on the Tigers' season, handing Princeton an 84-77 defeat.
The 2023-24 season, while a disappointing finish by Tigers standards, was another strong campaign when looking at the full body of work, as the Tigers finished 24-5 overall, which included a 12-2 mark in the Ivy, which was good enough for one of those 33 regular-season titles. That's fifth-most for regular-season titles in NCAA Division I College Basketball, with only Kansas (64), Kentucky (53), North Carolina (39) and Ivy League conference rival Penn (39) the only programs with more.
The Tigers are a program in the Ivy League synonymous with hoops success. After all, Princeton has won 30 Ivy League titles and made 26 NCAA Tournament appearances in its history. It is fitting then, that Princeton's current head coach--Mitch Henderson (239 wins/3rd-most in program history)--is also a link to that success, having played for Karil.
The Tigers are off to another strong start this season under Henderson and come to Greenville with a 7-3 record through their first 10 games of the season, which includes coming off maybe the Tigers' most impressive win to date, which was a 77-69 win over Atlantic 10 member St. Joseph's in Philadelphia. The Tigers' three losses this season have come against a good Loyola Chicago team (L, 73-68), as well as good foes, in Wright State (L, 80-62) and Texas State (L, 83-80).
In fact, two of Princeton's three losses this season came at the Myrtle Beach Invitational, which was a tournament the Paladins competed in last season, posting an identical 1-2 mark, with losses to Liberty (L, 88-74) and Wyoming (), while the Paladins' lone win came against Coastal Carolina.
The Tigers have played a pretty strong slate to this point and along with the win over St. Joseph's, the Tigers have posted victories over MAAC perennial power Iona (W, 81-80), 2024 NCAA Tournament participant Duquesne (W, 75-68), Northeastern (W, 79-76), Merrimack (W, 68-57), Portland (W, 94-67), and Nazareth (W, 99-63).
As far as the leaders of this team one need look no further than the two players that were pivotal in helping the Tigers post that furious rally in Jadwin Gym last December--junior guard Xavian Lee (15.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG) and 6-7 junior forward Caden Pierce (11.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG).
Lee, who posted a game-high 24 points against the Paladins last season, is coming off one of the rare accomplishments to be achieved for any basketball player at any level--a triple-double--as the junior guard from Toronto posted 18 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and dished out a career-best 10 assists, as he became the first Princeton player to ever post such a stat line since assists were first tracked in 1974-75.
Lee has evolved into an elite scorer after averaging just under 5.0 PPG as a true freshman during the 2022-23 season. Last season, Lee saw his scoring average skyrocket by 13 PPG, as he finished the 2023-24 campaign averaging 17.1 PPG, which was good enough to land Lee on the Ivy League All-Conference team and his scoring average ranked fourth overall in the Ivy League at season's end.
He has scored 30 or more points three times in his Princeton career, with the latest of those 30-point scoring outbursts coming on Nov. 22, 2024, against Texas State, as the junior guard posted 30 points in the loss earlier this season.
In Lee's career-to-date, Lee's numbers have been impressive, particularly over the past two seasons, which has seen him score 798 total points and knock down 81 three-pointers. Lee is shooting them at a solid 41.0% (16-of-39) from downtown so far this season.
Pierce is the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year and already ranks 10th in program history in total rebounds. His 23 double-doubles currently ranks Pierce 18th in career-active leaders in double-doubles and his eight-boards-per-game average over his career has him at 19th in the nation in career-active rebounding average. The Paladins know all too well just how good Pierce is, as he went for 22 points, 15 rebounds, dished out four assists and recorded three steals in Princeton's one-point triumph over the Paladins last season.
This season the junior is connecting on 52.3% from the field this season and has connected on 8-of-22 (36.4%) from long-range. Though he's not a great three-point shooter over the duration of his career, connecting on just 33.5% of his long-range efforts over the course of his career, his 73 makes on 218 attempts show that he's not shy and can make them if left open.
In many ways, Pierce does everything well with no real weaknesses in the paint and he's a player that equates like a Matt Rafferty for the Tigers, although maybe not as proficient of a passer as Rafferty was during his time with the 'Dins.
Dalen Davis (11.8 PPG) is the third double-digit scorer in the starting five for the Tigers coming into Saturday afternoon's showdown with the Paladins at The Well. Unlike Lee, Davis has been an offensive weapon from the outset of his career, averaging in double figures as a true freshman in 2023-24 at just over 10.0 PPG.
Davis is maybe the Tigers' best pure shooter, as he is shooting 90.9% (10-of-11) from the charity stripe this season and has connected on an impressive 44.1% (26-of-59) of his three-point field goals. His season high in 2024-25 came in the win over Northeastern, posting 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field, which included a 4-for-10 effort from long-range. Dalen played only 11 minutes, scoring just three points against Furman last season.
Rounding out the starting five for the Tigers will be 6-9 senior forward Phillip Byriel (6.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG) and 6-7 freshman forward Malik Abdullahi (6.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG). Byriel had totaled a combined 30 points his previous three seasons with the Tigers, however, has already doubled that total this season with 60, including a career-high 18 points last time out against St. Joseph's, as the Ivy League's seventh-best three-point threat connected on a career-high six triples in the win over the Hawks last time out.
Abdullahi is an impressive, strong and athletic freshman in the paint that is a bit undersized to play the five, but like former Paladin Jalen Slawson has the athleticism, skill and strength to make up for it around the basket. Just 10 games into his career with the Tigers, he already leads the Ivy League in field goal percentage, knocking down 67.4% (31-of-46) from the field this season. It will be interesting to see his matchup against Furman's rangy, athletic center Cooper Bowser on Saturday afternoon.
Off the bench, the Tigers have some depth, with guards Blake Peters (10.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG) providing the most minutes in reserve, and actually played 30 minutes in the win over St. Joe's last time out, adding 12 points on 2-fo-6 shooting from three-point range and a 6-for-7 effort at the line was enough the help the Tigers put for a comprehensive effort in what was a key eight-point road win.
Briefly Noting Last Season's Meeting:
Matt Allocco with 4.2 seconds remaining helped Princeton rebound from as much as a 11-point deficit in the final four minutes to garner a hard-fought 70-69 win over the Paladins in what was a thriller throughout.
The loss for Furman was one of two in the non-conference, with the other being a setback at Tulane, that seemed to define the 2023-24 'Dins, giving indication of how good they could be, yet how fragile the team could be when adversity crept in. It's been refreshing, then, to the 2024-25 'Dins to show some grit in tough moments through the first nine outings this season.
Princeton was able to completely erase an 11-point deficit to improve to 8-0 to start the season, while the loss would drop the Paladins to 4-4.
The game would be as much Furman beating itself down the stretch as it would be Princeton winning the contest, although the Tigers pedigree and winning form took shape at just the right time, which with really good basketball teams always seems to be a hallmark, and the Paladins committed four cruciais turnovers down the stretch to keep the Tigers in the game. Three of the turnovers by the 'Dins were totally unforced.
On one of those crucial Paladin turnovers with 34 seconds left, Princeton couldn't capitalize, missing three-straight shots, but got second-chance opportunities with three straight offensive rebounds before the ball eventually found its way to Allocco, who ended up draining what proved to be the game-winning triple from the left wing, bringing the fans to their loudest elation of the afternoon in celebration with just 4.2 seconds left.
Allocco's three-pointer was part of just a 4-for-31 shooting effort from three-point range in the contest for the Tigers, which converts to just 12.9% from long range in the contest. The 4-of-31 shooting performance from three-point range was the worst effort from the perimeter all season for the Tigers and the 35.8% shooting percentage was the second-lowest of the season and the lowest shooting percentage in a win.
Furman couldn't take advantage of the off-shooting day from the Tigers, which made the loss even more frustrating for head coach Bob Richey and staff. The Paladins, which were paced by 16 points, eight rebounds and a pair of assists from Garrett Hien, finished last season's meeting connecting on 49.0% (25-of-51) from the field for the game, while connecting on 34.8% (8-of-29) from three-point land in the loss. Furman's 19 turnovers ended up leading to 28 points off turnovers for the Tigers.
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