VIDEO: Princeton beats Rider in OT on 3-point buzzer-beater

Finals Week provides students with unnecessary stress. It also provides college basketball fans with very little to salivate over.

Which is exactly why I bring you news of last night's Garden State Showdown between Princeton (4-6) and Rider (1-9).

The one-win Broncs led by as many as 16, but the Tigers clawed back for much of the second half, thanks in large part to Ian Hummer's 21 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and four steals.

But in overtime down by two, Mack Darrow, who had yet to make a field goal all game, came up large for Princeton.



The shot may have not been on par with the most recent Princeton buzzer-beater, the Ivy League-winning, NCAA Tournament bid-sealing shot hit by Doug Davis over Harvard last season.

But a buzzer-beater is still a buzzer-beater. And for the Tigers, now 5-6, it is definitely something to rejoice about.

(Apologize for the poor video quality. But again, it's Finals Week. The college students aren't the only ones taking the week off from hoops.)



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VIDEO: Brandon Knight shakes off bad game, hits game-winner

For all the talk about Kentucky's big three freshmen, they were no where to be found in the Wildcat's 59-57 win over Princeton in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Terrence Jones had 10 points (on 4-8 shooting) and just two rebounds. Doron Lamb finished with just seven points. And Brandon Knight? He was scoreless and 0-7 from the floor heading into the final possession of the game.

Luckily for Kentucky, that changed:



Its easy to say that this is a bad sign for Kentucky. Team's that compete for national titles don't generally struggle to knock off Ivy league contenders.

That said, Princeton is a better team than you think. They have some size and they are more physical than you would think.

But more to the point, Kentucky won a game in the tournament despite getting poor performances out of their three best players. Josh Harrellson had 15 points and 10 boards, making a number of key plays down the stretch. Darius Miller had 17 points, four boards, and three assists.

Jones, Knight, and Lamb are all freshman. This was their first NCAA Tournament game. Nerves are to be expected. The veterans stepped up and carried the team -- something that has been an issue this season -- and the Wildcats survived and advanced.

You could argue that this game was a good sign for Kentucky.

Or maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that it was a good decision to put Kentucky in the national title game.

Either way, UK will be playing West Virginia on Saturday.
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VIDEO: Princeton earns the Ivy's autobid at the buzzer

You want to know what college basketball is all about?

Harvard and Princeton.

In the third head-to-head matchup, the Tigers and the Crimson headed to Yale's Lee Coliseum to play what amounted to the Ivy League Championship game. The gym was electric, with both schools sending a huge contingent of students. The crowd was split down the middle, with half the gym decked out in Orange and the other half in Crimson.

Harvard's Brandyn Curry scored on a tough layup in the paint with 12 seconds left to give Harvard a 62-61 lead. After Princeton had a shot blocked out of bounds with 2.8 seconds left, head coach Sydney Johnson called a timeout setting up the final possession:



So thanks to Douglas Davis, the Tigers, who were a loss to Penn on March 5th away from being eliminated from contention, are headed to the NCAA Tournament with the 63-62 win.

You want an idea of the kind of atmosphere that was in the gym? Neutral floor court storm:


(h/t some bum at CBS for the photo)

The question that must be asked now is whether or not Harvard can actually sneak into the NCAA Tournament. Its more of a possibility than you may think. The Crimson have beated Boston College and Colorado this season. They went on the road to play teams like Michigan and George Mason during the non-conference portion of their schedule. They have an RPI of 32.

More importantly, however, this is a team that, if they were able to land a 12 seed, can win a game in the NCAA Tournament. They have a front line that can match up with a high-major front line in Keith Wright and Kyle Casey. Their backcourt is a solid combination of shooters, athletes, and play makers.

Based on the rest of the bubble, the chances of Harvard getting in is fairly small.

Count me among the group that wants to see the Crimson get a chance.
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POSTERIZED: Don't tell Kyle Casey Ivy Leaguers can't dunk

The Ivy League doesn't provide athletic scholarships.

The Ivy League doesn't have a conference tournament.

The Ivy League doesn't have anybody who can dunk who can guard Kyle Casey.

Casey logged a season-high 24 points in Harvard's win over Princeton on Saturday night, but he could have scored 7 points and nobody would have cared because he threw down this massive dunk.



Not only is Casey a better dunker than you, it's more than likely that he's a lot smarter than you too.

But was it as good as one of these?:

POSTERIZED - Anali Okoloji, Seton Hall
POSTERIZED - Brad Tinsley, Vanderbilt
POSTERIZED - CJ Fair, Syracuse
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jennings, Louisville
POSTERIZED - Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia
POSTERIZED - Dwayne Lathan, Indiana State
POSTERIZED - Kenny Gabriel, Auburn
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Louisville
POSTERIZED - Matt Dickey, UNC-Asheville
POSTERIZED - Jeff Robinson, Xavier
POSTERIZED - Nyika Williams
POSTERIZED - Jawanza Poland, South Florida
POSTERIZED - Brady Jardine, Utah State
POSTERIZED - Tony Mitchell, Alabama
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Asheville
POSTERIZED - Peyton Siva, Louisville
POSTERIZED - E'Twaun Moore, Purdue
POSTERIZED - DJ Newbill, Southern Mississippi
POSTERIZED - Scotty Hopson, Tennessee
POSTERIZED - Justin Brownlee, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Tyrone Johnson
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Ross, Washington
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Andre Roberson, Colorado
POSTERIZED - Durrell Summers, Michigan State
POSTERIZED - Phillip McDonald, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Kyle Kuric, Louisville
POSTERIZED - Anthony Nelson, Niagara
POSTERIZED - Cory Joseph, Texas
POSTERIZED - Will Sheehey, Indiana
POSTERIZED - Tom Pritchard, Indiana
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - John Holland, Boston
POSTERIZED - Keith Gabriel, VMI
POSTERIZED - Travis McKie, Wake Forest
POSTERIZED - Jefferson Mason, Minnesota State (D-II)
POSTERIZED - Tyler Johnson, Fresno State
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Asheville
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Hollis Thompson, Georgetown
POSTERIZED - Darnell Wilks, Cincinnati
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette
POSTERIZED - Darrius Garrett, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Travis Cohn, Jacksonville
POSTERIZED - Ramon Galloway, South Carolina
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Asheville
POSTERIZED - Kevin Smith, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Mitchell Watt, Buffalo
POSTERIZED - Chandler Parsons, Florida
POSTERIZED - Kenny Gabriel, Auburn
POSTERIZED - Paris Horne, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Laurence Bowers, Missouri
POSTERIZED - Drew Gordon, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Tony Mitchell, Alabama
POSTERIZED - Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt
POSTERIZED - LaMarcus Reed, UT-Arlington
POSTERIZED - Marcus Morris, Kansas
POSTERIZED - Jared Cunningham, Oregon State
POSTERIZED - Langston Morris-Walker
POSTERIZED - Chris Wright and Juwan Staten, Dayton
POSTERIZED - D.J Stephens, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Reeves Nelson, UCLA
POSTERIZED - Kendall Marshall and John Henson, UNC
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Joe Jackson, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Kent Bazemore, Old Dominion
POSTERIZED - CJ Fair, Syracuse
POSTERIZED - LeBryan Nash
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Marcus Jordan, Central Florida
POSTERIZED - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
POSTERIZED - Tai Wesley, Utah State
POSTERIZED - Trent Lockett, Arizona State, and Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Brandon Paul, Illinois
POSTERIZED - Jordan Hamilton, Texas

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Harvard earns a share of the Ivy title, puts the pressure on Princeton

Harvard won a share of their first ever Ivy League crown tonight, beating Princeton 79-67 on the strength of 24 points from a yet-to-be-fully-healthy Kyle Casey and 10 points and 10 assists from Brandyn Curry.

I say that they won a share of the title because there is still a chance that the Crimson can win the outright title. Princeton is a game behind Harvard in the win column as they travel to the Palestra to take on Penn on Tuesday.

It sets up an interesting scenario.

The Ivy League is the only conference in the country that doesn't have a tournament. Their at-large winner is determined by the regular season champion. If Princeton beats Penn, the Tigers and the Crimson will be tied for the Ivy League title, setting up a situation where the two would be forced to play a third rematch, essentially what amounts to an Ivy League title game.


I know what you are thinking.

Its the Ivy League. Why should I card about who gets in as the appetizer for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed?

Because both Princeton and Harvard have the horses to spring an upset in the NCAA Tournament.

The Crimson have a front line that can compete with the high-majors in Casey and Keith Wright. Their back court, led by Curry, Oliver McNally, and Christian Webster, is better than you think. Remember how Tommy Amaker made some headlines with recruiting violations a few years back? Well, it paid off.

Princeton has four players averaging between 12.1 ppg and 14.0 ppg, but they too have a nice blend of size and perimeter players. On Saturday, it was the 25 points that Dan Mavraides scored that kept the Tigers close.

But most importantly, you should care because these are two rivals and two quality basketball teams playing for the right to get into the NCAA Tournament.

If you can't get excited about that, feel free to mail in your fan card. I'll pay for the postage.
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Penn's crushing loss could have significant repercussions in the Ivy chase

Penn and Princeton added to their long line of memorable basketball games with another classic on Tuesday night.

The Quakers forced overtime on the road despite never taking the lead, coming back from 13 points down with seven minutes remaining and five down with 11 ticks left. Miles Cartwright hit a three to cut the lead to 55-53, and after Princeton's Douglas Davis made 1-2 from the free throw line, Tyler Bernardini hit a game-tying three with 3.6 seconds left to send the game into an extra frame.

Penn took their first lead of the game on a Cartwright free throw with 2:48 left, and after a bucket from Fran Dougherty 43 seconds later, the Quakers held a 59-56 lead. Ian Hummer got Princeton on the board in the overtime with a tip-in with 46 seconds remaining to cut the lead to one, but on the ensuing possession, Penn's Jack Eggleston called a timeout trying to corral a loose ball.

Penn had no timeouts remaining.


Princeton made 1-2 free throws to tie the game, but stole the Quaker's ensuing inbounds pass. Cartwright fouled Hummer, who hit both free throws, and after a Penn miss and a free throw from Dan Mavraides, Zach Rosen's prayer bounced off the back board, and the Tigers escaped with a 62-59 win.

This result had much more significance than the simple Chris Webber reference.

With the win, the Tigers remain undefeated in conference play, maintaining their one game lead in the loss column on Harvard, a team that the Tigers beat on Friday. Penn falls two games off the pace, which is even more significant in the Ivy League since they don't have a conference tournament.

To make matters worse for the Quakers, they lost a heartbreaker to Harvard at home in double overtime on Saturday. Penn is just two possessions from being undefeated and in sole possession of first place in the conference.

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The Emery Board: Week 13

College basketball has not seen a team go undefeated since Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers went 32-0 in 1975-1976. The closest we have seen since then was a Jameer Nelson-led St. Joseph's team that went 27-0 in the 2003-2004 season before losing to Xavier in the Atlantic-10 tournament. Every season a team flirts with the notion of an undefeated season, but every season that notion slowly fades as January turns to February and February turns to March. BYU's senior guard Jackson Emery, has made the bold prediction that his team, a Cougar squad that finished with a 27-4 record last season, will in fact go undefeated this season.

We have decided that, in honor of Emery's swagger, we will keep a watch on the BYU Cougar's schedule, see if they can walk-the-walk. We will also keep tabs on any other undefeated teams who try to make a run at the perfect season.

Week 11:
I must be the only one who actually took Jackson Emery seriously, because he's said only two things to the press this season, and has been wrong about both of them. I am still waiting to hear him reshuffle his predicition and proclaim that BYU will win the Mountain West Conference Tournament. But that actually is something they could accomplish, unlike his other two statements.

After suffering their second loss of the season, The Cougars bounced back with two victories, a seven point road win at Wyoming and a 14-point win against UNLV at home. Against Wyoming, Jimmer Fredette had an off night yet still managed to score 26 points, including a perfect 16-16 from the charity stripe. Against UNLV Fredette overcame more smacktalk from Tre'von Willis and finished with 29 points which made him the all-time leading scorer in Mountain West Conference history. The previous record was held by San Diego State's Brandon Heath with 2,189. For his efforts last week, Fredette received his 14th career MWC Player of the Week award, which is also a conference record. Of his 14 PoW awards, seven have come this season.

But this post isn't just about Fredette. This team continues to play well together and looks like a legitimate threat to make it to at least the Sweet-16 this season. Jackson Emery continues to be under-appreciated. he is a steady 3-point shooter and is the team leader in steals and assists. I've been really impressed lately with the play of big-man Brandon Davies. He only had four points against UNLV but was plagued with foul trouble much of the game. He has shown a nice ouch around the basket and provides the Cougars with a solid interior presence.

The Cougars take on Air Force on the road and cap off rivalry week against Utah. Neither of these games should be a real test for BYU, but they certainly don't want to overlook either team.

Next Game: 2/9 at Air Force
Next Possible Loss: 2/26 at San Diego State


Undefeated Teams

No. 1 Ohio State: 24-0 (11-0)
Last Win: 82-69 at No. 20 Minnesota
Next Game: 2/12 at No. 14 Wisconsin
Next Potential Loss: 2/12 at No. 14 Wisconsin

The Buckeyes are firing on all cylinders at the right moment because they begin their toughest stretch of conference play this week. They have to travel to the Kohl Center to take of Wisconsin, then play a collapsing Michigan State squad, then travel to Purdue, followed up with a home game against Illinois. It's entirely possible that tOSU beats all four of these teams, but it is in this stretch of games that they are most likely to suffer their first defeat.


Undefeated Conference Teams
Since only one team in the entire country has yet to lose a game, why not take a look at the small group of teams that have yet to lose a game against their conference foes? Plus it gives me something to track for the next couple of weeks.

Coastal Carolina: 22-2 (13-0 in Big South)
Next Game: 2/10 at Presbyterian (10-15,4-9)
Next Potential Loss: None

The Chanticleers have not lost since the Charleston Classic, when they were defeated by Georgetown 810-61. That was 20 games ago. It doesn't look like any team in the Big South will come close to Coastal Carolina. They already defeated the second best team, Liberty, twice, and went on the road for four straight games and won them all. Barring a shocking upset in the conference tournament, this team will be dancing.


Princeton: 16-4 (4-0 in Ivy League)
Next Game: 2/8 vs. Penn (9-9, 3-1)
Next Potential Loss: 2/8 vs. Penn (9-9, 3-1)

The Tigers we the pre-season favorites in the Ivy league, but up until this past week, it was Harvard that was looking like the Ivy league team most likely to make the NCAA tournament. Princeton defeated Harvard 65-61 on Friday to claim the top spot in the league. They followed that up with a 15-point win over Dartmouth. But Princeton now has to face Penn, who just lost their first conference game, to Harvard, in a 2OT thriller. If Princeton can defeat Penn, they will set themselves up well to pick up the automatic bid.


No. 21 Utah State: 22-2 (11-0 in Western Athletic Conference)
Next Game: 2/9 at Idaho (13-10, 6-5)
Next Potential Loss: 2/19 at No. 23 St. Mary's (BracketBusters)

Like Coastal Carolina, the Aggies have not lost since they played Georgetown some 17 games ago. They have rolled thru conference play and are 4.5 games in front of the second-place team. Utah State is home to the best home court advantages in the country and will not lose a conference game this season. They will travel to Moraga, CA to face St. Mary's in the marquee BracketBusters game.


The Bottom of the Barrel:

It would be rude of us to include the "have's" and but not the "have-not's". After all, planetary balance is very essential. For every team that hasn't lost a game, there has to be a team still fighting for their first win.



Centenary: 0-25 (0-13)
Next Game: 2/10 at Southern Utah (7-16, 3-9)
First Potential Win: 2/10 at Southern Utah (7-16, 3-9)

The Gentleman only have five more chances to claim their first victory of the year. Unfortunately they only stand a chance of doing so in one of these games. I just don't think they will get a win this season.

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