Coaching Legacy of James Frizzell (CH 2K8)

[superjames1992]

Princeton Falls Hard Against Clemson

11/20 vs. #15 Clemson

Liberty Bell Classic B - First Round

Final: 75-98

The 19th-ranked Princeton Tigers faced off against their first real tough opponent of the season and it ended in dramatic failure. "We just didn't come out to play against a very good Clemson team. This game exposed our weaknesses and we certainly miss both the interior defense and the interior offense Cassiand Swift provided us," explained Coach Frizzell. The game was tight throughout most of the first half, but Clemson went on a late run and hit a buzzer-beater three to go up 41-31 at halftime. Clemson would go on to dominate in the second half, scoring 57 points against a hapless Princeton defense as they cruised to a season-high 98 points. Elliah Townsend came up big in the loss with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals. Romain Bright also had a nice game, tallying 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals while Tim Robertson totaled 12 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals.

Princeton is now 7-1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tigers Outlast Midshipmen

11/21 vs. Navy

Liberty Bell Classic B - Consolation Game

Final: 62-46

Princeton struggled for the second straight game. In their previous game, the Tigers had trouble on defense, but were satisfactory on the offensive side of the ball. In this one, the opposite happened. Princeton's defense was stellar, but the offense sputtered all day long to only 62 points, including just 25 in the first half. Princeton was behind 30-25 at halftime to a 3-3 Navy team, but the Tigers' defense stepped up big in the second half, only allowing the Midshipmen 16 second-half points as the Tigers went on to win by 16. "We played well in the second half, but that first half was terrible," beamed Coach Frizzell. Romain Bright led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. Tim Robertson tallied 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals while Wesley French managed 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals in the victory.

Princeton is now 8-1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 20 News

Media Poll: #16 (#19 Last Week)
Coaches' Poll: #21 (#22)
Mid-Major Poll: #2 (#2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Princeton Tops Rival Seton Hall

11/25 @ Seton Hall

Final: 71-58

"We bounced back quite well after a couple of back-to-back disappointing games," stated Coach Frizzell. "Hopefully, we can keep on playing like this." After just scoring 2 points in the Tigers' previous game, Elliah Townsend bounced back to tally 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists on 9-15 shooting. C.J. Harrington (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Romain Bright (13 points, 8 rebounds) just missed double-doubles while Tim Robertson and Wesley French scored 12 points apiece in the victory.

Princeton is now 9-1.

[superjames1992]

Top 15 News

The latest top 25 AP Poll came out and the Princeton Tigers are now ranked #13. The Tigers moved up four spots in this week's Coaches' Poll to #17 while the Tigers remain second in the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll behind the #10 Gonzaga Bulldogs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tigers Sink Late Free Throws to Upset #1 North Carolina in Chapel Hill

12/1 @ #1 North Carolina

Final: 65-56

"I just can't be prouder of the way our defense played. We came out ready to show the country what we can do and we didn't disappoint," beamed Coach Frizzell. Despite a poor night shooting the basketball, the Tigers played stifling defense in front of a national TV audience on ESPN's Super Tuesday. The Tigers held the Tar Heels to 36% shooting and only 4-23 from long-range. Princeton only held a slim three-point lead with a minute to go as the score was 59-56 in favor of the Tigers, but sank all six of their free throws in the final minute to pull away to win buy 9 points. Elliah Townsend, who knocked down four of those free throws in the final minute, ended with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Romain Bright also had a nice game, tallying 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals while Benjamin McBridle added 8 points coming off the bench.

Princeton is now 10-1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Recruiting News

12/6 - Final Day of Fall Signing Period

The Princeton Tigers signed one player during the fall signing period. Though only a three-star prospect, Sidney Fox will fill a huge hole next year and will be getting play time right off the bat. Fox is 6'11 and 251 pounds and his impressive body hails from Fall River, Massachusetts. He was the 8th-ranked center of the 2016 class and the 142nd-ranked player overall. Analyst Lee Williamson of 2khoops.com stated, "Fox looks to be a very important pickup for this team. He seems to be a bit underrated to me and he has an impressive frame. He could easily be 7'0 by the time he steps onto campus next fall. Mainly, he fills a much-needed hole for the Tigers. Princeton will be losing low post players in C.J. Harrington and Denis Graham, so the Tigers needed this pickup badly." Here is a look at Sidney Fox:

1. Sidney Fox 6'11 251 (Fall Fiver, MA - #142 overall, #8 C) 3*
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 15 News

Despite knocking off the #1-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, the Tigers actually fell one spot in the latest Top 25 AP Poll. Coach Frizzell furiously exclaimed, "I'm tired of not getting any respect because we're a small school! This is simply sickening and ridiculous what we have to deal with here. I guess there's nothing we can do; knocking off the #1 team in the country on the road isn't even enough!" Princeton did move up three spots in the Top 25 Coaches' Poll to #14, but stayed ranked second in the Mid-Major Poll.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ivy League Conference Standings

1. #14 Princeton 10-1
2. Harvard 6-2
3. Penn 7-4
4. Dartmouth 4-4
5. Cornell 3-5
6. Brown 3-5
7. Columbia 4-10
8. Yale 1-7

Leaders

Points - Noah Stephenson, PG (Columbia): 19.2 PPG
Rebounds - Mychal Miles, PF (Penn): 8.5 RPG
Assists - Wesley French, PG (Princeton): 4.4 APG
Steals - Wesley French, PG (Princeton): 3.2 SPG
Blocks - Zach Cain, C (Brown): 2.0 BPG
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 15 News

After an idle week, the Tigers stayed ranked #14 in the AP Top 25 Poll. However, the Tigers did move up one spot to #13 in the Coaches' Top 25 Poll, but stayed ranked #2 in the Mid-Major Poll.

[superjames1992]

Princeton Blows It Against Rutgers

12/17 vs. Rutgers

Final: 60-63

The Princeton Tigers suffered a let-down game after being superior against the #1-ranked Tar Heels in their previous outing, as the Tigers lost to a .500 Rutgers team that has been average, at best, this season. And to top it all off, the loss occurred at home and to a rival. "This sucks, to be frank, but one game isn't going to destroy out season," explained Coach Frizzell. The Tigers had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime in the closing seconds, but the shot was missed and the Scarlet Knights claimed victory. Freshman Tim Robertson (15 points) and Senior Benjamin McBridle (11 points, 3 steals) were the only players to really step up for the Tigers on offense today, as the Tigers' offense was stagnant all day long, shooting a mere 32% from the field.

Princeton is now 10-2.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 20 News

Following the home loss to Rutgers, the Tigers dropped three spots in the AP Top 25 Poll to 17th. The Tigers suffered the most fallback in the Coaches' Poll, where the loss dropped them 10 spots from 13th to 23rd. Princeton remained ranked #2 in the Mid-Major Poll.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tigers Take Down Zags in Spokane

12/26 @ #9 Gonzaga

Final: 75-72

The Princeton Tigers got a belated Christmas present tonight, as they knocked off the #9-ranked Zags in front of a national TV audience to claim their spot as the #1 mid-major in the country. The struggles of the last game seemed left in the dust as the Tigers played quite well against Gonzaga. After shooting 32% in their previous game against Rutgers, the Tigers shot 44% in this one. "I think that embarrassing loss against Rutgers really got us motivated for this game and we wanted to prove that the UNC game was no fluke. I think we accomplished that," commented Coach Frizzell. Tim Robertson followed up his 15 point performance against Rutgers with 18 points and 3 assists today, as he shot 4-8 from downtown. Romain Bright tallied 17 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals while Elliah Towsend was one rebound away from a double-double with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Wesley French paced the offense with 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists as the Tigers move to 11-2 on the season.

Princeton is now 11-2.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 20 Polls

Despite knocking off #9 Gonzaga in Spokane, the Tigers remained ranked #2 in the Mid-Major Poll and #23 in the Coaches' Poll, but moved up one spot in the AP Poll to #16. And the team that is ahead of the Tigers in the Mid-Major Poll is Gonzaga, the team that the Tigers knocked off on their own floor. Gonzaga's record is 11-4 compared to Princeton's 11-2, so it is anyone's wonder why the Zags are ranked ahead of the Tigers. "Stupid computer logic, I guess," suggested Coach Frizzell.

[superjames1992]

Yellow Jackets Sting Tigers In Overtime

12/30 @ #17 Georgia Tech

Final: 78-85 (OT)

The 17th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets came away victorious against the 16th-ranked Princeton Tigers in overtime. Princeton held a lead for much of the second half, but let it slip away towards the end of regulation. Georgia Tech missed a shot as time expired that would have given them the win, so it went to overtime. Georgia Tech jumped out on top early in overtime and never looked back. The Yellow Jackets sunk all their free throws in the closing minutes to secure an important victory. "We certainly didn't want to lose this, but there's no shame in losing to a top 25 team on the road. We'll bounce back," said Coach Frizzell. Romain Bright had a career night however, as the junior small forward poured in 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals. His 28 points was one point away from his career-high of 29 points set last season. Elliah Townsend managed 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals for the Tigers while Tim Robertson (9 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals) and Wesley French (7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals) paced the offense with solid performances.

Princeton is now 11-3.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Princeton Bounces Back

1/2 vs. Utah Valley State

Final: 84-63

The Princeton Tigers bounced back from Wednesday's loss at Georgia Tech with a solid victory over Utah Valley State. Princeton's 84 points is the most the Tigers have scored all season long. "We've missed Cassiand Swift on the offensive side of the ball and it's shown up on the stat sheet," explained Coach Frizzell. The Tigers offense, which managed near 80 points per game last season, is only managing 70.8 points per game the season and, as a team, the Tigers are only shooting 41.8% and 33.8% from three-point range. You couldn't tell it from this game, however, as the Tigers shot 48% from the field and shot 53% from three-point range, where the Tigers shot 16-30. The Tigers were led by Romain Bright, who has now put up back-to-back 20 point performances. Tonight, he tallied 22 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 6-10 from downtown. Tim Robertson managed 12 points and 6 assists while Elliah Townsend added 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. Also, Benjamin McBridle (14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) and Tremmell Christensen (13 points, 5 rebounds) delivered solid performances coming off the bench.

Princeton is now 11-3.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 25 News

After losing at #16 Georgia Tech this past week, the Tigers dropped six spots in the AP Top 25 Poll to 22nd. The Tigers only dropped one spot in the Coaches' Poll to 24th and remained idle at #2 in the Mid-Major Poll.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 20 News

After an idle week, the Tigers moved up five spot in the AP Top 25 Poll to #17. The Tigers also moved up four spots in the Coaches' Poll to #20 as many top 25 teams fell this past week. The Tigers also remained ranked second in the Mid-Major Poll.

[superjames1992]

Xavier Nearly Pulls the Upset

1/12 vs. Xavier

Final: 59-57

The Princeton Tigers got a huge scare out of a sub-.500 Xavier team as the Tigers fell behind by as much as 13 points in the second half before coming back to win by a slim margin of two points. "We just didn't play very well at all and we're fortunate to come away with a win," commented Coach Frizzell. Though the Tigers offense sputtered all night long, Romain Bright shined through. Bright tallied 18 points and 7 rebounds as he had another nice outing to follow up his back-to-back 20 point games in his past two games. Elliah Townsend played decent, as well, as he totaled 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals.

Princeton is now 13-3.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Princeton's Offense is Back!!!

4/12 vs. Temple

Final: 103-58

After struggling to score all season long and only eclipsing in the 80 point barrier twice in 16 games, the Princeton offense sprung to life tonight. The Tigers offense was on fire all night long as Princeton surpassed the century mark, scoring 103 points. And this was against a 9-7 Temple team who is certainly no cupcake. Coach Frizzell beamed, "We just performed like we should have. Everyone played well tonight and we executed and made shots. We didn't do anything different. It was just a matter of execution." After struggling most of the season, Wesley French came up big in this one, scoring a career-high 21 points to go along with 3 rebounds. Tim Robertson also had a nice game in the backcourt to go along with French as he tallied 19 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Elliah Townsend totaled 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists while Benjamin McBridle added 10 points and 5 assists off the bench.

Princeton is now 14-3.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 15 News

The Princeton Tigers moved up three spots in the latest AP Top 25 Poll as the Tigers came in ranked #14. Princeton is also ranked 17th in the Coaches' Poll and finally climbed to #1 in the latest Mid-Major rankings. Below are the top 15 teams in the AP Poll:

1. North Carolina (17-2)
2. Maryland (13-1)
3. Villanova (15-1)
4. LSU (17-2)
5. Marquette (18-1)
6. Texas (13-1)
7. Boston College (13-4)
8. Florida (13-3)
9. Duquesne (16-1)
10. Oregon (13-2)
11. Texas Tech (13-3)
12. Kansas (10-2)
13. Duke (12-3)
14. Princeton (14-3)
15. Arizona (14-4)

[superjames1992]

Princeton Wins Slugfest

1/20 @ Charlotte

Final: 62-43

So much for the Princeton offense being back. Just four days after the Tigers surpassed the century mark against a quality Temple team, the Tigers struggled to put up points against a 7-10 Charlotte Forty-Niners team. "It's frustrating because we have a lot of offensive talent," Coach Frizzell said. "We just can't nail open looks." Elliah Townsend still has a decent day, however, as he ended with a double-double, totaling 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Tim Robertson added 11 points, 3 assists, and 4 steals while Romain Bright ended with 9 points and 4 rebounds.

Princeton is now 15-3.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top 15 News

The Princeton Tigers remained ranked #14 in this week's AP Top 25 Poll, but fell one in the Coaches' Poll after their lackluster win over Charlotte. The Tigers also remained atop in the Mid-Major Poll. Below are the Mid-Major Top 10 Rankings:

1. Princeton (15-3)
2. Saint Mary's (14-4)
3. Gonzaga (15-6)
4. Alabama-Little Rock (18-4)
5. Nevada (14-4)
6. San Francisco (16-4)
7. Bradley (14-5)
8. Cal Poly (14-4)
9. Valparaiso (16-5)
10. Pepperdine (13-6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Press Conference

Princeton Tigers head coach James Frizzell held a press conference today to discuss the season as Princeton enters Ivy League Conference play. When asked about the prospects of the Tigers completing their fifth straight undefeated Ivy League season. The Tigers now hold the NCAA record for consecutive conference wins with 65, breaking Kentucky's streak of 64 games in the SEC from 1945 to 1950. "I think we can do it," Frizzell confidently said.

"I really like the prospects of this team and what we bring to the table. We have a lot of depth and some star players. We miss Cassiand Swift down low, no doubt, but we have the shooters to compete. Well, that is, when we knock down shots, which we haven't been doing as of late. We also play tough defense and force a lot of steals, which gets us some easy baskets on the fast break."

[superjames1992]

YALE 31,#14 PRINCETON 86

Team	1st	2nd	Tot
Yale (2-15)	20	11	31
Princeton (16-3)	42	44	86

Jadwin, Gym - Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton, NJ - The Princeton Tigers feasted on the Yale Bulldogs, who were 2-15 coming into the game, in their home opener today. The Tigers claimed a 42-20 halftime advantage and went on to demolish the Bulldogs by a score of 86-31.

"We really clicked on all cylinders today and it showed," said Coach Frizzell. "However, we can't make too much of this win considering it was against the worst team in the conference."

The Tigers defense held the Bulldogs to just 11 points in the second half while the offensive firepower of the Tigers was clicking to a tune of 44 points. And those were mostly due to contributions from guys off the bench who were playing in relief.

Nikola Tolic was one of those bench players who took advantage of the extra playing time as he knocked down five three-point baskets on the way to 21 points. Jarrad Lemmons also added 7 points coming off the bench.

Elliah Townsend was the star for Princeton, however. Townsend tallied 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals as he continues to elevate his play in his sophomore season. Tomain Bright added 11 points and 6 rebounds while Wesley French paced the offense with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals.

The Yale Bulldogs only managed one double-figure scorer in
Monwell Bass, who ended with 15 points. However, the senior point guard also turned the ball over half a dozen times, so his points were offset by his poor ball-control.

The Tigers, now 16-3, will take on the Harvard Crimson (12-4) tomorrow in a battle of two Ivy League heavyweights. Princeton is the heavy favorite, but Harvard has performed surprisingly well thus far this season, so the Tigers better be on upset alert.

[superjames1992]

HARVARD 65,#14 PRINCETON 77

Team	1st	2nd	Tot
Harvard (12-5)	29	36	65
Princeton (17-3)	31	46	77

Harvard Proves to Be a Tough Test, but Still a Victory

Princeton, NJ - The Princeton Tigers (17-3) were on upset alert tonight at home against an upstart Harvard Crimson (12-5) team and it was for good reason. The Crimson played a very solid 40 minutes of basketball and had the Tigers on the ropes for the first 30 minutes of the game before Princeton finally pulled away.

The play of Daon Dliphant was the main catalyst for the Crimson's success. Dilphant, a senior small forward, was electric tonight. He ended with 38 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 14-24 from the field, including 7-12 from downtown.

"[Dilphant] was simply unstoppable tonight," stated Coach Frizzell. We tried and tried and we just couldn't get stop him."

Fortunately for the Tigers, Diphant was the only Harvard player to score in double-figures, so it was more-or-less a one-man show.

Wesley French came up big for the Tigesr as he ended with 18 points. He wasn't the contributor that he normall is, only tallying a single assist on the night, but he shot 8-13 from the floor and provided some much-needed offense.

Tim Robertson knocked down three treys to end with 17 points. He had a good all-around game as evidenced by his 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Elliah Townsend also had a fine game, ending with 13 points and 4 assists.

Nikola Tolic had his second straight game of scoring in double-figures as he ended with 11 points off 4-5 shooting.

The Tigers (17-3) will take on the Penn Quakers (14-5) next Friday on the road in what should be an exciting matchup. The Quakers are 14-5 and 4-0 in Ivy League Conference play. They have been one of the several surprises of the Ivy League this year, which has recovered well after a horrible year last season. The conference currently sports an RPI of 14.