By Brian Delaney
The Ithaca Journal
March 5, 2009
If Princeton's stunning home sweep of Cornell and Columbia by a combined 48 points four weeks ago was a lesson of possibility, the Tigers' next three showings were a lesson in humility.
"Yeah, unfortunately it didn't do a lot," said Princeton senior Michael Strittmatter, a reserve forward. "We went the next weekend and got swept."
One of those losses accounts for Brown's only Ivy League win, and three days after that the Tigers lost at home in overtime to rival Penn.
Since then, however, Sydney Johnson's restoration project in New Jersey has continued producing positive net results. The latest — and most pivotal — step forward came Saturday, when the Tigers outlasted a red-hot Yale team 62-54 for the right to enter this final regular season weekend as Cornell's roadblock to a second straight league championship.
"First of all, they're defending extremely well," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. "It's as simple as that. They really make it difficult to score. And they're shooting the ball well, so that's a Princeton M.O. They're dominating the 3-point line."
While Cornell (19-9, 9-3) hosts Penn on Friday night, Big Red fans will have an ear turned to the Big Apple, where Columbia hosts the Tigers. A Cornell win and a Princeton loss would decide the league championship.
Otherwise, Saturday night's showdown in Ithaca becomes the season's top ticket. At a minimum, Cornell needs to beat Princeton to return to the NCAA tournament. If Princeton were to sweep, it would still need to beat Penn on March 10 to close out what would be an incredible turnaround story.
"I think you have one team that's very, very good," Johnson said. "I think Cornell is the favorite from the beginning, middle and end. The rest of us to a certain degree are young and trying to learn some winning lessons."
Who knew, after a 6-23 season a year ago, that Princeton (12-12, 7-4) would find itself back in the league title race so quickly? The unpredictability of the Ivy League is something Strittmatter, as one of two Tigers seniors, can impress upon his younger teammates.
"The one thing is maybe they don't understand that this isn't a given every year," he said. "I probably thought it was coming into college as a freshman, after coming here from high school. It was a given to play for an Ivy championship."
Johnson, who replaced the unsuccessful Joe Scott two years ago, moved quickly to shake up the status quo. Freshman point guard Doug Davis is a rookie of the year candidate, sophomore guard Dan Mavraides evolved into a key contributor out of nowhere and junior center Pawel Buzcak has been a steady post presence.
Princeton doesn't have a first-team all-league player, and maybe not even a second-teamer. But the Tigers own a 61-41 victory over Cornell on Feb. 6 and the youthful exuberance to do it again.
"I don't think we can duplicate that," Johnson said. "What I want to duplicate is guys competing and going as hard as we can. And (Cornell coach Steve Donahue) will tell you, his guys were off. A few of those guys missed shots that they don't usually miss. Ryan Wittman missed shots he doesn't miss. I have a very real feel for how the game's going to be different."
With the bulk of his roster returning next year, and a reportedly talented recruiting class on the way, Johnson's team has the luxury of playing loose this weekend. The pressure will be squarely in Cornell's corner, with a likely packed house at Newman Arena hanging on every dribble, pass and shot.
"I just want them to be focused on playing very hard," Johnson said. "Somebody's going to win and somebody's going to lose, and I don't think the world ends either way. At the end of the day, we're a team learning how to win."
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