Henry Caruso has emerged as key player for Princeton. (Jackie Schear Photo)

By Nick Peruffo
nperuffo@trentonian.com

The cold logic of the Ivy League’s one-bid setup can seem unfair for teams with stellar nonconference records, but a welcome second chance for those that don’t.

This year’s Princeton Tigers (8-9, 1-0) fall firmly in the latter group.

With only one senior playing more than 15 minutes per game, the Tigers showed their youth during the nonconference. They lost five of their first six games, and then spent a solid month taking just as many steps backwards as forwards.


With their Ivy-opening win over Penn Jan. 10, however, all of those early struggles vanished into the past tense, at least in terms of the standings. The Tigers enter this weekend’s back-to-back against Harvard (11-5, 1-1) and Dartmouth (8-8, 1-1) as one of just two squads still undefeated in the Ivy.

The Tigers, improbably, have an opportunity to go 1½ games up over the Crimson if they can pull the upset Friday night. Harvard, the league’s three-time defending champion, went 10-4 over its nonconference schedule but lost to Dartmouth 70-61 Saturday.

For its part, Princeton knows how quickly things can turn sour for an Ivy favorite. Just last season, the Tigers went 11-2 before dropping their first four league games.

“One of the big things is you can’t dig a hole early,” said junior forward Hans Brase, after the Tigers win against Division III Rowan Sunday. “Last year we started 0-4 and it really just killed us for the Ivy season. Starting off with a win against Penn was great, but we have to keep it going against Harvard and Dartmouth.”

While Princeton will still be underdogs, the cracks in King Crimson’s armor appear serious. Harvard still has perhaps the best player in the league in senior guard Wesley Saunders and a formidable defense, but it does not have a true floor-spacer like graduated marksman Laurent Rivard.

That lack of shooting has at times seriously bogged down the Harvard offense, which is last in the Ivy in points per game. Against the Big Green, the Crimson shot just 5-of-17 from behind the 3-point line.

At the same time, the Tigers may finally be trending upwards. Counting their post-exam break tune-up against the Profs, the Tigers have won five of their last six games.

In addition, while sophomore forward Steven Cook has missed the last three due to illness, fellow sophomore Henry Caruso has emerged in Cook’s place, scoring 14 points in 14 minutes in Princeton’s win over Norfolk State and 23 in 28 minutes against Penn.

If Cook is healthy against Harvard, Caruso will give coach Mitch Henderson another dynamic presence off the bench — something that can only help during the grind of long Ivy weekends.

Reading the 14-game tournament tealeaves is always a risky proposition, but if you squint hard enough Harvard’s early misstep isn’t the only reason to be optimistic about the Tigers.

Yale (13-6, 2-0), the other undefeated Ivy team, was also highly regarded before the season and has shown the ability to beat major programs, having knocked off UConn 45-44 back in December. The Bulldogs, however, have also been wildly inconsistent, losing to teams like Quinnipiac and NJIT.

Likewise, Dartmouth, Columbia (9-7, 1-1) and Cornell (9-9, 1-1) have all looked impressive at times and eminently beatable at others.

The Tigers nonconference performance prohibits them from being considered a favorite or even a frontrunner in the wide-open Ivy. Their recent string of wins may prove to be simply a result of a soft spot in their schedule, and Harvard’s stumble may turn out to be an aberration instead of a trend.

For better or worse, however, conference play takes on a whole different level of importance when your league sends only its regular season champion to the NCAA tournament.

This year, the Tigers certainly aren’t complaining.