2011–12 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team

Preview

Princeton entered the season having won the 2010–11 Ivy League men's basketball season championship and having earned the resulting 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament invitation. The team entered the season having lost senior captains Dan Mavraides and Kareem Maddox. Maddox was the reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection. Mavraides had been a second team All-Ivy selection. The team returned second team All-Ivy selection Hummer.

Entering the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season head coach Mitch Henderson began his tenure at Princeton, taking over for Sydney Johnson. With the move that resulted from Johnson taking a new coaching job, Princeton has six alumni who are active Division I head coaches, a total second only to eight by the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball program. Princeton had been the preseason favorite the year before.

Roster

Schedule

With a new first-time head coach, the team got off to slow starts. It started the season with a 1–5 record, but won 18 of its final 24 games and started its conference schedule with a 2–3 record, but won 8 of its final 9 games. The recovery enabled the team to qualify for its 32nd post season appearance (24 NCAA, 5 NIT and 2 CBI).

Princeton earned its first home win against a ranked opponent since the 1976–77 team's January 3, 1977, victory over Notre Dame by defeating Harvard (No. 21 Coaches/25 AP) on February 11, 2012. The win was also its first against a ranked opponent on any court since November 11, 1997, Princeton also defeated eventual 2012 ACC men's basketball tournament champion Florida State five weeks after Harvard did as well as Big East Conference member and New Jersey rival . In addition, the team's schedule included the ACC's NC State. Its results against Harvard, Florida State and NC State give the team a 2–2 record against teams in the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

For the 18th consecutive season, the Ivy League men's basketball schedule concluded with a Tuesday Penn–Princeton basketball rivalry game against the 2011–12 Quakers. Princeton's 62–52 victory enabled it to retain slim 26–25 and 24–23 leads in terms of Ivy League Championships and Ivy League team NCAA Tournament appearances, respectively.

In the first round of the 2012 CBI Tournament, senior Douglas Davis scored a career-high 31 points to lead Princeton to a 95–86 victory over Evansville. Although Davis posted another 20 points in the subsequent quarterfinal game against Pittsburgh to surpass Kit Mueller for second place on the Princeton scoring list, Princeton lost 82–61 to end the season. Davis' appearance in the March 19 contest also enabled him to surpass Ryan Wittman as the Ivy League's all-time leader in games played (122). Pittsburgh eventually went on to win the tournament. |- !colspan=9| Regular Season |- !colspan=9| 2012 CBI

All-Ivy

The following players earned Ivy League postseason recognition:

;First Team All-Ivy

• ^Ian Hummer, Princeton (Jr., F, Vienna, Virginia)

;Second Team All-Ivy

• Douglas Davis, Princeton (Sr., G, Philadelphia)
• ^Unanimous Selection

Other

The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced their Division I All-District District 13 team on March 14, recognizing the nation's best men's collegiate basketball student-athletes. Ian Hummer was a second team selection.

References

References

1. (2011-03-09). "Men's Basketball All-Ivy – 2010–11".
2. (2011-04-20). "Mitch Henderson Named Princeton Men's Basketball Coach".
3. (2012-03-05). "2011–12 Ivy League MEN'S BASKETBALL".
4. (2010-10-15). "Ivy League Men's Basketball Abound with Preseason Honors Entering the 2010–11 Season".
5. (2012-03-11). "Game Notes: Men's Basketball to Open CBI with Evansville Tuesday". [[Princeton University]].
6. (2012-02-11). "Princeton hands No. 21 Harvard first Ivy League loss". [[ESPN]].
7. "Division I Records". [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]].
8. TheACC.com. (2012-03-11). "Florida State Wins the #ACCTRNY 85–82 over North Carolina: This is Florida State's first ACC Championship". [[CBS Interactive]].
9. "Florida State Seminoles Schedule – 2011–12". [[ESPN]].
10. (2012-03-05). "Princeton, Penn Meet Tuesday with Quakers Aiming for Title Share". [[Princeton University]].
11. (2012-03-06). "Men's Hoops Denies Penn Title Share, Finishes Perfect at Home in Ivy". [[Princeton University]].
12. (2012-03-06). "Princeton defeats Pennsylvania; Harvard clinches first Ivy League title". [[ESPN]].
13. (2012-03-13). "Princeton 95 (20–11, 10–4 Ivy); Evansville 86 (16–16, 9–9 MVC)". [[ESPN]].
14. (2012-03-13). "Davis's Career-High 31 Leads Princeton to First-Round CBI Win". [[Princeton University]].
15. (2012-03-19). "Princeton 61 (20-12, 10-4 Ivy); Pittsburgh 82 (19-16, 5-13 Big East)". [[ESPN]].
16. (2012-03-19). "Davis Becomes School's Second-Leading Scorer, but Tigers Lose to Pitt". [[Princeton University]].
17. (2012-03-18). "Men's Basketball Postseason Release 2".
18. (2012-03-30). "Pittsburgh rides hot shooting by Washington State for CBI crown". [[ESPN]].
19. (2012-03-07). "Men's Basketball All-Ivy – 2011–12".
20. (2012-03-14). "National Association of Basketball Coaches Announces 2012 Division I All-District Teams". [[National Association of Basketball Coaches]].