Looking ahead

• As a result of this evening's loss, the Tigers will play the loser -- rather than the winner -- of tonight's matchup between Ohio State and the Virginia Military Institute. The game will be played at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday), and "Dispatches from the sidelines" will again be there to bring you all the action live.
• Ohio State, the host of the BCA Classic, is the 4th ranked team in Division I, according to the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. With eight minutes, 32 seconds to go in the first half, the Buckeyes lead VMI 29-22. Unlike Princeton's game earlier this evening, this game is being watched by a nearly full arena of spectators. Among them are Tiger head coach Joe Scott '87 and a team of his assistants, who are scouting their two potential opponents for tomorrow.
• Both Ohio State and VMI players have their names printed on the back of their jerseys. Princeton showed off their new Nike jerseys in game action for the first time this evening and -- because of the collective buzz-cutting of the freshman class prior to tip-off -- some some stitched-on surnames might have been useful for identification purposes.
• Freshman guard Marcus Schroeder revealed after the loss that Scott personally asked him and classmate Gunn to tidy up their once-shaggy heads of hair. As a result, the entire freshman class decided that a trip to the barbershop would be in order.
  

And that's the final ...

68-57. Loyola runs out the clock. Strittmatter finishes with 17 points, Koncz with 13. Three Loyola players in double digits. Loyola shot 24-of-41 from the floor. Only 5-of-13 from three point range for the Ramblers, so you know where most of those baskets were coming.

"Harvard rejects"

• Is what the Loyola faithful begins to chant. You wonder if they've seen the scouting report on the Crimson men's basketball team this year.
• Still, the Tigers won't be feeling any better than the Harvard after this loss. They've hung around all game, but with 20.4 seconds left, they are down 68-57.

Time for a miracle

• As Loyola brings the ball up, Strittmatter knocks it loose, Conway hits the floor diving after it, but can't come up with it as it rolls out of bounds. Frustration shows as he slaps floor and shouts before getting to his feet.
• Loyola running out the shot clock, under a minute left. Another inside basket.

Leadership

• Schroder commits a bad foul to send Blount to the line with 2:22 to go. He is visibly upset with himself. Senior captain Conway comes over and grabs his arm and says a word to him. Gunn and Schroeder's high school team went 32-1 in their senior season, so this may not be a position Schroeder has been in recently.
• Strittmatter free throws bring Princeton back within 11, down 62-51 with under two minutes to go.
• Loyola answers with another inside basket, this one a putback.
• After another Strittmatter hoop makes it 64-53 with 1:24 to go, Princeton calls a 30 second timeout

Achilles' heel: interior defense

• Another Loyola uncontested layup, with three Tigers in position to make a play. 59-46 Loyola with 3:03 to play. Koncz in the game for Savage. But is it too late? And why Savage?
• On the other end, Cortney Horton drives through the lane. Strittmatter contests the shot, fouling Horton, but Horton also sinks the bucket, and the ensuing free throw. That could seal it.

Finley fouls out

• In 18 minutes of play. He brought energy, but he's clearly got a long ways to go in terms of offensive and defensive sophistication, as Scott emphasized at Media Day a week ago.
• Schroeder, Koncz, Owings, Savage, and Strittmatter...would be the lineup most Princeton faithful in the crowd would like to see coming out of this timeout with 3:59 left. Any team that can shoot 9-of-20 from three-point land on an off-night can certainly come back from this deficit.
• Conway, Savage, Gunn, Schroeder, and Strittmatter on the floor. Interesting that Koncz and Owings are out now.

"He didn't even touch him!"

Scott's plea to the ref after Savage is called for a loose ball foul going up for a rebound. Strittmatter had just missed the top half of a one-and-one. Teams trade missed free throws twice, before Conway finally hits one to pull Princeton to within 11, 55-44. Both teams are in the double bonus with 4:19 left on the clock. Princeton can't afford to hold back any of its weapons now, they would seem to need offense desperately.

Slipping away

• Six minutes left and the game is getting out of hand for Princeton. Gunn is back in the game for Koncz, and now would be a better time than ever for him to start showing off that pretty shooting touch of his.
• Savage attacks the basket and earns a trip to the line. He and Stittmatter are really the only capable scorers on the floor for the Tigers at the moment. And Strittmatter s looking more and more susceptible defensively, watching another Loyola uncontested layup go in and failing to protect the basket.
• Strittmatter does knock down an open three to pull Princeton back within 11. It's 54-43 Loyola with 4:57 to go. Scott calls a timeout, though, and Strittmatter comes out of the game for Finley, who immediately picks up his fourth foul. Strittmatter right back in. Seems strange to have taken him out at all, considering what it might do for his confidence.

Balanced Loyola scoring

• The Ramblers have four players with six points or more. One of them, J.R. Blount, just hit a layup and drew a foul at the 7:22 mark to put Loyola up 50-39 with a chance to extend that lead at the charity stripe.
• The Tiger offense is putting in a solid performace, but it just can't keep up with Loyola at the moment. Athletically, the Ramblers are really distancing themselves, and exposing Princeton's lack of an interior defensive presence. These are the times it would have been especially nice had Harrison Schaen or Alex Okafor panned out as viable members of this team.

Savage giving Scott every reason to leave him in

• There are under 8 minutes left and Savage just swished a big three to cut Loyola's lead to nine. Hi s play has been as solid as it was during his most effective stretches last season. He just hasn't been in the game nearly enough to make an impact. Savage obviously has a point to make in this game (that he deserves to be and the starting lineup) and if Scott lets him continue to reinforce that point over and over as this game progresses, it would be a pretty brilliant move. Savage still in coming out of the timeout.

Koncz hustle

• Koncz dives on the ball to force a jump ball and earn Princeton the possession.
• On offense, it is Koncz, Schroeder and Strittmatter doing the creating while Finley and Gunn look very tentative. As many Tigers looked during the team's struggles last year, they seem more worried about making the smart pass than taking the smart shot when it presents itself.
• Savage and Buffmire in. But will they stay? This is the most veteran lineup the Tigers have employed all evening: Koncz, Savage, Buffmire, Strittmatter, Schroeder. They proceed to turn the ball over.
• Under nine minutes remaining and the offensive stagnancy continues. Tom Levin hits a wide-open three for Loyola to give them the first double-digit lead of the game, 46-34.
• Strittmatter answers with authorative drive to the basket and soft kiss off the glass for a layup ... then allows J.R. Blount to drive right past him for a layup on the other end.

Offensive struggles

• The offense is really being exposed as quite dependent on Koncz's shooting prowess. With 13:40 on the clock, Schilb hits a layup to put Loyola up 39-30.
  
• First successful backdoor pass of the season. A pretty one from Strittmatter out of the center position to a cutting Koncz, who has 13 points. The Tigers need to hope the easy layup gets his deep looks to start falling. Strittmatter is another guy playing with a lot of confidence. On the next possession, he attacks the basket for a layup inside, plus the foul.
  
• Princeton lets the Ramblers come right back and answer with a bucket on the other end. Tigers are down 42-34 with 11:29 to go. Loyola is shooting 16-of-29 from the floor, while the Tigers have gone cold, shooting 12-for-30 for the game. Loyola's 11 turnovers are the only thing that has kept Princeton in the game

Loyola can shoot too

• Five unanswered points put Loyola up six. Koncz has missed consecutive three point attempts, meanwhile.
• Conway picks up his third foul. That could be a theme of the season. Although Conway is now being called a forward rather than a center (like he was in his spectacular debut season last year) he still gives up a few inches (at 6'4" to most opposing power forwards). Meanwhile, Owings is going to be picking up fouls guarding centers. And Savage is foul-prone when he's on the court. But he hasn't been seen yet this half.
• The Tigers' offense is different without Savage. There is more hesitance to shoot, certainly on the freshman's part, and Conway still lacks confidence in his three-point shot.

Second half is under way

• Starting lineup back on the floor for El Tigres. Marcus Schroeder brings the ball up with a lot of confidence. Unlike other options on the team, he is able to bring the ball up court alone, without someone there to bail him out. This allows the rest of the team to get set up more quickly in the offense.
• Owings hits a three from the top of the arc to respond to Loyola's three from the possession before. He is an over 45% three-point shooter for his career and over 50% overall.
• Koncz three. What else is new? Koncz is 4-4.
• Conway gets steal and fast-break layup opportunity but blows it. Owings gets rebound trailing play but is blocked. Either shot would have given Princeton the lead. Instead, the Tigers trail 31-30 with 16:50 to go.

More thoughts at halftime

• The Tigers are really right in this at halftime (down 29-24) without having played close to their best defense. It will be interesting to see if more or less playing time will be given to the freshmen as crunchtime nears...it seems like Princeton has every intention of hanging in this one.
• Some ball boy is out on the court shooting threes from near mid-court. He just made one (finally) and then grinned all over the place to see if anyone noticed. He's, like, 20 or something. Plus, he's wearing pants. Just collect the balls, don't shoot them.
• Back come the Tigers out of the locker room. There's a small section of Orange and Black fans compressed in a small corner of the vast Value City Arena here in Columbus, Ohio. Enough to make their presence heard when Princeton hits the floor. But there are about twice as many Loyola fans (i.e. 30 instead of 15) and they are making a lot of pre-meditated remarks about the Tigers' SAT scores or something.
• The pizza here in Columbus, Ohio is a fine thing. It's not cut into slices so much as really little rectangles. They brought about 50 boxes of it to the press room at halftime. Plus there's a soda fountain. Jadwin Gym? Not so much.

A green man, but looking like Greenman

• Coming out of a timeout with his team down 23-21, freshman point guard Schroeder is clapping his hands emphatically to get his team ready for the defensive possession. Loyola scores, but Schroeder's leadership and passion are already starting to look like a certain member of the basketball team's Class of '06 (hint: there was only one of them).
• Another Koncz three. Kid is three-for-three from downtown, all swishes. Plus, he just forced Schilb into an airball three-point attempt on the other end. To hear his teammates tell it, Koncz is the team's best perimeter defender. That play right there shows exactly why, getting in Schilb's face and making him look bad on an ill-advised long-range attempt. Koncz is not fast, but he's quick enough with his hands and long arms to be all over Schilb at all times.
• Tigers down 29-24, running down the clock to ensure the last possession of the half ... Gunn misses three from top of the arc. Down five at halftime
• Tigers head into the locker room having shot 8 of 19 overall and 5 of 12 from deep. Defense has been the problem, however. While Schilb still has only 2 points, Loyola is 11 of 21 from the field.
• Schroeder was the only player on either team to play all 20 minutes of the half, dishing out a pair of assists, but missing on all three field goal attempts. Over all, though, he and Gunn look excellent for their first game.
• Koncz finishes the half with 8 points and no missed field goals. Owings only played 8 minutes, which was a few minutes more than Savage. As great a shooter as Koncz is, those latter two guys are capable of similar things if given the chance. You wonder why the three of them were never on the floor together. Scott clearly expects a lot of Savage and Owings as upperclassmen and he is quick to illustrate that to them both by controlling their playing time.

Tie game

• Consecutive layups for Loyola tie the game at 16 with less than 8 minutes to go in the half. The Tigers are shooting 3 of 9 from three-point range, but they're getting good looks and the zone defense is really containing Loyola's star guard Blake Schilb, who has two points and two turnovers. Schilb was named to the preseason Mid-Major All-American team.
• Going back to the whole Savage not starting thing, there are really very few reasons that come to mind based on his play over the past two seasons as to why he might have lost the starting job. His replacement, Gunn, certainly has the makings of a dangerous gunner, but Savage already is one. Plus, Savage is the biggest guy on the team in terms of pounds, while Gunn's body is more like a point guard. Savage can play guard on offense while providing the defensive muscle of a forward inside.
• Nifty Buffmire pass to Finley gives the freshman his first career points to tie the game at 18. Buffmire is being used as more of a forward early on here (the pass came while he operated out of the post) while Schroeder continues to manage the point (he's the only player who has played every minute for Princeton so far).

Coach Scott is all over the court

• He's clearly frustrated with the defense of Owings or Finley or both. He gets Strittmatter off the bench and ready to check in for one of them.
• It's owings who comes out. Koncz is the lone upperclassman on the court, along with Strittmatter, Schroeder, Gunn, and Finley. "Joe Scott"-type players have officially taken over.
• Koncz drains a three after after a minute-long Tiger possession to put his team up 10-9 with 10:49 to go in the half. Throughout the possession, Coach Scott was repeatedly yelling "chin," the name of one of Princeton's plays, which the Tigers ran frequently last year as well. I don't know what fans think when they hear him yell "chin" though. Probably sounds like an inside joke.
• Noah Savage is in the game for Koncz, hits a three immediately, then comes up with a big steal on the other end. If it's not his offense and it's not his defense ...

The first sub of the Tigers' season is ...

Zach Finley in for Justin Conway, who's in foul trouble already. three freshmen on the court.

Scratch that last comment

Noah Savage looked just as confident as these guys when he was a freshman, reminding me of how strange it is that he's lost his starting job.

Into the action

• A little over a minute into the game, Conway drives in for the first basket of the game and the Tigers' season.
• Lincoln Gunn's first career field goal attempt comes on the next Princeton possession ... an open three from the top of the arc that bounces in and out. He's got a real confident, fluid stroke though, as evidenced in the pre-game shoot-around.
• Coach Scott's first instance of stomping comes at the 16:53 mark, right before a poorly contested Loyola layup puts Princeton in a 4-2 hole.
• Kyle Koncz ties it right back up with a jay that is just as silky smooth as ever.
• Gunn's not just a shooter apparently. An aggressive drive to the hoop to draw a foul. Along with Schroeder, he's looking as confident as any Tiger freshman has in recent memory.

Starting lineups

They just announced the starters:
F- Kyle Koncz (junior)
F- Justin Conway (senior)
F-Luke Owings (senior)
G- Lincoln Gunn (freshman)
G- Marcus Schroeder (freshman)

That means no Noah Savage in the starting lineup...he's the team's leading returning scorer

Kent State-South Dakota State

‘Cha boy, here in Columbus, Ohio for the men’s basketball team’s season-opening appearance in the Black Coaches’ Association Classic at Ohio State’s Value City Arena. I got here early, so I figured I’d catch some of the other first-round action:

1:55 p.m.

• It’s half an hour before tip-off of South Dakota State vs. Kent State — the second game on today’s BCA Classic slate (Princeton plays Loyola next, at 5:30). From the media room inside the tunnel, I hear the Kent State players getting pumped up with a pre-game shouting ritual. It is punctuated by the Golden Flashes collectively chanting, “Whoop that trick, yeah, whoop that trick.” Why didn’t Princeton think to use “Hustle & Flow” as a motivational tool?

2:48 p.m.

• There are just over eight minutes left in the first half and Kent State is demolishing South Dakota State, 28-12. SDSU is missing point blank layups and throwing away backdoor pass after backdoor pass. The Jackrabbits’ most competent player is their point guard, but he doesn’t seem to be helping matters by sticking his mouth guard out at his teammates every time they mess something up.
• This guy also wears a t-shirt under his jersey, which is pretty cash. I wonder what happened to Mike Gansey. He was on the Heat for a while, but not anymore.

2:53 p.m.

• I started to assume that, since there’s a South Dakota State University, there must be a University of South Dakota. That would have been news to me. But then I remembered that, by that same logic, the existence of Kent State would necessitate a University of Kent. That just sounded silly.
• It turns out, though, that there really is a University of South Dakota AND a University of Kent. The latter is in England. The former is, too, for all I know.
• What if you wanted to go to San Diego State University (SDSU), but matriculated at South Dakota State University instead? I guess you wouldn’t go to as many Padres games, for one.

3:08 p.m.

• A freshman on Kent State named Rodriquez Sherman just made his first career shot. That would suck if his parents failed to realize that you have to fill out “Last Name” first on the birth certificate form. And then decided to throw a “q” in there instead of a “g.”
• The Golden Flashes also have a player named Haminn Quaintance. And one named Omni Smith. It must be sweet to be a broadcaster for this team.

3:32 p.m.

• According to the team’s official roster, SDSU guard Troy Wipf hails from Yale, South Dakota. I guess that explains why his team is losing 54-29 right now.

4:01 p.m.

• Kent State gets a layup with four minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the game to go up 99-48. SDSU calls a timeout in an effort to delay the inevitable century mark. The PA announcer shouts, “Timeout South Carolina State!” Nobody seems to notice. If you were curious, there really is a South Carolina State. It’s not in England.
• The Jackrabbits turn it over coming out of the timeout, and the Golden Flashes get into triple-digits on the ensuing possession.

4:10 p.m.

• Kent State is starting to run plays they must have made up in practice. The point guard for the Golden Flashes shouts out “Detroit! Detroit!” as he brings the ball up the court. I checked, but “Hustle & Flow” was set in Memphis.
• Final Score: Kent State 105, SDSU 50.

4:15 p.m.

• Soon after Game 2 wraps up, the Tigers take the court for pre-game shoot-around. Freshman initiations have clearly taken place, or else the Tigers have been cast for a season-long recreation of “Hoosiers.” All five members of the freshman class on the active roster have received identically close-cropped haircuts. The change in guards Lincoln Gunn and Marcus Schroeder is particularly noticeable, as the two classmates from California’s De La Salle High School arrived at Princeton with distinctive mop-tops. Now, Gunn can hardly be distinguished from fellow freshman Blake Wilson, while Chris Petrie looks remarkably similar to junior guard Matt Sargeant. This could wreak havoc with defenses.
• Shoot-around also revealed the two reductions from Princeton’s active roster. The Tigers came into the week with 17 men on their roster, knowing that only 15 players would be able to dress for games and travel with the team. Freshmen Pawel Buczak and Nick Lake were the absent parties.

The biggest weekend ever

Welcome to your personal headquarters for the biggest weekend in Princeton athletics we can recall. As Tiger teams do battle on the fields and in the stadiums, reporters from The Daily Princetonian will be there, delivering the results straight to you on this first-ever 'Prince' Sports blog.

First and foremost in the minds of most Tiger sports fans, the football team heads to New Haven, Conn., on Saturday for a 12:30 p.m. matchup with the Bulldogs. In a rematch of last season's game -- which finished in a heartbreaking late-game collapse -- the contest is the last big stop in Princeton's quest for its first Ivy League title in over a decade.

While busloads of Princetonians converge on New Haven, the men's basketball team opens its season at the BCA Classic tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Facing Loyola (Chicago), with a potential second-round contest against host team No. 4 Ohio State looming large, controversial head coach Joe Scott and his squad will have to find a way to hit their stride early this season and reverse a trend of poor starts. (Read our special basketball season preview here.)

Closer to home, the field hockey team -- riding an undefeated Ivy League season -- hosts No. 3 Old Dominion in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Consistently one of the best teams on campus, these Tigers will hope to topple the Monarch team that trounced them, 5-0, early this season.

-- Tyler Woulfe, Executive editor for sports