Weekend recap

• Obviously, the Tigers made the most of this weekend after the disappointing loss to a very strong Loyola squad to open things up. As far as individual efforts, head coach Joe Scott '87 summed things up very nicely in the post-game press conference just now: "Marcus (Schroeder) was unbelievable again. Koncz was good all three games, and Conway was really good there the last two games."
• After Loyola made it look like rebounding and interior defense would repeatedly be Princeton's downfall this season, the Tigers came out and outrebounded both VMI and Alabama A&M and put up solid efforts in the paint.
  
• Princeton's next game is Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m., on the road against Manhattan in Riverdale, N.Y. The first home game will not be until Wednesday, December 6, at 7:30 against Lehigh.
• Look for a full recap of the weekend in Monday's Daily Princetonian, which you'll be able to check out at dailyprincetonian.com

Tigers win, 56-39

• Koncz finishes with 19 points, Conway with seven rebounds, Schroeder with five assists.
• Tigers shoot a respectable 16 of 36 from the field while holding A&M to 14 of 40 shooting. Three assists and 18 turnovers for the Bulldogs.
• Princeton is 2-1, claim 5th place in the BCA Classic by winning the loser's bracket. Match the non-conference win total from last season.
  

Koncz with 19

• No field goals in the second half for Koncz, but he's hit four late foul shots and is seven-for-seven from the line on the afternoon.
  
• Tigers up 53-39 with 46 seconds left. The Bulldogs aren't fouling, they're letting Princeton run this one out. With the shot clock, winding down, Lincoln Gunn makes a strong drive to the whole, draws the foul, flicks in the layup, and hits the free throw for a three-point play.

Savage mishandles pass

• And turns around to run back down the floor as it rolls off his hands out of bounds. If he would have dived after it, he wouldn't necessarily have saved it, but you get the sense that plays like that don't tender him any favor in Scott's book as he tries to fight his way into more playing time.
• Alabama A&M is within 13 points and is starting to press on defense with 2:05 left. The VMI press caused the Tigers' late collapse yesterday afternoon, and things got ugly although they held on to win.
• The Bulldogs are starting to bang desperation threes. Cornelius Hester hits one from the top of the arc to make it 49-38 Princeton with 1:18 left.
  
• They foul Schroeder on the other end, Princeton is in the double bonus, and Schroeder swishes both free throws like he's supposed to.
  

Schroeder hits two FTs

• To put Princeton up 17. 46-29 with 3:59 to go. Schroeder is shooting one-of-four, but he has five assists and four steals.
• I jinxed Conway and Koncz with those halftime career-high predictions. Koncz still has 15 points (like he had at halftime) and Conway still hs four steals (ditto). My bad.
  

Bulldogs within 14

• With 4:50 to go. Tigers are turning the ball over like it's their job--three consecutive possessions--and have put the Bulldogs in the bonus with bad fouls.
• A&M misses front end of one-and-one. Savage fouled after grabbing rebound. He gets one-and-one, sinks first, clangs second off rim. Tigers are six-of-nine from the line (66%) after shooting 53 percent and 61 percent against Loyola and VMI, respectively. By the Ivy League season, that percentage should be up in the 90s.
  

Illegal screens, uniforms

• The Alabama A&M bench is calling out for the refs to call illegal screens against the Tigers. They do, against Lincoln Gunn. Scott takes Gunn out of the game.
• While the Bulldogs are inbounding, the ref makes the inbounder tuck his jersey into his shorts. The same A&M assistant who was yelling for the illegal-screen call yells at the ref for making him tuck in his jersey. I wonder if he said, "That's a bunch of hooey, ref!"
  

One assist for Alabama A&M, guess how many turnovers...

• 16!
  
• The Bulldogs are also 10 of 29 from the floor. Princeton has been able to be as stagnant as it wants this half.
• Conway hits another layup to end a Tiger drought. The Bulldogs respond on the other end with a layup to move back to within 15 points of the lead.
• Gunn grabs a nice offensive rebound, Conway blocked. Koncz comes up with a steal.
• "What are you doing Justin?" Scott yells at Conway on offense. Strittmatter swishes a three from the corner. 43-27 Princeton with 6:30 to play.
  

Back-to-back offensive rebounds

• Princeton is in the middle of a two-minute possession. Conway and Schroeder both miss open three-pointers badly, and the Tigers don't score. They've only scored six points through the first half of the second half, in fact.
• Yet, Princeton still leads 38-23.
  

Linkin Park

• There's a timeout, and they're playing that Emo song "Numb" by Linkin Park on the PA system ("I've become so numb/ I can't feel you there"). There's an old dude standing on the corner of the court (he's an arena official, presumably making sure that none of the 15 fans here storm the court) tapping his feet to the song and nodding his head like it's a catchy showtune.
  

Buffmire getting some of Gunn's minutes

• Gunn played just eight minutes in the first half, and he was replaced pretty quickly in this half by Buffmire, who has seen 13 minutes of court time. Noah Savage, apparently, isn't even the backup shooting guard anymore. He's played only four minutes, during which he made that incredible block.
  

Owings gets first points of game

• On a three from the corner, awfully contested by a Bulldog defender who barely put his hands up. That ended a scoring drought of over three minutes to start the half for Princeton, but it really didn't matter, the Tigers still lead 35-17.
• Technical foul called on the Princeton bench. I wonder who that could have been.
  
• While the Tigers huddle up waiting for A&M to shoot the technical, Jonathan Belt comes over to Conway and gives him a high five, apologizing for the intentional foul he committed earlier in the game. Awwww.
  

Bulldogs take the lead!!!

• 17-15, over Kyle Koncz. Don't panic, the Tigers still lead 32-17.
  

Career night for Koncz?

• It seems likely. His previous scoring high was 23 points against Harvard on Feb. 25 last season, and he has 15 already tonight.
  
• He's four-of-six from beyond the arc, the rest of the Tigers are one-of-six, but have been getting it done on layups. Princeton has actually outscored A&M in the paint, 12-8, thanks largely to Conway's scoring, stealing and passing.
• Conway could also surpass a career-high--one he also set in that Feb. 25 game against Harvard. In that game, Conway had five steals, and he has four at halftime tonight.
  

Happy Halftime

• Tigers up, 32-15. Koncz with 15 points, which, as you can see, is as many as Alabama A&M has as a team. Conway has nine points on four-of-four shooting, to go with those ridiculous four first-half steals. Schroeder has dished out three assists with three steals.
• The Bulldogs have been held to 0-of-7 three-point shooting and are missing point-blank looks underneath the basket, too. They have twice as many rebounds as Princeton (14-7; their center, Gladness, has seven rebounds on his own to match the Tigers), but it hasn't really mattered. All the Tigers have to do in the second half is make sure all those second-efforts don't start falling.
  

Koncz with 15!

• He nails another three from the corner. He's 4 of 6 from distance and has 15 of Princeton's 25 points.
  
• Conway gets a layup to put the Tigers up 14, by a score of 27-13.
  
• Wow. The offense is excellent today. And A&M is only outrebounding the Tigers 13-9. That's winning.
• A&M's Jonathan Belt commits an intentional foul on Conway, which sends the senior to the line for two free throws, and Princeton gets the ball. I didn't see what happened, but Conway ended up on the floor and A&M's coach took Belt right out of the game.
• Conway hits 1 of 2 FTs, then gets a layup on the ensuing Tiger possession.
  
• Now Conway gets it on the fast break, dribbles down court like a point guard and musces up and through the lone A&M defender for a pretty layup. Five straight points for Conway. Princeton is up 32-15 with 35.5 seconds left in the first half. 17-point lead. This is Princeton offense, folks.
• And this is Princeton defense, too. The Bulldogs have just one assist, next to eight turnovers. Conway has four steals (!) and Schroeder has three. They are shooting six of 20 from the floor.
  

Schroeder turns the corner

• Around his defender and swoops in for an awesomely fluid layup to make it 22-13 with 3:30 to go. Of all the things Schroeder has done for Princeton so far (7 assists last night, only 3 turnovers through almost two and a half games as a freshman point guard), scoring hasn't usually been one of them. He has only 9 points on the season after that layup on 3 of 11 shooting. But I'll take it. He's been a point guard par excellence.
  

17-13 Princeton

• Just under 5 minuts to go in the half. This has turned into a low-scoring affair after the Tigers' early offensive hotness.
• Koncz again has to bail out the team at the buzzer, launching another last-second three from the top of the arc. The shot hits the back of the rim, but Koncz is tackled by an A&M defender during his follow-through and heads to the line to shoot three.
• Koncz nails all three to put the Tigers up 7.
  

Matt Sargeant

• It'll be interesting to see how this guy plays as the backup point guard. Whoops...Schroeder just came back in the game. Scott left Sargeant in the game, but he won't be running the point. Sargeant started the first game of his Princeton career as a freshman off-guard two seasons ago, and played with confidence, showing excellent ball-handling and a solid jumper. But his entire sophomore season was a wash due to injury. By the time he was healthy, it was too late in the league season to throw him out there.
  
• Schroeder is back to playing point-guard, but Sargeant is going to have to give Schroeder some more significant rest at some point this season. Scott is clearly hesitant to lett Sargeant run the show, though, as evidenced by his heavy dependence on Schroeder thus far.
• Sargeant is out of the game for Buffmire, who can also run the point if necessary, but is excellent as a reserve forward as well.
• Buffmire attacks the basket as soon as he gets in the game and draws a foul. Makes 1 of 2 free throws. That's about standard for the Princeton season. Free-throw shooting has been putrid.
  

Buffmire and Strittmatter first subs

• Gunn and Owings head to the bench.
• Conway drives in for a nice reverse layup, then feeds Strittmatter for one of the same on the next possession. Tigers up 16-8.
• Savage and junior guard Matt Sargeant into the game for Koncz and Schroeder. That's Sargeant's first action of the season, and the first rest Schroeder has gotten this season. He had played all 90 minutes of the Princeton season up until that point.
• Ridiculous play by Noah Savage. He skies high to block an A&M jumper, then dives after the loose ball. He flies out of bounds while smacking the ball back off the legs of an A&M player and out of bounds. Princeton gets possession and Savage knocks over an entire row of chairs in the front row of the stands. The chairs must have all been connected or something, because they all just toppled. There are three stadium officials over there fixing them right now. The Princeton cheering section is abuzz.
• And the scorer's table actually gives Savage credit for the block! First official swat of Princeton's season. This was one for the highlight reel.
  

Mickell Gladness

• That's the name of A&M's center. He's already got 4 rebounds through 8 minutes of play. He's listed at 6'11", 190 lbs, and I believe it. He makes Kyle Koncz look like a pre-Subway diet Jared Fogel.
• Meanwhile, the two teams are on a scoring diet. Princeton is still up 12-6 with 11:25 left on the first-half clock.
  

Koncz and Gunn

• These two are getting open and are going to be punishing A&M all afternoon if that continues. Gunn missed his first two threes, but he made his third and chances are he won't miss too many more open ones. Koncz is three-of-four from deep.
• Have we mentioned that Koncz hails from neaby Strongsville, Ohio? Of the small Princeton cheering contingent in the stands these three days at the BCA Classic, a good number of them have been extended family members of Koncz. There are only about 200 total fans here at 19,00-seat Value City Arena, so the Koncz family can be heard, and he's giving them a lot of reason to make noise.
  

Here's a new strategy

• Princeton lets the huge Bulldog center get another offensive board, then Conway comes over and steals the ball from him. Might as well.
• Nutso! Koncz drains his third three of the game with the shot clock down to less than a second. Conway lost the ball and was on the floor scrambling for it, tipped it to Koncz, who had to force up a three falling forward right before the buzzer sounded. It was a sweet-looking shot anyway, and it swished through the net
  
• Now Lincoln Gunn hits a three. 12-6 Princeton with 13:31 to go. The Tigers have attemped 8 shots, all of them three-pointers. And made 4 of them.
  

Owings with no chance on this tip-off

• Alabama A&M's center has at least five inches on Owings. The Bulldogs come right down and score on a layup. A&M is really going to test our interior defense and rebouning.
• Next time down the floor, A&M gets an offensive rebound and putback. 4-0 Bulldogs with 18:30 left.
• Koncz drains a three. What else is new? He had 13 points in each of Princeton's first two games.
• A&M right back down the other end with a swished jumper by Cornelius "Scarlett Letter" Hester.
• Koncz drains a three. Yes, I copied and pasted that. A&M 6, Kyle Koncz 6 less than three minutes into the game.
  

15 minutes 'til tipoff

• VMI ran out the clock on its win over SDSU, and Princeton and Alabama A&M just took the floor for shootaround.
• Every player on Alabama A&M is black, 14 of the 15 Tigers are white.
  

104-85

• That's the score VMI is beating SDSU by with 1:49 left.
  
• I got to the arena at halftime and I thought the game was over. The scoreboard read 58-42 VMI. I know I'm accustomed to low scores as a Princeton beat writer, but 58 points is stil a lot to have at halftime.
• VMI, though, is notorious for scoring a lot of points. The Keydets have taken 88 shots already (and made 39 of them). They are addicted to pull-up jumpers with 31 seconds left on the shot-clock. It's working for them tonight. But this score makes it all the more impressive that the Tigers held them to 68 points last night.
• According to someone on hand familiar with VMI, one of the Keydets' team goals is to force AT LEAST 30 TURNOVERS PER GAME. The Keydets got Princeton to cough up the ball an uncharacteristic 22 times with their pressing defense and constant gambling in passing lanes. They just forced SDSU into 33 turnovers.

M-A-Dollar Sign-E

Don't call it a comeback,

• "Dispatches from the Sidelines" is here again in Columbus, Ohio for the men's basketball team's third and final game at the Black Coaches' Association Classic. Princeton will play Alabama A&M in about 30 minutes in the 5th-place game in the tournament, but right now the two teams that remain winless in the tournament--San Diego State and the Virginia Military Institute--are battling it out for 7th place.
  
• VMI is up 94-71 with 8 minutes remaining, so it's hard to know whether to watch the game or this three-year-old kid in the stands who is cute as the Dickens. They were playing a song by Reverend MA$E on the PA system during the last timeout, and little man started doing the Harlem Shake. This kid is the truth.
• Right now he's engaged in a stimulating hoops debate with Princeton junior forward Kyle Koncz, who is watching the VMI-SDSU game in the stands with the rest of his teammates.
• Now, he is harassing one of the police officers handling security detail here at Value City Arena.
  
• Now, his head is stuck in one of the folding chairs in the front row.
• He's wearing an orange sweater. I can only hope I'm on the Princeton admissions committee in 15 years when this kid is applying to college. I know they have a "Yes" pile and a "No" pile, but is there such a thing as a "Hell Yes" pile?