JUNGLE JAM #4

February 20, 2004

We Welcome  Yale  to the Jadwin Jungle

PRINCETON vs. YALE SCOUTING REPORT:

The Princeton men's basketball team begins the second half of league play tonight, hoping that the end of the season puts them at the same place they are after the first seven games--on top of the league standings. The Tigers have their first four games of the second half of the league season at home, beginning with Yale. Princeton and Yale played one of the tightest games of the Ivy League season Jan. 31 in New Haven, with the Tigers coming back from a late deficit to win 49-47 thanks to Will Venable putback and free throw with three seconds left.

Despite the two previous meeting would seem to indicate a close race between the teams, both enter this game with widely different outlooks on the second half of the season. Yale enters Princeton coming off 78-71 loss to second-to-last place Harvard. The Yale team defense was certainly missing from the game. Harvard shot a remarkable 55% from the three point line and finished the game shooting 53% from the field. The loss to Harvard all but eliminated Yale from any hopes of winning an Ivy League title, placing them in fifth place in the Ivies.

Princeton on the other hand returns home to a much more hopeful future. The Tigers won its second overtime game in as many Saturdays last weekend, scoring the first nine points of the overtime in a 78-71 win at Columbia. Judson Wallace had his second straight 20-point effort against the Lions, scoring 23 points and adding a team-high eight rebounds.

The win over Columbia allowed Princeton to remain in first place in the Ivy League. The Tigers are currently a half a game ahead of Brown and a game ahead of Penn in the standings. Because Brown and Penn play each other tonight, a Princeton wins against Yale and Brown could potentially result in the Tigers being two games up of the next Ivy League team.

DIRT:

1. Dominick Martin (#40) is a former Princeton player, who transferred to Yale after his freshman year. Our gain is Yale's loss . Whenever Dominick touches the ball, let him have it with taunts of “It's a good thing you left,” or chants of “We don't want you…We don't want you…”
2. Yale lost its last game to the lowly Harvard Crimson (2-6), ending their chance to win the Ivy League Title. Let them know that the rest of their season means nothing.
3. This week's ballhog: Edwin Draughan (#4) . If we can get into his head with “Ballhog,” and “Pass the ball” chants, we can take away a significant portion of their offense
4. Finally, Senior Matt Minoff (#10) missed every single shot he took against Harvard (0-5). Remind him of his pathetic display of shooting.

REMEMBER: STAND DURING THE GAME, BE LOUD , and, HAVE FUN