Caleb Swanigan's 25th Double-Double Leads Purdue Past Northwestern

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, March 5, 2017

The Purdue Boilermakers cemented their claim on the Big Ten regular season title, winning at Northwestern, 69-65. Finishing the regular season with a 14-4 record, the Boilermakers wrapped up two games ahead of Maryland and Wisconsin, at 12-6.

Fueling the Boilermakers was their candidate for national player of the year, Caleb Swanigan, who notched his 25th double-double of the season with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

The 6'9" sophomore from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was 8-for-15 from the field and hauled down 14 rebounds. Swingian's effort was aided by Vince Edwards' 25 points.

Swanigan and Edwards lead #16 Purdue into the upcoming Big Ten tournament, the winner of which will grab an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, though Purdue is assured to get at least an at-large bid should they not win the conference tourney.

Swanigan averages 18.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, making him one of the more versatile inside players in the collegiate ranks.

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A week out from Selection Sunday and there are already a host of teams that have played their way into the Big Dance.

On Saturday, Jacksonville State took down the Ohio Valley conference championship with a 66-55 win over UT-Martin. It's the first OVC title for the Gamecocks and their first NCAA invite since jumping to Division 1 and joining the conference in 2003.

Sunday began with Winthrop ending the dreams of Campbell, taking the Big South conference title with a no-doubter, 76-59 win over the upstart Fighting Camels. Winthrop had gone to the conference championship game in each of the past four seasons, but this is their first win during that span.

Florida Gulf Coast captured the Atlantic Sun conference championship, defeating North Florida, 77-61. The automatic bid is the third for the Eagles in the last six seasons.

The Missouri Valley conference championship went to Wichita State, as the Shockers pounded Illinois State, 71-51. Both teams were 17-1 in conference play, but 21st-ranked Wichita State was clearly the better of the two, racking up a 30-4 record overall.

Princeton, champions of the Ivy League, wrapped up an undefeated, 14-0, conference schedule with a 85-48 win over Dartmouth on Saturday. The perfect confernce mark was the sixth in Princeton's rich basketball history, but the kicker is that the Tigers, despite winning the conference title by four games, will have to play on in the first ever Ivy League Tournament. The league has implemented a four-team playoff, with the top seed playing #4 and #2 playing #3. All games will be played at the Palestra in Philadelphia, home to Princeton's first opponent, the Penn Quakers.

Semi-final games are on Saturday, March 11, with the finals on Sunday, March 12.

Princeton Closer To Ivy League Title With Win Over Columbia; Devin Cannady Tallies 18

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 24, 2017

Princeton won its 14th straight, improving to 11-0 in the Ivy League, defeating Columbia, 64-45, closing in on another conference title.

Devin Cannady scored a game-high 18 points all on three-pointers, going 6-for-14 from the field, but 6-for-11 from beyond the arc.

A 6'1" sophomore guard from Mishawaka, Indiana, Cannady didn;t go to the foul line at all as the Tigers breezed to the win with a sharp second half.

Princeton has just three games left in the regular season, and needs just one win, over either Cornell, Harvard or Dartmouth to clinch at least a tie. Considering that the Tigers have beaten all three of their upcoming opponents earlier in the season, their chances for getting the automatic NCAA tournament invite are very good.

The Tigers travel to Cornell on Saturday, and play Harvard and Dartmouth next Friday and Saturday, respectively, at home next weekend.

Princeton Thumps Yale, 71-52, As Devin Cannady Leads 12th Straight Win

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 17, 2017

Devin Cannady matched a career high with 29 points and seven 3-pointers, helping the Princeton Tiger beat the Bulldogs of Yale, 71-52, on Friday night for its 12th straight win.

Cannady, a sophomore sharp-shooter, dominated the perimeter for Princeton, hitting nine of 11 shots from the field, including an impressive 7-for-8 from beyond the arc. He was 4-for-4 from the foul line, adding three rebounds and a pair of assists as the Tigers maintained their two-game lead in the Ivy League over Harvard. Yale's loss dropped them into third place, three games off the pace. Cannady scored 20 of Princeton's 38 first half points.

At 9-0 in the conference (16-6 overall), Princeton appears to be well on their way toward taking the Ivy League title and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They have five games remaining, one of them hosting Harvard, on March 3. Three of the games are on the road, and, in succession. The Tigers play at Brown this Saturday, then at Columbia and Cornell next weekend. The regular season sends at home, against Brown, March 4th.

Looking ahead across the college hoops spectrum, the big game on Saturday is #3 Kansas at #4 Baylor, a huge Big 12 meeting between two teams that are obviously heading to the Big Dance. The game will be broadcast live on CBS beginning at 1:00 pm ET.

On Saturday night, #14 West Virginia plays at #10 North Carolina, at 8:15 pm ET. ESPN has the coverage.

T.J. Bray Scores 23 vs. Rutgers, Leads Princeton to 7-1 Mark

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Led by senior T.J. Bray's 23 points, the Princeton Tigers won their sixth straight and improved to 7-1 overall, with a 78-73 victory at Rutgers, Wednesday night.

Bray played 38 minutes and was high-scorer for the game, making seven of 11 from the field, 5-for-7 from three-point range. He also handed out eight assists, helping three other starters each score 14 points.

It was just the fourth game of the season for the senior guard, who missed Saturday's 77-55 romp over Farleigh Dickenson due to disciplinary reasons and was his high point total for the year.

Missing from Princeton's lineup was starting guard Jimmy Sherburne, serving part of a three-game suspension imposed by coach Mitch Henderson.

When the Tigers have their full complement of players, they are an imposing Ivy League squad. Last year, the Tigers went through November and December's non-conference schedule with a 5-7 mark and appear to be much-improved this season.

Bray, despite his limited playing time, leads Princeton in scoring average and assists per game and is second on the team in rebounds. The Tigers look to go 4-1 on the road when they play at Penn State Saturday afternoon. Their only loss was at Butler, 70-67, on November 16.

Princeton Shoulders Up to Harvard as Ian Hummer Leads 58-53 Victory

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, March 1, 2013

For the Princeton Tigers, the objective was apparent: beat Harvard for the 24th straight time at home, then win out the remaining four games of the regular season, force a playoff or win the Ivy League - and a trip to the NCAA tournament - outright.

Thanks largely to a huge effort from senior forward, Ian Hummer, the Tigers took the first step with a 58-53 nail-biter win over the Crimson.

Hummer registered his first double-double of the season, going 8-for-14 from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 from the line for a game-high 23 points, adding a season-high 14 rebounds, four on the offensive end.

The win left the Tigers at 8-2 in the conference with four games left to play, right behind 9-2 Harvard, which has only three games left on the regular season schedule.

In the case the two titans of the Ivy League end up tied, as has occurred in two of the last three seasons, a single-game playoff will determine which squad gets the automatic NCAA bid.

The contest was marked by solid defense, with both teams held to under 41% shooting. Princeton made the only three-pointer of the game - on ten attempts. Harvard was 0-for-8 from outside the arc. Both teams displayed proficiency at the foul line. The Tigers made 19 of 22 free throws; Harvard was 22-for-25 from the stripe.

Princeton May Be Best in Ivy; Maddox Rips 23 on Wagner

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, December 17, 2010

Last season, it was the Big Red out of Cornell capturing the Ivy League and making some noise in the NCAA tournament. This year, it may be Princeton's turn to return to NCAA's and a chance to play with the big boys, especially if junior forward, Kareem Maddox continues to perform as he has during the Tigers' recent six game win streak.

Princeton started out the season 2-3, with an "excuse me" 97-60 loss at Duke and a couple of close calls in a 65-64 defeat at James Madison and a 69-67 loss at Presbyterian. In those three games Maddox shot a combined 3-for-16 and totaled only 14 points.

But the next time Maddox and the Tigers hit the hardwood, at home against Sienna, Maddox was a different player, hitting 10-of-13 shots from the field, 10-of-12 freethrows for a 30 point, 10 rebound performance and an 86-77 win. Maddox has continued playing at a high level, going for 31 against Tulsa last Sunday and hitting for 23 points in the Tigers' 69-57 win over Wagner on Friday. Maddox was 8-for-12 from the field and hit all seven of his free throws.

8-3 Princeton begins conference play January 28, when they host Brown. They have a light schedule of just four more games until then.

NOTABLE: They came from out of nowhere, and now the Tennessee Volunteers seem to be heading back there, after losing their second straight game to a relatively unknown opponent.

The Vols stunned Villanova on November 26 and then Pitt last Saturday, improving to 7-0, but since has dropped two straight, losing to Oakland, 89-82, on Tuesday and dropping a 49-48 decision at Charlotte Friday night. Tennessee will attempt to snap out of their funk when they host USC on Tuesday, December 23.