Cardiac Cats strike again and Dylan Harper joins rare company
How will Princeton adjust if Caden Pierce misses time?
PRINCETON – In some ways, it was the same old story at Jadwin Gymnasium.
The key wrinkles this time were who was on the sideline being fitted for crutches and who was the one taking the final shot.
Throw in a five-minute official review for good measure, and you have another come-from-behind stunner for the Cardiac Cats, the 10-4 Princeton Tigers, who trailed by 15 early in the second half before Dalen Davis capped the comeback with a last-second 3-pointer to beat Akron 76-75.
“You know, I’ve been coaching for a long time. Those games, that never happens,” Mitch Henderson said. “That’s an unbelievable – Dalen’s shot there at the end and just to get to the point where we were tied. We were completely, really completely outplayed almost the whole game. Like, not really that competitive.”
Except it does happen, for this particular program, in this particular gym. For two examples, see the Tigers’ comeback from down 18 points to Cornell on Jan. 8, 2022, or from a more modest 11-point deficit to Furman on Dec. 2, 2023. Both times, Matt Allocco put the Tigers ahead for good with a 3-pointer either at the buzzer or in the final few seconds.
On Monday afternoon, it was Davis’ turn.
“I was just happy we got the win, to be honest,” Davis said. “I didn’t really think about the legacy or anything. Just happy we got the win.”
Everyone in the building seemed to know it was a 3-pointer except the guys in stripes. It was originally scored as two points – sitting near the broadcast table, I overheard that by rule, that’s what officials are supposed to do if there’s any uncertainty – and as the review wore on, the video screen at Jadwin eventually displayed the angle that showed Davis’ foot was entirely behind the arc.
“I prayed,” Davis said. “My right foot is always slanted when I shoot, so when I saw the video I was like, ‘It’s got to be behind the line.’”
Caden Pierce was hurt early in the first half when he came down from a fastbreak layup attempt. There appeared to be some knee-to-knee contact, but then his defender hit his ankle as they fell, and he needed attention from trainers.
The reigning Ivy League Player of the Year reentered the game at a media timeout to try to grit through it, but it wasn’t happening. Before the end of the half, his shoe was off and his ankle was taped, iced and elevated.
Henderson had no updates immediately after the game, saying the team hoped it’s a sprained ankle, a sign that Pierce could miss some time – the question being how much.
Princeton is fortunate to head into the 2025 calendar year at 10-4 and with a buy game against Division III Kean on Saturday before Ivy League play begins Jan. 11 at Harvard. Don’t expect Pierce to play against Kean – there’s no need whatsoever. Anything after that is up in the air.
Assuming Pierce does miss some time in January, the obvious move for the Tigers is to start sophomore Jackson Hicke and bump up his minutes.
Playing the Pierce role for most of Monday, he scored all 10 of his points in the second half on 4-of-5 shooting. Hicke made both his threes and added three blocks and a steal.
The 6-foot-5 guard could play the three when frontcourt starters Malik Abdullahi and Philip Byriel are on the floor, and he should have the size to guard fours in Ivy League play.
“No one’s gonna be Cade, but I think especially when he’s out, you gotta try and pick up the slack a little bit, like on the glass, rebound a little bit and just get guys out of there,” Hicke said.
When I asked Henderson about Hicke, the coach wanted to talk about a major blocked shot he made in the win over Rutgers on Dec. 21. Hicke truly flew under the radar in that game, but he supplied eight points on 3-of-3 shooting in a reserve role.
“We measure something that’s basically like intangibles. Deflections and loose balls,” Henderson said. “Cade’s the highest and then Jackson’s right behind him, and it’s not really close to who’s third. He’s been terrific and very deserving.”
Henderson added that Hicke, Jack Scott and freshman Peyton Seals are “all so multipurpose,” suggesting that each of them could get more playing time. Seals provided some energy in seven minutes off the bench with four points and a block, but also four turnovers.
Xaivian Lee had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead the Tigers on Monday, but it’s obvious that the staff is also comfortable with Davis (18 points, five rebounds, six assists) taking the last shot in those situations.
When Akron made it 75-73 with 11 seconds to play, Henderson had a timeout still in his pocket. He could have called it when his team crossed halfcourt; he could have called it when Lee encountered two defenders early in the set. Adding to the equation, Davis had only made 4 of 16 shots before his game-winner, including a 1-for-13 start.
But Henderson let his players ride it out.
“They didn’t have any timeouts left and I was hoping we could score, and I didn’t want to give them a chance to change and I liked the matchup that we had at that moment,” Henderson said. “So (Davis is) a big shot-maker in big moments. And again, look, the way we play, what they did today, you know, you can get into us sometimes. But we’re working through that to where we can punish things like that.
“But doing that without Cade and these guys getting the win is really big.”
Triple-double the fun
I didn’t attempt the Princeton-Piscataway doubleheader like some of my colleagues; it would have required me to make arrangements with my day job (read: night job) and I’m going to see Rutgers plenty in the new year.
Rutgers did what it was supposed to do against a team like Columbia, racking up 91 points and clamping down defensively in the second half in a 27-point win.
But Dylan Harper took the game as an opportunity to add to his personal lore by tallying the first triple-double in Rutgers history since 1983.
The last triple-double, by Roy Hinson, wasn’t even your typical points-rebounds-assists collection. The power forward blocked 10 shots in a win over Rhode Island. Harper, meanwhile, had the Platonic ideal of a modern point guard performance: 16 points (6-of-10 FG, 4-of-7 from three), 12 assists, 11 rebounds and three steals to boot.
“I love the fact that Dylan had seven rebounds in the first half,” Steve Pikiell said. “He passed, and he scored. I always say the guys have better days ahead, which is the exciting part. But that was a heck of an accomplishment.”
Harper’s was the first triple-double by a D1 freshman since Pitt’s Carlton Carrington (now in the NBA) on Nov. 11, 2023. No Big Ten freshman had done it since Jaquan Lyle of Ohio State in January 2016.
What we’re seeing from Harper now is an attribute reserved for the greats: The way he’s playing is starting to make the teammates around him better. Jamichael Davis had easily his best game of the season with 11 points, seven assists, three steals and no turnovers. He and Harper are both point guard archetypes but are playing off each other well.
“I couldn’t have done any of that without my teammates,” Harper said. “Guys like Jamichael Davis, Ace Bailey, the rest of the team just really put me in great positions. They got open for me to find them ... The most important thing is that we won today, that’s what we did. We prepared great, we just did all the right things and that’s what happened today.”
Ironically, Harper’s latest chapter slightly overshadows the fact that Bailey had his best all-around game yet. Bailey finished with 24 points on a season-best 11-of-18 shooting, with eight rebounds, two blocks and only one turnover.
Again, that’s what future NBA players are supposed to do against Columbia. The real test is how Bailey and Harper will stack up against the Big Ten, and they’ll resume conference play Thursday at Indiana. But Rutgers has reason for some newfound confidence for that long haul.
The triple-double became official when Harper found Bailey on the baseline for his 10th assist with a bit less than five minutes still to go. Bailey was asked if he knew the significance of the play.
“He told me after, he was like, ‘Thank you,’” Bailey said with a laugh.
………
Happy new year! Even though it’s Tuesday, I kept today’s edition free for all as a sort of thank-you. This was my 200th edition of Guarden State, and it’s fitting to hit a milestone like that at the end of a calendar year. I appreciate everyone who has followed along, read any of my work, subscribed or even upgraded to a paid subscription since I launched this thing from scratch in late 2021.
We’re back from Christmas week and rolling into the new year. Sometime Thursday I’ll have an overarching preview of the second half of the season, touching on the prevailing storylines in both the men’s and women’s game. For now, let’s clean the glass with a few mid-major topics I didn’t want to miss:
No surprise that Monmouth fell 87-58 at Auburn, the No. 2 team in the AP poll and the No. 1 team in the sport in most hoops fans’ estimation, including my own. But the Hawks held a 22-19 lead 10 minutes into this game, and Bruce Pearl wanted his guys on high alert, specifically for Abdi Bashir Jr. Auburn guard Chad Baker-Mazara revealed postgame that Pearl originally wanted to double-team Bashir, but Baker-Mazara said “I want that challenge” of locking him up. Bashir finished 4-for-15 from the field – and still managed to lead Monmouth in scoring (15) and assists (four). Scroll Twitter and you’ll find Auburn fans fawning over Bashir and Jaret Valencia (13 points). It’s high praise from SEC country.
Monmouth finished nonconference season 2-11 and gets to start fresh in CAA play, which begins Thursday when Stony Brook visits. The Hawks had a strong home-court advantage last season and I wonder if that will continue in 2025. One other note about Bashir: He apparently took a hard fall and was clutching his chest or ribs, but he did wind up returning to the game.On Saturday I watched FDU grad transfer Tyree Barba-Bey have the game of his life, shooting 8-of-9 from three to drop 31 points on Boston College in a 78-70 defeat. On Monday he was named Northeast Conference Player of the Week. FDU’s last four games were very competitive road losses at Villanova (by 14), La Salle (five), Minnesota (14) and Boston College (eight). As I wrote the other week, there’s reason to believe the Knights are going to be one of the NEC’s top teams once they start playing teams their own size. That begins Sunday at Wagner, preseason NEC co-favorites.
Seton Hall freshman Jada Eads won Big East Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week for shouldering the scoring load against Butler on Sunday. She scored 26 in the 69-49 win, one game after scoring 25 points in a 51-40 victory against Providence. The Pirates are 10-3 (2-0 Big East) and now have a dynamic young player in Eads joining Faith Masonius and Savannah Catalon (currently injured). This is the one team I haven’t gotten to see in person that I’m excited to cover soon. More on them Thursday.
Any update on the Pierce injury?