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Princeton Tigers (21-8) vs. Fresno State Bulldogs (18-16)
WHEN: Monday, March 24, 7:00 PST
WHERE: Save Mart Center, Fresno, CA
TV: The game can be found online as part of the Mountain West Network.
RADIO: The Fresno broadcast can be heard on the local ESPN affiliate, 940 AM, while the Princeton feed can be found in and around Princeton on 103.3 FM.
LAST MEETING: The Tigers and Bulldogs last met on December 6, 2003, and Princeton came away with a 72-67 decision.
For the last few years, Harvard has earned the lion's share of the attention paid to Ivy League basketball. Princeton goes relatively unnoticed because of the conference's unique arrangement with the NCAA tournament, but the Tigers have mustered four 20-win seasons in the last five years and held off a game Tulane squad last week. Their offense is as efficient as always, and they have played just as well on the road as they have at home this season.
Fresno State, somewhat surprisingly, is still playing postseason basketball after a win against UTEP. They've led with defense in this late surge, but it's anyone's guess as to how that newfound prowess will hold against the famed Princeton attack. Will it be a race to 70? We will find out.
What to Watch - Fresno State: Tyler Johnson's scoring binge may have finally sputtered out last week against the Miners, but the team was able to make up for his lack of opportunities by getting meaningful contributions from bench players Tanner Giddings and Karachi Edo. In the conference tournament loss to New Mexico, it was Allen Huddleston who led the 'Dogs in scoring. Princeton's bench logs a similar number of minutes, so winning that battle is something to keep an eye on.
Marvelle Harris, who has been an unsung hero for Fresno, should also play a big role in this game. Across the board, his numbers are much better at home in the Save Mart Center, including 47% shooting and a 16.6 points per game average.
What to Watch - Princeton: The Tigers offense has run through guard T.J. Bray, an all-conference selection who has averaged over 18 points and five assists in 2013-14. His ability to distribute the ball makes it difficult to focus on one person to shut down, but that may not matter because the game could turn on how well Princeton shoots threes. On a per game basis, few teams attempt so many three-pointers (only VMI could match that willingness, by my calculations), but they finished in the middle of the conference in three-point percentage. Losses to Penn, Columbia and Yale can be chalked up, at least in part, to poor halves of shooting from behind the arc.