Princeton Tigers: 23-6, 14-0 in the Ivy League
Head coach: Mitch Henderson (6th season)
Players to watch: Devin Cannady (13.7 PPG, 41.8 3PT%); Steven Cook (13.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 41.4 3PT%); Spencer Weiscz (10.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.0 APG)
Season recap: After a 4-6 start to the year in nonconference play, the Tigers are now in the midst of a 19-game winning streak—the second-longest active winning streak in the NCAA. Princeton dropped several nonconference games against pedestrian opponents such as Saint Joseph’s, BYU and Lehigh, before going undefeated in conference play, with its closest game being a 57-56 victory on the road against Harvard. Four separate players score in double figures for the Tigers, who post 72.1 points per game.
Princeton followed up its regular season domination with success in the first-ever Ivy League tournament, dispatching Penn in overtime to win its semifinal contest before topping Yale 71-59 in the championship. Head coach Mitch Henderson leads the Tigers to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011—it will be his first time at the helm of Princeton's squad in the Big Dance, having taken over the following season.
How they make a run: The Tigers play lockdown defense and find a way to improve their 3-point shooting—Princeton has three shooters averaging 40 percent or better from beyond the arc—moving past a staunch first-round opponent in fifth-seeded Notre Dame and finding a rhythm that carries them into the second weekend.
How they falter: Dominance in the Ivy League fails to translate on the national stage, and the Tigers prove to be simply outmatched in terms of talent—their absence of a star scorer leaves a hole in their offense and allows teams to run away with the game.
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