LIVE BLOG: Crimson at Princeton

FINAL: Princeton 58, Harvard 55

4.1 McNally is out, he fouls Mavraides. Who will go to the line for two. Makes the first. Makes the second.Housman misses three at the buzzer, he had an open look. Harvard loses, 58-55, in another heartbreaker here at Jadwin Gym. You got to feel for Housman who wanted to get a win here, but comes up short.

5.2 Here's the deal. Harvard needs a quick foul, or a steal. Then they will at the least have a shot from three to tie it and send it to OT. No Timeouts for Harvard though.

12.8 McNally called for tick tack foul. Mavraides, again, for two. Gets the friendly role on the first. 56-53. This is the key. Misses it! McNally shoots the lane, gets bucket, 56-55! 5.2 SECONDS LEFT.

12.8 Housman draws the foul. He'll shoot two, and needs both. Silk on the first. Makes the second, 55-53.

24.0 Boehm misses layup, looks like it was a designed play for a three but he pumped and drove. Mavraides another two shots. He misses first. Makes the second, 55-51.

32.5 Lin almost gets the steal, but fouls. Mavraides to the line for two shots. His first two points of the night are huge, as the team goes up, 54-51.

37.1: Controversy. McNally steals the ball, but doesn't look to have control, and ball goes out off him. The referees rule that it was a steal, giving Princeton a BIG break to run more time off because this ruling resets the shot clock. Tough.

1:00 Housman with GREAT look to find Wright, down 1, 52-51.

Timeout, Harvard.

Tick tack foul on Boehm on Maddox, he'll shoot two more, looking perfect from the line. He makes two to put Tigers up three, 52-19, 1:40 to play.

McNally gets it stolen by Davis, 2:10 to play. 50-49 Tigers.

2:28 Boehm with foul, Matix to shoot 1-and-1. This guy, Karim Maddox, for the Crimson, is an interesting guy. Real tall, goo shot, but he plays guard. Anyway, he ties it with the front-end of one-and-one. Then the team leads, 50-49.

2:50 Housman board on Princeton miss. Good D from the Crimson.

Yale just upset Cornell. If Princeton wins, the team is a game back in the loss column, along with Columbia, for Ivy League first place.

3:30 Housman takes it to Davis, big bucket, 49-48 Harvard. Every time at Princeton, Drew just gets to the bucket at abandon. He has 14 to lead the Crimson. Lin with 13. The team will live or die by this tandem.

4:05 Harris fouls out, Peter Boehm tires to fill the hole downlow. This will hurt the Crimson down low for the end of the game. Big man, Zach Finley, makes two for the Tigers. Princeton goes back up, 48-47.

Princeton big man misses open layup, gets offensive board, Lin fouls. Sixth team foul.

Housman with offensive board. Housman drains 15-foot jumper, Harvard leads, 47-46.

6:03 Davis with big three, Princeton takes the lead by 1, 46-45. Davis is pacing the Tiger offensive attack.

6:30 Lin makes front-end, then makes the second. Harvard LEADS, 45-43. Another 9-0 run, same as the first half.

7:08 McNally nails both, again. TIE BALL GAME, 43-43. Talk about a 7-0 run when you needed it.

7:08 McNally with the steal and drives to the bucket, gets fouled, a chance for two more free throws. He's played great D and gotten to the line, solid play from the freshman, who if we remember, nailed a game winner in Harvard's only road Ivy win this year, at Dartmouth in January.

7:43 Wright with great look on post move to wide open Lin, who nails just Harvard's second three of the game. TWO point game. 43-41 Princeton up.

8:00 Two free throws for Tigers. 43-38.

Harris gets fourth foul with 8:00 to go. Amaker has to stay with him.

8:33 Housman with diving layup. Three point game, 41-38.

9:14 McNally skies for the board, gets slammed, he'll shoot a one-and-one to try and stop the bleeding. Nails the first. Makes both. 41-36. That breaks a SEVEN minute Harvard scoring drought.

9:49 Lin with airball, he is not in rythym after the injury. Not good news for a Harvard squad struggling mightily, to put it mildly.

10:12 Davis with jumper over Lin. 41-34 Princeton.

Somehow, the Crimson is only down five. Looking at the stats, I don't know how its possible. They're being out shot 50 to 39.5 percent, Princeton has made six threes to Harvard's sole trifecta. What's keeping them in the game: 11-16 from the free throw line. Princeton has one free throw make

Lin comes back in, finally, but Kenyi gets offensive foul. Things are unraveling for the Crimson. Timeout.

12:00 Harvard pays for it on the other end, as Princeton buries a three to go up 39-34. That's 15-6 so far in the second half. SIX POINTS in EIGHT minutes for Harvard. No good.

12:33 Shot clock violation for Harvard. They don't have a bucket in five minutes. And another turnover next trip down.

13:10 Tigers takes first lead since mid-way through the first period, 36-34.

13:49 Davis breaks Housman down for easy layup. Pretty play to tie it at 34-34.

14:18 Lin is hurt. On the last possession, Lin traveled, and it looks like he is cramping, or an ankle injury. Does not look serious.
Both teams cold on the offense end, as Housman barely misses tough layup.

15:16 Lin misses two.

Housman comes over the top to steal from the bigs. Lin gets fouled but no call. Princeton misses three. Harvard can't corral the rebound. Tigers miss a runner, and Harris somehow snags the board. Lin takes it to the basket and gets fouled hard, and he will take two shots. Timeout. And I take a breath.

16:13 Harris draws the foul. Makes 1 of 2. 34-32 Harvard.

16:49 Schroeder with another three, 33-32 Harvard. His first six points are big to begin this second half.

17:25 33-29 after Lin sky jumper from 18.

17:55 Kenyi with three with one second on shot clock, Shroeder rsponds for Princeton, 31-29.

19:00 Lin with his third turnover, Harris gets his third foul, and Princeton scores. Horrible first minute for Harvard. 28-26

Just a note Crimson fans: Harvard has not won in Jadwin Gym since 1989. Also, the step back three from Jeremy Lin was ruled a two. He has six. Housman leads the way with eight points to go with two assists. Princeton has three trifectas (3-7), while Harvard is 0-2.

HALFTIME: Harvard, after a slow start, goes into the break with momentum and the lead, up 28-24. Lin is going strong, Housman is playing well, and the team is forcing turnovers galore with an fast pace, pressing D. We'll see if the team can continue.

3 seconds: Lin drives to the paint, gets easy layup, and that's seven points for him as Harvard goes up 28-24.

1:19 Lin draws the charge on Princeton big man coming down the lane, the Tiger's will be the team's ninth turnover.

1:46 Davis, the freshmen standout, has is second bucket for the Tigers, a three, now its 26-24 Harvard.

2:20 A suffocating, trapping D for Harvard is getting Princeton in trouble. Drew draws the turnover, then a great runaway bucket, 26-21 Harvard.

2:40 Is Lin answering? He gets tough layup inside to fall. 24-21 Harvard.

3:00 Princeton responds with bucket., 22-20 Harvard.

3:30 Harris makes two free throws, 22-19 Harvard.
Harvard playing great D, holding Princeton scoreless over the course of its mini 9-0 run over the last four minutes. But the lead could be more with some more effecient play on offense. Also: Lin, three points=not good for Harvard.

3:37 Princeton responds with first bucket in four minutes, three from the corner. 20-19 Harvard.

3:58 Housman with rebound and feed to Pusar with the bucket, 20-16 Harvard.

Pusar with the block. Princeton being shut down, but Harvard blowing the chance to take advantage with two straight travels from Lin and Wright.
7-0 Run for Harvard in last two minutes.
Harris playing good D, draws the turnover.

6:00 Wright makes 1 of 2, Pusar with the board, then Wright with big post move. He looks confidence, and Harvard now has its first lead, 18-16, Harvard with the lead.

Harris and Wright play good low post D. Then Wright gets rewarded on the other end, fouled, he'll go to the line.

Harvard trying to fix its low posts woes in this one, and it just worked. We'll see if it lasts.

6:46 Housman gets to the line again on bad foul from Princeton. Silky on the first. Good on the second. He has six of the team's 15 points. 16-15, Princeton.

6:52 Harvard forces second straight turnover (7 on the night for Princeton). If Harvard could bring this tenacity to the offensive end, they'd be better off.
7:20 Housman makes two free throws, 16-13 Tigers

Princeton is still bothering the Crimson mightily, forcing them out of the team's more comfortable, run-and-gun style of play. Housman is playing well, but Lin needs to get going for Harvard to get back in it.

7:22 Harvard has picked up the offense--a tad--and now it's 16-11 Tigers with just over seven minutes to play.

11:00 Lin hits beautiful fade away three, 10-7 Tigers

Slow start for the Harvard Crimson here, as the team is only 1-9, I repeat, 1-of-9 to start, trailing Princeton 8-4 with 11:36 to play. This is not a good sign for things to come for the Crimson, as this in Tiger basketball to a T--slow, ugly, and winning.