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Caruso's career day leads Princeton past Penn, 78-74

01/10/2015, 7:00pm EST

By Tom Reifsnyder

Princeton sophomore guard Spencer Weisz scored 20 points as the Tigers took down Ivy League foe Penn on Saturday afternoon, 78-74 (Photo: Josh Einbinder-Schatz)

Tom Reifsnyder (@tom_reifsnyder)
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PRINCETON, N.J. –As the halftime buzzer sounded, Tony Hicks single-handedly sucked the air out of the Jadwin Gymnasium during a matchup of Ivy League bottom dwellers this Saturday.

After a traveling call on Princeton sophomore forward Steven Cook, the Quakers had only two seconds to get a final shot off as they prepared to inbound the ball from under their own basket.

Hicks received the ball near three-quarters court, dribbled it just a few steps over half court and let it fly. Penn’s bench erupted as Hicks stared down the Princeton fans, taking a five-point half halftime lead over the Tigers.

The second half would be a different story, however, as Hicks and the Quakers would ultimately fall to Princeton, 78-74, on the Tigers’ home floor.

The teams traded misses in the final minutes until Princeton called a timeout to draw up a play with one minute remaining.

The ball would find sophomore Henry Caruso, who drove to the lane and came away with two free throws to give Princeton a 72-71 lead. Caruso led the Tigers in scoring with a career-high 23 points, knocking down 14 of his 16 free throw attempts.

“I think just being aggressive was the key and just going up strong,” Caruso said. “Penn’s got those big guys down low with [Darien] Nelson-Henry and [Greg] Louis so I think my teammates were finding me really well and that was effective.”

With 22 seconds to go, junior Hans Brase would head to the line for two free throws with Princeton up 72-71. Brase knocked down both to give the Tigers a 74-71 advantage.

But Penn wasn’t quite ready to let this one go. After two free throws from senior Ben Hazel, Hicks sprinted up the court and confidently drained a three-pointer to cut the Tigers’ lead to 76-74. However, two more Princeton free throws would seal it for the Tigers.

Penn’s 6-foot-11 junior center Nelson-Henry dominated Princeton’s bigs, scoring a team-high 18 points (8-of-10 FG) without missing a single shot in the first half. Hicks added 18 points as sophomore Matt Howard chipped in with 11 and four rebounds.

Although Nelson-Henry was Penn’s go-to option early on, the Quakers shied away from the junior big in the final minutes.

“I never really expect the offense to run through me or think of it being as such,” Nelson-Henry said. “I just kind of play the game and…I wasn’t getting as many touches but that shouldn’t affect our offensive productivity at all.”

Princeton’s defense was non-existent in the first half as the Quakers shot a scorching 62.1 percent (18-29) from the field. The Tigers kept themselves in the game by getting to the line often, shooting 14-of-17 from the charity stripe.

Reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year Spencer Weisz led the Tigers in scoring at the half with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting; he would finish with 20 on the night.

Hicks’ halftime heave seemed to be the spark that the Quakers needed as they established a 56-41 advantage on a corner three from freshman Antonio Woods with 14 minutes remaining in the contest.

Just under the 10-minute mark, Weisz dribbled up the court and dished to a wide open Hazel for a corner three-pointer that would cut Penn’s advantage back to the halftime deficit of five points, 61-56.

“I just think offensively we stopped playing; everything turned into one-on-one, we stopped screening, we stopped being aggressive,” Penn head coach Jerome Allen said. “There was a certain element of toughness that they exuded that we just didn’t respond too.”

Caruso would knock down a driving layup with around five minutes left to give the Tigers a much sought after lead, 64-63.

It wouldn’t last long, though, as Hicks drove to the hoop for a layup on the ensuing play, putting Penn back up 65-64.

But Caruso would strike again, hitting a big corner three to give Princeton a 67-65 lead.

“If you opened him up I think you’d see his [Caruso’s] heart is a little bit bigger than most people,” Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson said. “Coach Earl calls him ‘K-A-ruso’; you can figure out what ‘K-A’ means.”

Once again, Hicks played the villain, driving to the hoop for an "and-1" layup to spite Caruso and tie the game, 67-67.

A minute later, Hicks would find a cutting Howard for a strong layup as Penn reclaimed the lead, 71-70.

The final two minutes were dominated by Princeton as the Tigers locked up on defense and knocked down key free throws to seal the game. The Tigers shot 32-of-43 from the line for the game.

“We were going to the free throw line a lot which kept us in the game,” Henderson said. “And we were about to get run out of the gym, so I think this is a hell of a win for us.”

After a two-week break in their schedule, the Tigers (7-9, 1-0) will take on Rowan at home on Sunday, Jan. 25.

The Quakers (3-8, 0-1) will head up to N.Y. for a road matchup with Niagara on Tuesday, Jan. 13.