Bad start, strong finish give Blue Hens mixed feelings against Princeton

Delaware could revel in the comeback that made the game close but curse the cause of why it fell behind in the first place Saturday at the Carpenter Center.

The Blue Hens appeared destined for defeat early in their basketball bout with Princeton, as the Tigers showed double-digit dominance in the first half and had a lead that grew to 17 points with 14 minutes left.

Delaware then found its shooting touch late while making its final nine field-goal attempts, including three straight clutch 3-pointers by Gerald Drumgoole Jr. that got them within one point in the final eight seconds.

But the inability to rebound a missed-on-purpose free throw in the last 2.8 seconds, when it appeared Delaware’s top rebounder Christian Ray may have been tripped, left the Hens disappointed with an 84-82 loss in front of 3,340.

“I told our group afterward ‘We’re not into moral victories,’” Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said, “but you’re proud of us for our ability to battle back and give ourselves a chance and being able to speed up the game and get after them a little more defensively in the second half.”

How did Princeton take command?

Princeton (12-1), coming off its NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 run last year, entered the game 26th in the NCAA’s NET Rankings of all 362 Division I teams and quickly exhibited the type of execution that regularly carves up their foes.

The Tigers only loss was to Saint Joseph’s 74-70 and they’ve beaten Rutgers and now five CAA teams. A 9-0 record to start was Princeton’s best in more than 100 years.

At Delaware, an early 15-2 run paved the way for a 43-27 halftime lead as the Tigers made 8 of 16 3-point shots. Princeton still led 59-42 with 13:16 to go.

“Against a team like that, our first-half inefficiency offensively hurt us,” Ingelsby said. “We were 1 of 10 from the 3-point line. I thought we had some good looks and they’re very good.”

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How did Delaware make it close?

Jyare Davis’ 3-point play with 3:59 left got Delaware within single digits 70-61. Delaware pulled within four on Jalun Trent’s drives inside with 3:04 and 2:20 left and again on Drumgoole’s second of those three straight 3-pointers that made it 82-78 with 12 seconds to go.

Princeton made 6 of 6 foul shots in the final two minutes to keep ahead and force Cavan Reilly to intentionally miss after he made the first of two at the end.

Delaware shot 72.4% from the field in the second half (21-for-29) including 6-for-9 on 3s to spark its rally while limiting Princeton to 3-for-14 aim beyond the arc.

The Hens' 55 second-half points were a season high and the 27 in the first half were the fewest this year.

“If we can do what we did in the second 20 and bottle that up for 35, 40 minutes, we’re gonna have a chance to be a pretty darn good basketball team,” Ingelsby said.

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Who were Hens’ highlighters?

Davis surpassed 1,000 career points, the 39th Blue Hen to do so, with a fadeaway jumper early in the second half. The Sanford School grad led the Hens with 18 points.

The point guard Trent had 16 points and career-high 11 assists, the first double-double in those two categories for Delaware since Jarvis Threatt’s 13 points and 13 assists at Charleston on March 1, 2014.

Trent would have traded that notoriety for a win, he said.

“I feel like we came out hungry,” Trent said. “I just feel like we just weren’t, on the defensive end, mentally prepared. Other than that I feel like we did a great job of getting back in the game but we need to come out with that intensity right away.’’

Reilly had 15 points and Drumgoole 13.

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What’s next for Delaware?

Delaware closed its nonconference schedule with an 8-5 record highlighted by a win at Xavier.

The Hens now eye the start of Coastal Athletic Association play, hosting Hampton in the CAA opener Thursday at 7 p.m.

Delaware’s depth does give it some lineup flexibility it hasn’t had and should be a boost in league games.

“I think the most important thing is to get back to practice and clean up a couple things this week to be able to take care of business on Thursday,” Ingelsby said. “Charleston, [UNC] Wilmington, a lot of these teams have won some in nonconference like us. We’ve gotta take it one week at a time and try and see what we can do. But I like our team, I like our fight.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Princeton Tigers hold off Delaware Blue Hens in basketball