1988–89 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team

The 1988–89 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team captains was Bob Scrabis.^[2] The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of the Ivy League, which earned them an invitation to the 64-team 1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they were seeded sixteenth in the East Region.^[3]

1988–89 Princeton Tigers men's basketball
Ivy League Champion
1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, Sixteen seed, First round
Conference	Ivy League
Record	19–8 (11–3, 1st Ivy)
Head coach	Pete Carril (22nd season)
Captain	Bob Scrabis
Home arena	Jadwin Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1987–88 1989–90 →

1988-89 Ivy League men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Princeton	11	–	3		.786			19	–	8		.704
Dartmouth	10	–	4		.714			17	–	9		.654
Penn	9	–	5		.643			13	–	13		.500
Harvard	7	–	7		.500			11	–	15		.423
Cornell	7	–	7		.500			10	–	16		.385
Yale	6	–	8		.429			11	–	17		.393
Columbia	4	–	10		.286			8	–	18		.308
Brown	2	–	12		.143			7	–	19		.269
Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The team posted a 19–8 overall record and an 11–3 conference record.^[2] When the team defeated Colgate 43–33 on November 30, 1988, it established a new National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I record for fewest combined points (since 1986), using the Princeton offense. The record would stand until December 16, 1989.^[4] In an East regional first-round game of the 1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament against the Georgetown Hoyas, they lost by a 50–49 margin.^[2][3][5] The game matched the unheralded sixteenth-seeded Princeton Tigers against the number one seeded Hoyas who featured freshman Alonzo Mourning and senior guard Charles Smith. Mourning blocked shots by Scrabis and Kit Mueller in the final six seconds to save the one-point victory for the Hoyas.^[6][7]

The team was led by first team All-Ivy League selections Scrabis and Mueller. Scrabis earned the Ivy League Men's Basketball Player of the Year award.^[3] Mueller shot 70.9% on his field goals to earn the second of three Ivy League statistical championships for field goal percentage.^[8] The team won the first of twelve consecutive national statistical championships in scoring defense with a 53.0 points allowed average.^[9]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Jan 23, 1989*		Franklin & Marshall College	W 68–60	1–0	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Nov 30, 1988*		Colgate	W 43–33	2–0	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Dec 3, 1988*		Iona	W 49–46	3–0	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Dec 7, 1988*		at Lehigh	W 54–47	4–0	Stabler Arena  Bethlehem, PA
Dec 10, 1988*		Saint Joseph's	W 59–53	5–0	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Dec 17, 1988*		at Rutgers	L 63–69	5–1	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, NJ
Dec 22, 1988*		at No. 15 Seton Hall	L 46–64	5–2	Izod Center  East Rutherford, NJ
Dec 29, 1988*		vs. Georgia Cotton States Classic	L 54–58	5–3	Omni Coliseum  Atlanta, GA
Dec 30, 1988*		vs. No. 16 South Carolina Cotton States Classic	W 69–58^[10]	6–3	Omni Coliseum  Atlanta, GA
Jan 4, 1989*		at Delaware	L 45–52	6–4	Delaware Field House  Newark, DE
Jan 7, 1989*		Fordham	W 57–53	7–4	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Jan 23, 1989*		Muhlenberg	W 49–46	8–4	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Ivy League
Jan 27, 1989*		at Brown	W 61–55	9–4 (1–0)	Marvel Gymnasium  Providence, RI
Jan 28, 1989*		at Yale	W 51–48	10–4 (2–0)	John J. Lee Amphitheater  New Haven, CT
Feb 3, 1989*		Harvard	L 57–63	10–5 (2–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Feb 4, 1989*		Dartmouth	W 63–53	11–5 (3–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Feb 7, 1989*		Penn	W 53–43	12–5 (4–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Feb 10, 1989*		at Columbia	W 72–54	13–5 (5–1)	Levien Gymnasium  New York, NY
Feb 11, 1989*		at Cornell	W 60–49	14–5 (6–1)	Barton Hall  Ithaca, NY
Feb 17, 1989*		Yale	W 70–60	15–5 (7–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Feb 18, 1989*		Brown	W 57–33	16–5 (8–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Feb 24, 1989*		Cornell	W 65–46	17–5 (9–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Feb 25, 1989*		Columbia	W 78–62	18–5 (10–1)	Jadwin Gymnasium  Princeton, NJ
Feb 28, 1989*		at Penn	L 42–43	18–6 (10–2)	Palestra  Philadelphia, PA
Mar 3, 1989*		at Dartmouth	L 43–53	18–7 (10–3)	Leede Arena  Hanover, NH
Mar 4, 1989*		at Harvard	W 73–64	19–7 (11–3)	Lavietes Pavilion  Boston, MA
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1989*	(16 E)	vs. (1 E) No. 2 Georgetown First Round	L 49–50^[11]^[12]	19–8	Providence Civic Center  Providence, RI
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in EST.

References

1. sports-reference.com 1988-89 Ivy Group Season Summary
2. "Men's Basketball Record Book • All-Time Results". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton Athletic Communications. June 12, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
3. 2009–10 Ivy League Basketball Media Guide. p. 37. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
4. "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 39. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
5. Princeton Athletic Communications (June 22, 2009). "Men's Basketball Record Book • Men's Basketball in the Postseason". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
6. Moran, Malcolm (March 18, 1989). "N.C.A.A. Tournament: East; Georgetown Survives Princeton Scare". The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
7. Moran, Malcolm (March 18, 1989). "College Basketball; Tenacious Princeton Defies Expectations". The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
8. 2009–10 Ivy League Basketball Media Guide. p. 49. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
9. "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 48. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
10. "Princeton Upsets South Carolina". The New York Times. December 31, 1988. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
11. "PRINCETON NOT AWED, KNOWS ODDS". The Washington Post. March 16, 1989. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
12. "The Game That Saved March Madness". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 16, 2020.