Tigers rebound from letdown at Cornell with win at Columbia

By Andrew Hefner (@Ahef_NJ)

NEW YORK — Princeton finally snapped a streak it had been looking to lose for far too long on Saturday night.

After a 23-point loss at Cornell Friday, the Tigers bounced back 24 hours later with an 80-68 victory at Columbia. The win marked Princeton’s first road win since February 2025, which, ironically enough, also came at Levien Gymnasium against the Lions.

“So happy, especially after last night,” head coach Mitch Henderson said after Princeton broke a four-way tie for third place in the Ivy League standings. “It wasn’t pretty. With Dalen (Davis) getting hurt, Jack Stanton on one leg getting 21, that’s a hell of a night.” 

Columbia, one of those four teams sitting at 3-3 entering the contest, took down Penn on Friday and was looking to complete the weekend Ivy sweep. The Lions began the game with three players over 6-foot-8, a mismatch that hurt Princeton off the glass early. CJ Happy started off scoring with a big three for the visiting side, but three straight Columbia buckets quickly flipped the script. 

“They’re outrebounding everybody, including us,” Henderson remarked. “But I thought we were tough in the right moments, we figured it out. It was a very, very physical game.” 

The big plays off the boards kept Columbia in control for much of the first half, eventually extending a nine-point lead as Princeton just could not collect the ball in the paint. Five Tiger turnovers did not ease the pain much, but rough Columbia shooting kept Princeton very much in the game. The Lions went on to shoot 7-for-28 from beyond the arc.

“We’ve been in that spot this season a lot,” Henderson admitted. “We saw, I think, very clearly, that we weren’t moving the way we wanted to move offensively.”

Princeton was able to readjust, however, and took advantage of Columbia’s poor form, going on an 8-0 run late in the first courtesy of a Dalen Davis layup sandwiched by two Jack Stanton triples. Stanton, one of Princeton’s best all-around players, had not cracked double-digit scoring in four games, but three huge shots from beyond the arc in the first left him awfully close.

“I didn’t have to do a whole lot,” explained Stanton. “I just had to sit there and wait until I was open. My teammates got me involved, so props to (Jackson) Hicke and Dalen. All those guys did the hard work for me, and I was able to just execute.”

The sophomore guard went on to double his three-point count in the second, helping Princeton lock down the win with 21 points, while cracking 20 points for just the second time in his career and setting a career high with six three-pointers.

“Yeah, he’s doing great,” said Henderson of how he felt about Stanton’s performance, “Like, God, on one leg too, and we had him guarding (Kenny) Noland for most of the night. Just a terrific night.”

Princeton erased the nine-point deficit with ease, but was not aided by a concerning injury off a made layup to junior Davis on the same leg that left him sidelined for much of the non-conference slate earlier this season. 

“He's sprained his ankle, so we’ll see,” Henderson revealed. “It’s the same one and it’s been an issue for us and him, but we’ve got a week here to get ourselves on the right track.”

Even without Davis for the remainder of the game, the shots kept falling all around the floor for the Tigers as Malik Abdullahi started his night 5-for-5 from the field and eventually finished with 15 points and a game-high seven rebounds, and Jackson Hicke put up 18 points of his own. Princeton ended the evening with a season high 57.1 percent field-goal mark and 53.3 percent from three. 

Kenny Noland did not make the second half easy for the Tigers, though, as the senior guard racked up ten points in the first eight minutes of the final frame to keep the Lions even. Eventually, an overwhelming run down the stretch from the visitors left Columbia stunned, and down by as much as 14 in the final minutes of the game. 

“I think, mentally, we’re in a great spot now,” said Stanton, “Obviously a tough one last night at Cornell, but to get the split on a tough road trip like this, it was big-time for us.”

The well-traveled Princeton faithful were loud through much of the night over a nearly sold-out Columbia crowd and exited into the frigid New York City night with a big Ivy League win under their belts. 

Princeton will now head to The Palestra to face Penn next week, leading the all-time series for the first time ever, and will be looking to complete the season sweep over its cross-river rival. The Tigers also move up the Ivy rankings with the win, now in a two-way tie for third, vying for one of the all-important four spots at Ivy Madness come early March. 

“I thought Columbia was terrific. Hand it to them,” said Henderson, “But then we had this awesome run right there that really was like a defining point for our season.”