KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Princeton’s task of winning a game against a very strong field of mid-majors at the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational got even tougher when leading scorer Dalen Davis was ruled out due to the right ankle injury he suffered last week.
Without Davis and his nearly 17 points per game, the Tigers didn’t have the firepower to stay with Bradley in the second half and fell, 88-64, in their first of three games at State Farm Field House on Monday night.
Jack Stanton kept Princeton (3-4) attached in the opening 20 minutes with a 16-point outburst, but the Braves (3-3), who led by six at intermission after a pair of 3s in the final minute, clamped down on the sophomore sharpshooter in the second half and held him scoreless as they pulled away.
Bradley’s leading scorer Jaquan Johnson had more fouls (2) than points (1) in the first half, but he spearheaded a second half in which the Missouri Valley Conference team outscored the Tigers by 18 points. Johnson had 12 of his 13 points in the second half, including nine straight for the Braves as they lit up the scoreboard in the first four minutes to push the lead from six to 14.
Bradley also had 10 of its 14 steals — it forced 24 turnovers in total — in the second half. That resulted in a 13-0 edge in fastbreak points for the game.
Montana Wheeler ended up with a team-high 16 points and Timoty van der Knapp scored 15 for the Braves.
Jackson Hicke joined Stanton in double figures with 15 points for the Tigers.
Princeton plays Temple — a 91-76 loser to UC San Diego — in the consolation bracket on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. They will play again on Dec. 22 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
No. 17 Tennessee 85, Rutgers 60
LAS VEGAS — Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 32 point and Nate Ament added 20 to help No. 17 Tennessee defeat Rutgers in the first day of play at the Players Era tournament.
Gillespie made six 3-pointers in the game. Felix Okpara and J.P. Estrella each scored 10 points, while Okpara and Cade Phillips had seven rebounds apiece.
For Rutgers, freshman Harun Zarno led the way with 14 points while J.R. Buchanan added 13 and Dylan Grant scored 10.
Rutgers stayed within 10 points through the first 12 minutes of the first half, but Tennessee went on a 17-8 run in the next 2:40 to build a 41-22 lead. In that span, Ament scored nine points. Tennessee extended the lead to 56-30 at the half.
The Volunteers built their lead to 30 points with 12:06 left in the game at 70-40 on a 3-pointer from Gillespie. Shortly afterwards, coach Rick Barnes made wholesale changes to the lineup.
Tennessee shot 50.8% from the field, including 50% (11-for-22) from 3-point range. The Volunteers out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights 43-28 and forced 13 turnovers.
Rutgers shot only 36.5% from the field (19-for-52).
Tennessee plays No. 2 Houston in the Players Era tournament on Tuesday. Rutgers will play Notre Dame.
Seton Hall 85, No. 23 N.C. State 74
LAHAINA, Hawaii — A.J. Staton-McCray scored 22 points to lead Seton Hall to a win over No. 23 North Carolina State in a Maui Invitational quarterfinal.
The Pirates (6-0) led the Wolfpack (4-1) for all but the first three minutes, going up by as many as 18 points.
Staton-McCray shot 7 of 11 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds.
Mike Williams scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half, Elijah Fisher and Adam Clark added 13 points apiece, Tajuan Simpkins 11 and Najai Hines 10 for Seton Hall, which shot 29 of 56 (51.8%) from the field and 20 of 24 (83.3%) on free throws.
Ven-Allen Lubin scored 16 points with nine rebounds to lead N.C. State and Matt Able added 15 points.
Darrion Williams, who was tabbed ACC preseason player of the year, was held to 12 points. Tre Holloman added 11 points for the Wolfpack.
Seton Hall took its largest lead at 69-51 when Staton-McCray knocked down both ends of a one-and-one bonus with 7:26 left to play.
The Pirates recorded nine blocks and scored 19 points off turnovers. They held a 22-7 advantage over the Wolfpack in fast break points.
Seton Hall led 35-33 at halftime, but opened the second half with a 16-2 run.
N.C. State entered the game averaging 100.8 points per game.
Seton Hall held its first five opponents to 54.6 points per game, the third-best mark nationally.
The Pirates are off to their best start to a season since 2014, when they won their first seven.
