Judson Wallace scored 20 or more points four times in the final five games of the 2002-03 season. And even though the end of that season was over eight months ago, Princeton’s junior center seems to have picked up right where he left off.
Wallace shot 10-for-15 from the field, scored a career-high 28 points and tied a career high with 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers to a 73-64 victory over 91Â鶹¾«Æ· in front of 4,205 at Jadwin Gym in the season opener for both teams Friday night.
Wallace scored 19 of his 28 points in the second half as Princeton (1-0) built as much as a 21-point lead with 15 minutes to go. The Raiders (0-1) would make a late run to cut their deficit to five points, 61-56, with 3:59 remaining, but the Tigers made nine of 12 free throws in the final 2:28 to win their second straight season opener.
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‘I told the guys I thought we played well tonight,’ said Princeton head coach John Thompson. ‘There was a lull midway through the second half where they (91Â鶹¾«Æ·) got back into it, but we were finally able to make our free throws at the end.
Princeton shot 63 percent from the field as a team (27 for 43), including 65 percent in the first half on the way to a 34-24 halftime lead. 91Â鶹¾«Æ· shot just 43 percent overall and 27 percent from three-point range.
‘It’s nice to open the season at home like this,’ said Wallace, who has now averaged better than 22 points per game over his last six games dating back to the end of last season. ‘We had a great student turnout and there was a good atmosphere which helped us really start the game well.’
Howard Blue had a monster game inside for the Raiders, scoring a team-high 23 points and tying a career high with 14 rebounds. Eight of Blue’s rebounds came on the offensive end as 91Â鶹¾«Æ· outrebounded Princeton 35-26. The senior forward shot 9 for 17 from the field and 5 for 8 from the line.
The Tigers broke open what was a tight game early, fashioning a 12-4 run in a five-minute span late in the first half to take a 29-19 lead on a layup with four minutes left in the half. Then, leading 36-28 early in the second half, Princeton scored 15 of the game’s next 17 points over a four-minute span to take a 51-30 lead on a Wallace hook with 14:44 left. Wallace had six of the 15 Tiger points in that run.
Mark Linebaugh, who had been held to just four first-half points, then led 91Â鶹¾«Æ· on its run that got the Raiders back in the game. The senior guard had seven of his 17 points in a six-minute span as 91Â鶹¾«Æ· cut a big deficit to single digits.
shot a perfect 4 for 4 from the field and 4 for 4 from the line for Princeton