Princeton Takes Down Columbia, 81-74

Sunday, February 9

New York, N.Y.

2:00 P.M.

Columbia University

6-16,1-5Ivy League

Princeton

10-9,5-1Ivy League

Princeton

Columbia

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

2/9/2020 4:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (.pdf)Highlights

Mike Smith reached the 30-point plateau for the second time this season, but the Tigers had five in double-figures to take the win.

NEW YORK — Mike Smith posted 30 points, but Princeton used five double-figure scorers to come away with an 81-74 victory over the Columbia men's basketball team Sunday afternoon. Jaelin Llewellyn led the Tigers (10-9, 5-1) with 19 points, going 10-of-10 from the foul line, to go with six rebounds.

Smith was 14-of-25 from the floor, doing most of his work in the paint. He also picked up a season-high four steals. Ike Nweke notched 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Tai Bibbs and Jack Forrest rounded out the Lions' (6-16, 1-5) top scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Bibbs and Smith combined for Columbia's first seven points and they jumped out to an early five-point lead. However, Drew Friberg drew a hoop and harm to give Princeton its first lead, 10-9, with 11:57 left in the first half. The Lions drew even three times over the next several minutes, but Jerome Desrosiers went on a personal 8-0 run to give the Tigers a 38-31 advantage at intermission.

The teams traded buckets over the first several minutes of the second half and a pair of Randy Brumant free throws closed the gap to 43-39 at the 16:44 mark. The deficit remained four just over three minutes later until five-straight from the Tigers pushed the margin to 58-49 with 10:59 on the clock.

Columbia pulled within four on two more occasions, but each time Princeton had an answer. A Smith layup made it 70-66 with 3:22 to go before Ryan Schwieger converted on a triple from the corner to restore order on the Tigers' side. Richmond Aririguzoh effectively put the game out of reach with a dunk with 45 seconds left.

The Lions were just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc, which set season-lows for makes, attempts and percentage. Princeton was 6-of-19 from downtown.

The Lions will have a Valentine's Day date with Dartmouth on Friday, February 14 at 7 p.m. Fans can catch all the action on ESPN+.

Tickets for upcoming home games are available by visiting gocolumbialions.com/tickets or calling 888-LIONS-11.

For the latest on the Columbia men's basketball, follow @CULionsMBB on Twitter and Instagram, and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.