Pierce and Princeton host Harvard

Updated Jan. 5, 2024 3:43 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Harvard Crimson (9-4) at Princeton Tigers (12-1)

Princeton, New Jersey; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Princeton hosts the Harvard Crimson after Caden Pierce scored 21 points in Princeton's 84-82 win against the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens.

The Tigers are 5-0 in home games. Princeton ranks fourth in the Ivy League with 15.5 assists per game led by Matt Allocco averaging 3.5.

The Crimson have gone 3-2 away from home. Harvard is fourth in the Ivy League with 25.0 defensive rebounds per game led by Justice Ajogbor averaging 5.3.

Princeton makes 47.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 6.2 percentage points higher than Harvard has allowed to its opponents (41.4%). Harvard averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 more made shots on average than the 6.5 per game Princeton allows.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Xaivian Lee is scoring 17.0 points per game with 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the Tigers. Pierce is averaging 14.3 points and eight rebounds over the past 10 games for Princeton.

Malik Mack is shooting 47.3% and averaging 20.1 points for the Crimson. Louis Lesmond is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Harvard.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 9-1, averaging 80.4 points, 35.9 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 6.2 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 47.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.8 points per game.

Crimson: 6-4, averaging 70.7 points, 34.2 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 5.4 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.3 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.