NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Twenty-three times Princeton al ready has been to the NCAA tournament, yet when Doug Davis beat Harvard and the buzzer yesterday you would have thought it was the first.
Davis disappeared under an orange-and-black mob even faster than the famed program went under in the last decade, got pummeled harder than Harvard, which had taken a 62-61 lead on Brandyn Curry’s lay-in with 11 seconds remaining, took the loss, never mind its already-assured share of the school’s first Ivy League championship ever.
“I fell on the ground after making it,” said Davis, “Worst decision I ever made.
“Should have stayed on my feet and ran out.”
The Princeton fans would have chased him down Grove Street, all the way down I-95 and back to campus regardless.
Davis’ fade, after taking a throw-in from Dan Mavraides, after ducking Harvard’s Oliver McNally, all after being snuffed out of bounds by Kyle Casey with four seconds remaining, was the most dramatic shot of the junior guard’s life. Yet it probably no more important than the corner 3 he hit with 5:50 to play giving Princeton, which had been down eight, its first second half lead at 51-50.
A team that shot 37 percent this season from behind the arc had hit just one trey at that point, Davis a principal among the brick tossers. But relentless board work and four fouls in eight minutes picked up by Harvard big man Keith Wright kept the Tigers breathing until Davis fearlessly hit those points from the corner.
He then drove to hit two free throws with 2:23 to go to put Princeton back in the lead again.
“Some go in and some don’t,” he said. “If I miss 99 out of 100 it’s not going to change my confidence.”
Princeton’s had plummeted all the way to 6-23 when Davis arrived out of Philadelphia, with a year’s stop at The Hun School. Debuting with 26 points in the season-opening win over Central Michigan, he fearlessly shot the Tigers out of its grown-stale era of the back-door cut and kick-out three.
“Since the day he got here he has shown people we have a dynamic offense, not just walk-it-up-wind-the-shot-clock down-offense,” said coach Sydney Johnson. “And he’s been so good as a freshman and sophomore that he has been overlooked as a junior.
“He is one of its top 14 or 15 players in the league. And he played with a swagger on Tuesday [when Princeton rallied in the second half at Penn to force yesterday’s playoff].
“Some guys who have been acknowledged, their season is over, but we’re riding him to The Dance.”
Had Davis decided not to celebrate on his back, the Princeton community would have carried him on its shoulders to that dance. Two Ivy teams with RPIs worthy of two NCAA bids for the Ancient Eight put on back-and-forth classic yesterday that the last shot won. And Princeton did because Doug Davis was that shooter.
“The [play] was Dan’s (inbounder Mavraides) read and it was a good read,” said Davis. “At first I thought they would deny me the ball but I was able to get free, got a screen Will [Barrett]. I saw [McNally] flash by] was able to get a couple dribbles. I knew I got it off in time.”
Three years before the officials checked the monitor to make absolutely sure of that, Davis arrived in Princeton in perfect time to start the revival culminating yesterday.
“I knew the program wasn’t where it normally is,” Davis said. “But I also knew hard work and dedication would put us back on top.”