The 2003–04 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in intercollegiate

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

during the

2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2003, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on Ap ...

. The

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

was

John Thompson III John Robert Thompson III (born March 11, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and executive who has been the assistant coach for the United States men's national basketball team since 2017. He previously served as the head coach of ...

and the team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

s were Ed Persia and Judson Wallace. The team played its home games in the

Jadwin Gymnasium The L. Stockwell Jadwin Gymnasium is a 6,854-seat multi-purpose arena at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the Princeton Tigers college basketball teams. It replaced Dillon Gymnasium, the ho ...

on the university campus in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, and was the champion of the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

, which earned them an invitation to the 65-team

2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 2004, and ended with the champions ...

where they were seeded fourteenth in the Atlanta Region. Following the season Thompson departed to coach Georgetown where his father John Thompson Jr. had coached for decades. He was replaced by Joe Scott. Both Scott and the younger Thompson are former Princeton Tigers basketball captains. Using the

Princeton offense The Princeton offense is an offensive basketball strategy which emphasizes constant motion, back-door cuts, picks on and off the ball, and disciplined teamwork. It was used and perfected at Princeton University by Pete Carril, though its roots m ...

, the team posted a 20–8 overall record and a 13–1 conference record. Princeton clinched the Ivy League title on March 6, 2004, at , making the March 9 annual Ivy League season finale contest against meaningless. Nonetheless, the Tigers defeated Penn 76–70 in

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

giving them a nine-game winning streak as they entered the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. In its March 18, 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Atlanta Regional first-round game against the

Brandon Mouton Brandon Prescott Mouton (born August 18, 1981) is an American former college basketball player. After playing high school basketball at St. Thomas More Catholic High School (Louisiana), St. Thomas More Catholic in Lafayette, Louisiana, Mouton sign ...

-led

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

at the

Pepsi Center Ball Arena (formerly known as the Pepsi Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is situated at Speer Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in downtown Denver, and is served by two nearby exits off Int ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado the team lost by a 66–49 margin. The team was led by first team All-Ivy League selections

Will Venable William Dion Venable (born October 29, 1982) is an American professional baseball manager and former outfielder and coach who is the manager of the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Tex ...

and Judson Wallace.

Schedule and results

The team posted a 20–8 (13–1 Ivy League) record. , - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Princeton Tigers Men's Basketball Team Princeton Tigers men's basketball seasons

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...