Men.27s basketball Princeton–Rutgers rivalry

as of 2016–17 season, rutgers princeton s most-played out-of-conference opponent. in series dating 1916–17 season , last played in 2013–14 season, princeton has 75–45 series lead.

the princeton tigers men s basketball began varsity competition in 1900–01 season, , rutgers scarlet knights men s basketball team began competition in basketball in 1906–07 season queensmen, before mascot became scarlet knights effective in 1955–56 season. first head-to-head matchup on february 22, 1917, 36–17 win princeton. series continued through 1919–20 season , went on hiatus before resuming 1922–23 season played annually 1926–27 through 1994–95 seasons.

the february 2, 1976 princeton–rutgers matchup had associated press 15th-ranked princeton hosting fifth-ranked rutgers in jadwin gym. in recap of game, new york times described princeton offense: down 2 points 11½ minutes go, coach pete carril of princeton ordered weaving, ballhandling slowdown kill time , set perfect shots. in contrast, rutgers played more uptempo offense under head coach tom young. on 16-game winning streak, rutgers won 75–62 before sellout crowd of 7,556, first sellout @ jadwin in 4 years.

the 2 teams meet again on march 13, 1976 @ providence civic center in providence, rhode island, in first round of ncaa tournament. down 10 in second half, princeton rallied pull within 54–53 4 seconds remaining, when eddie jordan of rutgers fouled princeton reserve guard pete molloy. rutgers coach tom young called 2 timeouts before molloy attempted front end of one-and-one free throws. molloy missed, , rutgers guard mike dabney grabbed rebound secure 54–53 win. rutgers advanced final 4 round, in michigan snapped scarlet knights 30-game winning streak. jordan went on play in nba , served rutgers head coach 2013 2016.

due scheduling problems related rutgers moving atlantic 10 conference big east conference, series went on hiatus 1995–96 season. series resumed in 1996–97 season , continued played annually through 2013–14 season. princeton beat rutgers 78–73 @ louis brown athletic center on december 11, 2013 in game trentonian dubbed battle new jersey.

on march 30, 2014, home news tribune reported princeton , rutgers not play each other in upcoming season , princeton coach mitch henderson expressed hope series resume in near future. series not played in 2015–16 season.

in 2016, rutgers hired steve pikiell head coach after firing jordan. asbury park press columnist jerry carino wrote: there hope rutgers’ hiring of steve pikiell...will open door princeton. carino added: rutgers, it’s bad state university dodge century-old rival because beat couple of times. ultimately, series not scheduled in 2016–17 season.