# 2003–04 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team

The 2003–04 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was John Thompson III and the team captains were Ed Persia and Judson Wallace. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey, and was the champion of the Ivy League, which earned them an invitation to the 65-team 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 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 team posted a 20–8 overall record and a 13–1 conference record. Princeton clinched the Ivy League title on March 6, 2004, at Dartmouth, making the March 9 annual Ivy League season finale contest against Penn meaningless. Nonetheless, the Tigers defeated Penn 76–70 in overtime 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-led Texas Longhorns at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado the team lost by a 66–49 margin.
The team was led by first team All-Ivy League selections Will Venable and Judson Wallace.

## Schedule and results

The team posted a 20–8 (13–1 Ivy League) record.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 21, 2003* | | Colgate | W 73–64 | 1–0 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Nov 28, 2003* | | Holy Cross | W 61–55 | 2–0 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Dec 2, 2003* | | at Maryland-Baltimore County | W 68–56 | 3–0 | RAC Arena Catonsville, Maryland |
| Dec 5, 2003* | | vs. UC Irvine McCaffrey Classic | L 55–57 | 3–1 | Save Mart Center Fresno, California |
| Dec 6, 2003* | | at Fresno State McCaffrey Classic | W 72–67 | 4–1 | Save Mart Center Fresno, California |
| Dec 13, 2003* | | at Rutgers | L 49–51 | 4–2 | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Dec 17, 2003* | | at No. 3 Duke | L 51–69 | 4–3 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| Dec 22, 2003* | | Lafayette | L 44–47 | 4–4 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Dec 29, 2003* | | at Loyola (MD) | W 74–54 | 5–4 | Reitz Arena Baltimore, Maryland |
| Jan 3, 2004* | | vs. No. 7 Oklahoma Touchstone Energy All-College Classic | L 55–58 | 5–5 | Ford Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Jan 7, 2004* | | Monmouth | W 67–52 | 6–5 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Jan 10, 2004* | | at Minnesota | L 53–57 | 6–6 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 26, 2004* | | Southern Vermont | W 86–48 | 7–6 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Jan 30, 2004 | | at Brown | W 64–49 | 8–6 (1–0) | Pizzitola Sports Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| Jan 31, 2004 | | at Yale | W 49–47 | 9–6 (2–0) | John J. Lee Amphitheater New Haven, Connecticut |
| Feb 6, 2004 | | Dartmouth | W 61–45 | 10–6 (3–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 7, 2004 | | Harvard | W 58–50 $^{2OT}$ | 11–6 (4–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 10, 2004 | | Penn | L 52–67 | 11–7 (4–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 13, 2004 | | at Cornell | W 69–64 | 12–7 (5–1) | Newman Arena Ithaca, New York |
| Feb 14, 2004 | | at Columbia | W 78–71 $^{OT}$ | 13–7 (6–1) | Levien Gymnasium New York, New York |
| Feb 20, 2004 | | Yale | W 70–58 | 14–7 (7–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 21, 2004 | | Brown | W 68–61 | 15–7 (8–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 27, 2004 | | Columbia | W 75–52 | 16–7 (9–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 28, 2004 | | Cornell | W 59–46 | 17–7 (10–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Mar 5, 2004 | | at Harvard | W 60–51 | 18–7 (11–1) | Lavietes Pavilion Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Mar 6, 2004 | | at Dartmouth | W 64–59 | 19–7 (12–1) | Leede Arena Hanover, New Hampshire |
| Mar 9, 2004 | | at Penn | W 76–70 $^{OT}$ | 20–7 (13–1) | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 18, 2004* | (14 ATL) | vs. (3 ATL) No. 12 Texas First round | L 49–66 | 20–8 | The Pepsi Center Denver, Colorado |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ATL=Atlanta. All times are in EST. ||||||