His coach likens him to a cartoon character but Princeton University men’s basketball player Henry Caruso certainly didn’t leave Penn laughing last Saturday.
When asked about sophomore Caruso in the wake of his career-best and game-high 23-point performance off the bench in Princeton’s come-from-behind 78-74 win over Penn before a crowd of 2,473 at Jadwin Gym, Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson quipped that the energetic Caruso reminded him of the Tasmanian Devil character.
“He played the same way in high school, I call him the whirling dervish,” said Henderson. “I am beginning to think if you opened him up you would see that his heart is a little bigger than most people. He is a 6’4 power forward.”
Penn coach Jerome Allen certainly took notice of the heart displayed by Caruso, who came into the evening averaging 3.7 points a game in 8.4 minutes.
“He played a 4, he played a 2, he defended at the top of 1-3-1, he defended a 5,” said Allen. “I give him all the credit in the world, I have nothing but utmost respect for how he approached it because his game was pretty much that he was just tougher than everybody else on the floor.”
Princeton displayed a lot of mental toughness collectively as it battled back from a 58-43 deficit with 13:35 left in regulation to pull out the victory in the Ivy League opener for both teams.
“We were fortunate to get a win, I am proud of our guys for not going away and staying with the plan,” said Henderson, whose team improved to 7-9 overall and 1-0 Ivy League with the win.
“We tried about five different defenses; we could not stop (Darien) Nelson-Henry and then all of a sudden we got stops. The nice thing was that we continued to score and we were going to the free throw line which kept us in the game. We were about to get run out of the gym so I think this was a helluva win for us.”
Henderson credited Caruso with triggering the run as he ended up going 14-of-16 from the free throw line.
“Henry was terrific and for two games in a row; we have been missing Steve (Cook), he’s been under the weather,” said Henderson.
“It is nice to have someone coming off the bench that gives you the attacking the basket mentality, which is what this game called for all the way. We had to go inside; we had to be physical going to the rim because that is the way the game was going.”
Caruso, for his part, was ready to mix it up inside. “I think just being aggressive was the key and just going up strong,” said the 6’4, 190-pound Caruso, a native of San Mateo, Calif. who was later named Ivy Player of the week.
“Penn has got those big guys down low with Nelson-Henry and (Greg) Louis. I think my teammates were finding me really well and that was effective. By staying aggressive it allowed us to play tough and strong. I think that is what this game really needed.”
Senior Ben Hazel, who began the year as a starter but has been mired to the bench recently, showed good aggressiveness when he got a shot to play.
“Ben has a lot of reasons to be upset at the coach but I thought he handled himself like a senior and a true professional tonight,” said Henderson. “He made a huge three in front of our bench and then made his free throws and got some really big steals when we needed him.”
Hazel wasn’t thinking about his lack of playing time when he hit the court.
“You always have to be ready, that’s how it has been this year,” said Hazel, who contributed seven points and three steals in 16 minutes of action.
“Coach always says next man up. In the end, you are out there and it is basketball. It is us versus Penn, you have got to stop (Tony) Hicks and have got to do different things. That is pretty much all you think about when you are out on the court.”
Sophomore guard Spencer Weisz, who contributed 20 points, said that Hazel’s play changed the tone of the contest.
“To be honest, it was Ben, when he came in,” said Weisz. “Coach always mentions having a teeth to our defense and when Ben came in, he got one early steal and you could tell the momentum swung so heavy in our favor. They wanted no part of him and once that kind of gets going, it is contagious. We stuck with man throughout the whole game. When Ben came in the game it just swung in our favor.”
With his team going on exam break and not returning to action until hosting Rowan on January 25, Henderson believes the win over Penn was particularly important.
“We are going into a really long break,” said Henderson. “We have been on both ends of it, we have lost our first game. Going into this break, we are in a good position here, just being 1-0.”
Although his players will be preoccupied with their studies over the next two weeks, Henderson believes the team can sill make progress during the hiatus.
“The guys, after all, are going to a good school and they have got exams and those exams are important,” added Henderson, a 1998 Princeton alum and former Tiger men’s basketball star.
“The main thing is that when you are up there, you study and when you come down here, you make shots and get rebounds.”