The Crimson attempted to slow the big man with a variety of defenders—including Casey, sophomore Keith Wright, and Lin—but had little success. Three of Casey’s fouls came when guarding Maddox, and Wright experienced difficulties keeping up with the junior as well. When faced with Harvard’s wings, Maddox used his body to either convert inside or get to the free throw line.
“The kid Maddox is such a tough player, a tough guard,” Amaker said. “If you got a big guy on him, he’s really good with the ball, and if you try to go a little smaller to stay in front of him, he goes into the post.”
The impressive performance came as no surprise, considering that Maddox tore apart the Crimson to the tune of 14 points in the teams’ previous matchup last month.
Maddox received no breathers on the defensive end, as he was assigned the duty of guarding Lin. With the help of Princeton’s team defense, Maddox was able to hassle the headliner and keep him off-balance.
“His length is something we don’t have at any other spot,” Tigers coach Sidney Johnson said. “Kareem is long and able to disturb people.”
—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.