PRINCETON — Notice has been served. Princeton is so back. Jackson Hicke scored a career-best 27 points, Dalen Davis netted 17 and the Tigers beat unanimous Ivy League favorite Yale, 76-60, on Saturday afternoon at Jadwin Gymnasium. Princeton (6-11, 2-0) has won three straight after it snapped an e ight-game skid with a victory in the final non-conference game. More importantly, it has won its first two Ivy contests. “We’re really thankful for the opportunity that it is almost like a second season now,” Hicke said. “We grew a lot in those first 15 games and now is when we are really starting to learn how to win. The whole team today, top to bottom, the focus was there. We guarded as a team and we did what we needed to win. One-hundred percent we’re trying to let everyone know that we’re definitely contending for a title this year.” Hicke was the star man as the Tigers produced yet another huge second half — they have piled up 54 points in the second half of the last two games — and junior from Radnor, Pa., tallied 23 of his 27 after intermission. “We talk about getting better throughout the course of the game,” Hicke said. “… Halftime is a really good time to look at it overall and really assess it. We do a really good job of coming out strong those first four minutes after halftime (because) those are some of the most important minutes of the game.” Hicke scored from the post, from beyond the 3-point line (3-of-5) and showed off his handle with a nifty spin move to the goal. “He can do it all,” sophomore forward Malik Abdullahi said. “He plays inside-out, he can get you in the post, can knock down 3s … a little bit of everything, versatile, it makes it hard to guard.” The Bulldogs (12-3, 1-1) arrived on Old Nassau as the top 3-point shooting team in the country at 42.6% and averaging 85.4 points per game, but made just 5-of-29 treys. The Tigers, on the other hand, were 11-of-27 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Abdullahi drew the primary assignment on standout forward Nick Townsend and helped hold the 6-7, 240-pounder to 13 points — three below his average. “I just saw white jerseys flying around all over the place, which is what you have to do,” coach Mitch Henderson said. “They got us by a little bit with some of their size and they are such physical team, but I thought we did a good job on Townsend.” Added Abdullahi: “The mindset coming in was just to be physical. I know he’s got me by a couple pounds, but I didn’t let that get to me. We emphasized the little things — arm bar, just being physical, being tougher, tendencies and things like that.” The Tigers asserted control with a rare 5-point play after Hicke hit a 3 and officials determined he was in the shooting motion while Jack Stanton (10 points) was fouled setting the screen. Stanton made both of the 1-and-1 free throws to give Princeton a 59-48 advantage with 3:32 remaining. “That was crazy,” Hicke said. Yale got three of those points back on the next possession, but Davis answered with a 3-ball and a fiery yell as if to say this team is fully back. “We put the guys through the ringer,” Henderson said. “We played without Dalen, and not that he’s a savior, but we need that balance, that spacing and that know-how. He’s played twice as many games as anybody else in the program.” ...read more read less