WEST LONG BRANCH — Caden Pierce wasn’t sure when it happened, but he woke up one morning with a couple scratches on his face.

Would you really expect anything less?

Pierce scored 20 points and hauled down 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and Princeton pulled away from Monmouth for an 82-57 victory to remain undefeated on Saturday afternoon at the OceanFirst Bank Center.

“I embrace it,” Pierce said. “I call it gritty.”

Gritty is a good way to described the sophomore forward, who has continued to blossom after earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season. He already set a new career-high in points with 26 in a win over Hofstra and is averaging 12 rebounds per game, which ranks among the top-10 nationally.

“Cade goes up for rebounds and somebody else gets their hands on it and he always comes up with it,” coach Mitch Henderson said. “It’s like a gift from the heavens for the rest of us.”

There was no better example of that than the closing stretch of the first half when Pierce scored the final seven points as Princeton built an 11-point cushion. That was the exclamation mark on an extended 21-5 push after somewhat sluggish start enabled Monmouth (1-2) to grab an early lead.

Matt Allocco added 19 points, Xaivian Lee finished with 14 and Zach Martini had 10 to help the Tigers (4-0) stay perfect.

“Every day we approach practice with the same mindset that we have to get better every single day,” Pierce said. “Nobody is expecting anything. We know we have to come in and work hard every day because every game is going to be hard. We have a target on our back.”

The Tigers have embraced having that target. Every arena they walk into everybody mentions last season’s Sweet 16 run.

That was no different on Saturday against a much-improved Monmouth from the one Princeton beat by 37 a year ago at Jadwin.
But anytime the Hawks made a mini-run, the Tigers had an answer. Whether it was a Martini 3-pointer or a Lee drive or a Pierce offensive rebound there was always an answer.

“We just hit shots when we need it,” Pierce said. “That boils down to having guys in this program who work hard. They come in ang get extra shots before and after practice. That’s just the culture we have here. Guys just make shots in timely moments.”

Sure, they make shots, but there’s also something there that doesn’t show up on any stat sheet.

“The group has a gigantic will to win,” Henderson said.

The Tigers, because of that, may be even better than last year.

“It took some figuring out in preseason,” Pierce said. “Ever since that first game, we have a new identity and know who we are.”