15-ranked Princeton shocked No. 2 Arizona with a 59-55 first-round win in the South Region on Thursday.
Kaden Pearce hit two free throws in 17 seconds to go up three, and Toussaint Evpoumouane made a free throw with three seconds left to put the Tigers on ice. both of them Courtney Ramey And Kerr Kriisa missed the Wildcats’ game-tying threes between trips to the line as Arizona was in the midst of an incredibly long struggle.
It is the third year in a row that the No. 15 seed has been knocked out by the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Men’s Tournament. St. Peter’s defeated Kentucky in 2022 during their improbable run to the Elite Eight and Oral Roberts defeated Ohio State in the 2021 championship.
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The pitcher gave Arizona a 49-39 lead with 11 minutes left in the game and it looked like the Wildcats could keep Princeton at bay for the win. However, this assumption was based on the belief that Arizona could continue making baskets at a decent rate.
This did not happen. The Wildcats scored just six points in the final 11 minutes of the game and made six turnovers. All three baskets in the last 11 minutes were layups. Arizona got cold from anywhere out of the lane and allowed Princeton to claw its way back into the game.
Princeton didn’t hit the ball very well either. The usual formula for upset in the NCAA Tournament is for the lower seeded team to shoot well from three. Princeton was only 4 of 25 from behind the arc. Fourth three came off Blake Peters with 6:29 to go and cut Arizona’s lead to 51-48.
Princeton took the lead for the first time in each game with 2:03 left when Ryan Langborg scored on a trip to the basket. That basket was booked by the Arizona turnover. Azuolas Tubelis stripped to go-ahead for Langborg and then Kriisa turned it over after a jump ball.
Arizona has six chances to take the lead in the final two minutes. The Wildcats missed five shots and made two turns.
While Princeton has only made four triples, Arizona has only made three. The Wildcats were 3-of-16 from deep, meaning the two teams combined to shoot 7-of-41 from just three. However, they both shot over 40% from the field overall thanks to their baskets made into the rim.
Princeton plays No. 7 Missouri on Saturday. The Tigers upset No. 10 Utah for the school’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2010. The winner will advance to the Sweet 16.
Princeton has another signature disorder
Thursday’s game was Princeton’s first NCAA Tournament game since 2017 and their first NCAA Tournament win since 1998 when they beat UNLV as a No. 5 seed.
Two years before the victory over the Rebels, Princeton delivered one of the biggest moments in modern men’s tournament history with a 43-41 win as the #13 seed over #4 UCLA. The victory came in legendary coach Pete Carrell’s final season with the team, as the Tigers won the championship to cap a career spanning four decades and 775 games.
This win is a literal bracket combination for Few people have perfect arches left at Yahoo’s Tourney Pick’Em. Thanks to upset wins by Princeton and Furman during Thursday’s first game session, only 0.06% of users have corrected all of their NCAA tournament predictions.
