No. 15 Princeton’s late flurry KO’s No. 2 Arizona
SACRAMENTO, Calif.– Nearly 3 decades since he helped Princeton to a legendary competition upset of UCLA as a player, coach Mitch Henderson once again has his hands on a piece of history as the No. 15-seeded Tigers surprised No. 2 Arizona 59-55 on Thursday.
“I’ve been the beneficiary of that game [against UCLA], together with my teammates, for a long time,” Henderson said of Princeton’s upset as a No. 13 seed in 1996. “However I’m the coach here and my charge– I’m very present about this– is I desire that for them. That’s very, extremely basic. And they did that today. They made numerous individuals happy and delighted today. They deserve it.”
The Tigers’ upset marked the third straight year and 11th time general that a No. 15 seed won a first-round game.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Understanding
how they pulled
it off is a bit more difficult. The Tigers routed by 10 with 8 minutes to play, didn’t make a totally free throw until there were 21 seconds left and shot simply 4-of-25 from 3-point range. This all versus an Arizona group that is extremely more athletic at every position and has 3 players in its eight-man rotation who are 6-foot-11 or taller.None of that mattered. Princeton outrebounded Arizona 38-37, had 6 blocks to Arizona
‘s one and was much more energetic, especially in the second half.”It may be an upset on paper and to the country, however it is not to us, “Henderson said.Arizona ended up being
the first team in NCAA tournament history with multiple losses to 15 seeds in any round.
The Wildcats also fell to Steve Nash and 15-seed Santa Clara in the opening round of the 1993 tournament.For Arizona, which strove for a deep tournament follow winning the Pac-12 tournament, the loss represented an exceptionally disappointing end to what was mostly a great season.”There’s going to be some bad with a great deal of good [at Arizona] and I’m built for it,”second-year coach Tommy Lloyd said.”This is gon na be a small
setback. I imply this– not for me. I’m just unfortunate for these guys. They do not get to experience how unique an NCAA run is. Since these men were developed to do that and we ran into a great team today that, that made all the right plays at the correct time and we weren’t able to separate from them enough. “Lloyd didn’t have doubts about his strategy, which sought to exploit the Wildcats’ benefit down low, however revealed some surprise at the way the game was officiated.”
You sit here in my seat. You have an All-American huge guy, an all-conference big guy, you go within over and over and over and over once again and shoot seven complimentary throws,” he stated.
“I don’t understand if they’re fouls or not, but– they need to not have been because clearly they didn’t get called. When the game is reffed like that, it makes it tough. You have an advantage that gets– either they’re actually physical and not fouling or they’re not calling the fouls. And, and I have not evaluated the game, so I’m not saying one method or another, however it inconveniences.”Princeton was led by English forward Tosan Evbuomwan, who scored 15 points with 7 rebounds and 4 helps. It will play No. 7 Missouri in the 2nd round Friday.Princeton won as a 16-point underdog, providing the Tigers the largest upset success by an Ivy League team given that the NCAA tournament broadened in 1985, according to ESPN Statistics & Details. That record was formerly held by Harvard, which beat New Mexico as a 10.5-point underdog in 2013.