SACRAMENTO, CA — Missouri has a Saturday date in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with….Princeton.
The 15th-seeded Tigers from the Ivy League held second-seeded Arizona to six points over the final 11 minutes and used an 18-4 finish to advance to the next round with a 59-55 win. It was Princeton’s first win in the tournament since knocking off UNLV in 1998.
“We were just trying to get it to four with four minutes left. We were hanging on,” head coach Mitch Henderson said. “Then we fought, which is what we've been able to do lately. We fought really hard. I thought the last five minutes of the game, two threes wide open that would have gotten us a lead.
“I was just so happy for them.”
Tosan Evbuomwan was the only Tiger in double figures. He finished with 15 points.
"Pretty surreal feeling. To beat a great team like that on this stage is a pretty special feeling,” Matt Allocco said. “But also I can't say I'm surprised. This team has been so good all year, so gritty. On paper, it's going to look like a big upset. But we believe in each other and we think we're a really good team. When we're at our best, then I think we can beat anybody in the country.”
Princeton will get its next chance to do just that when it faces Mizzou on Saturday. Game times have not yet been determined. Missouri advanced to the game with a 76-65 win over Utah State, led by 21 points from D’Moi Hodge and 19 from Kobe Brown. Mizzou is 25-9 this season.
Princeton is now 22-8 this year. Thursday’s win was by far its best of the year. Arizona came in ranked tenth in both the NET and Kenpom. The only other top 100 teams the Tigers had faced all season were Yale, Iona and Hofstra. Princeton went 1-4 in those games, the lone win coming over Yale in the Ivy League Tournament to earn their spot in the field this week.
The only common opponent between the two teams is Penn. Princeton beat Penn three times this year. Mizzou took out the Quakers 92-85 in the second game of the season in Columbia.
“The majority of our games in our league are back-to-backs. The day preparation is quite nice. We'll enjoy an extra few hours,” Henderson said. “Missouri is really good, really good. They're playing great. We caught a little bit of the end of their game. It will be a fun challenge.”
PowerMizzou.com will have full coverage from Sacramento through the weekend starting with media day for both teams on Friday.
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