In 2010, Ryan Langborg led Princeton’s men’s basketball team to their best ever finish in the Ivy League, securing fourth place with 22 points. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Princeton made history by defeating 7th seed Missouri 63-78, becoming the first ever 15th seed to reach the Sweet 16.
In the initial attack of the game, Missouri merely held the lead for 32 seconds and Princeton merely permitted them to be in charge. The Tigers verified on Saturday that they pose a significant danger in the diminishing group, as they held a lead of up to 21 in the latter half. This will mark Princeton’s inaugural entry into the Sweet 16 phase of the NCAA Tournament’s contemporary period.
Princeton will compete in the Elite Eight in Louisville on Friday for a position against either Baylor, the third seed, or Creighton, the sixth seed. This occurrence signifies the third consecutive year in which a team ranked fifteenth, following Saint Peter’s and Oral Roberts in 2022 and 2021 respectively, has advanced to the Sweet 16.
Princeton, which is coached by former star Mitch Henderson, began their dominant performance against No. 2 seed Arizona on Thursday with a 55-59 win. They used a 7-0 run before the first half to jump out to a late lead of 19 points, 33-14. However, Missouri used a 10-0 run in the middle of the second half to draw closer, but never pulled away. The momentum was secured by Missouri before halftime with a 5-point run, making the score 33-19. It was proven that it was not a fluke performance against Mizzou, as Princeton never drew closer than 5 points in the second half.
Dennis Gates, in his first year as the coach of Missouri, led the program to an excellent season, although the outcome ended on a sour note. Under his guidance, the team finished with a final record of 12-21, improving the program that had finished with a 12-21 record the previous season.
Missouri, with an average of 17.1 turnovers per game, ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation in terms of turnovers forced. However, despite Missouri applying full-court pressure for a significant portion of the second half, Princeton only committed nine turnovers, which was lower than Missouri’s season average of 12.4.
In the latter part, Princeton converted 12 out of 33 shots from the 3-point line, with 8 out of 18 being successful. Missouri only managed to make 6 out of 22 shots from beyond the arc, however, Mizzou also maintained an average of 9.4 successful 3-pointers per game with a respectable 36.2% accuracy prior to this day.
The 6-foot-6 forward’s collection included seven offensive boards. Caden Pierce spearheaded Princeton’s rebounding effort with a career-high 16 boards. Princeton dominated the second-chance points, winning 19-2, and also out-rebounded Mizzou 44-30. This included a significant 16-8 advantage in offensive rebounding. Nowhere was Princeton’s statistical superiority more apparent than in their performance on the glass.
The Jersey guys arrived to participate
Purdue defeated the Knights when the 16th seed in program history brought down a top-ranked seed on Friday night. A squad from New Jersey achieved remarkable success in the NCAA Tournament, and Princeton’s triumph serves as the most recent illustration of this.
The Tigers are playing their best basketball at the right time, and their defense will be a formidable threat in the next week’s Regional South championship. There was nothing cute or flukey about how Missouri or Arizona beat Princeton. The Tigers feel it is achievable and will now try to follow in their footsteps. Just in their first year, the New Jersey’s Peter’s Saint became the No. 15 seed to ever reach the Elite Eight.