Arizona becomes 3rd straight 2 seed to fall to a 15 in shocking loss to Princeton

The early windows of the 2023 NCAA Tournament are certainly providing us with drama, and for the third season in a row we’ve now seen a 15-seed upset a 2-seed in the first round. Against all odds, Princeton ended the game on a 9-0 run to finish off a 59-55 victory against 2-seed Arizona, the Pac-12 Tournament champs who were undoubtedly heavy favorites in this game.

While Arizona led the entire first half, they never really pulled away or built a big enough lead over this scrappy Princeton team. The Wildcats did grab a double-digit lead with eight minutes left in the game but did not get enough offense down the stretch. After that point, Arizona would score just 4 points for the rest of the game, allowing Princeton to sneak their way back into a game that shouldn’t have been close.

After the Tigers worked their way back to within 3 points down the stretch, they took advantage down the stretch of Arizona’s poor offensive play, grabbing the lead with a Ryan Langborg layup with just over two minutes remaining. The Wildcats would get a few more possessions down the stretch, missing a couple of 3-pointers that would have tied it in the final seconds, and sending brackets all over the country into bedlam as the 15-seeded Tigers advanced.

Second-year head coach Tommy Lloyd and this Arizona squad had just won the Pac-12 Tournament with a nice performance against UCLA last weekend but saw their season come to a sudden end. A talented roster got outworked by an upstart Princeton squad, with the Wildcats suffering a major upset once again. Of course, the 2018 Arizona team that lost to 13-seed Buffalo was extremely different, but it’s all the same for a program left in disappointment again.

On the other hand, the work Princeton has done has been simply incredible. Last year’s team was great, but didn’t win the Ivy League and then lost starters Jaelin Llewellyn and Ethan Wright to Michigan and Colorado respectively in the offseason. This season, they lost a pair of games to Yale before getting the ultimate revenge in the Ivy League title game before pulling out the Tournament’s major upset over the Wildcats, getting their first NCAA Tournament win since 1998.

Tosan Evbuomwan continued his fantastic season with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists to lead the Tigers to this victory and will be even more important in their second-round matchup against Missouri. Recent history has been kind to 15-seeds, with Oral Roberts making the Sweet Sixteen in 2021 and Saint Peter’s getting to the Elite Eight in 2022. Those teams were certainly different than these Tigers, but Princeton certainly won’t be content with just one big upset, though Cinderella’s slipper fits well on a team that’s been in this position before.