Top 5 moments from Day One of 2023 NCAA Tournament

15-seed Princeton stuns 2-seed Arizona

The number one moment on Thursday was easily the shocker of the day. The Princeton Tigers pulled off an unbelievable stunner against two-seeded Arizona, busting brackets all over the country. They sealed the deal late in the game when Arizona missed a pair of three-point attempts with less than ten seconds remaining and Princeton leading by three.

The dramatics were in full effect when Tosan Evbuomwam’s decisive free throw bounced off the heel of the rim and dropped straight into the bucket to give them a four-point lead with only seconds left, giving Princeton their first NCAA Tournament win since 1996 when now Tiger Head Coach Mitch Henderson played for legendary coach Pete Carril and helped lead the Tigers to an upset win over 4-seeded Arizona.

What made this upset so wild, wasn’t just the improbability of it. Sure, Arizona was widely considered an elite title contender and their loss to a team that finished third in the Ivy League regular season standings is astonishing to begin with. But it’s HOW it happened, that is so wild.

Princeton didn’t even play well offensively. They shot 16% from three on 25 attempts. They only attempted five free throws all game. They had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio (9:11). They were incredibly inefficient, scoring only 0.88 points per possession. Like Furman, Princeton also trailed by 12 in the second half. But it didn’t matter.

Arizona just got shut down and held to 55 points by a team that ranked outside the top 100 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric. They were visibly shaken down the stretch and played tight. Yes, Princeton executed a great game plan defensively, but the Wildcats definitely shrunk when things got tight and when the energy started to change.

This game was an exciting, unpredictable match-up that March Madness is known for and perfectly encapsulated the immense pressure that is put upon these big favorites.