Princeton in first Sweet 16 in 56 years
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Blake Peters made five 3pointers in the second half and Princeton shocked another power conference team to reach the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals for the first time in 56 years by beating Missouri 78-63 on Saturday.
The No. 15 seeded Princeton (23-8) followed up a firstround win over Pac-12 tournament champion Arizona by dominating 10th seeded Missouri (25-10) of the SEC from the start.
The Ivy League school known for giving powerhouses scares and occasionally pulling off upsets a generation ago has reached the round of 16 for the first time since 1967 when only 23 teams even made the tournament.
Princeton will play the winner of Sunday's game between Baylor and Creighton in the Sweet 16 in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday night.
The Tigers will be the second Ivy League school to make the Sweet 16 in the past 43 tournaments, joining Cornell in 2010. No team from the academically prestigious that doesn't give athletic scholarships has gone further since Penn made the Final Four in 1979.
The fans who made the cross-country trip to California started chanting “Sweet 16! Sweet 16!” in the closing minute.
This marks the third straight year a team seeded 15th made it to the Sweet 16, following Oral Roberts in 2021 and fellow New Jersey school St. Peter's last year. The only other time a 15 seed made it this far came in 2012 when Florida Gulf Coast did it.
Ryan Langborg led Princeton with 22 points and Peters added 17.
DeAndre Gholston scored 19 points and Noah Carter added 14 for Missouri, which was seeking its first berth in the Sweet 16 since 2009.
Princeton will look for its first Elite Eight appearance since 1965 when Bill Bradley was the star.
SOUTH REGION ALABAMA 73, MARYLAND 51
In Birmingham, Ala., Brandon Miller heated up and so did the Crimson Tide, who
avoided the fate of two other top NCAA Tournament seeds with a dominant second half on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (31-5) advanced to their second
Sweet 16 in the past three tournaments and ninth overall.
Alabama will face fifthseeded San Diego State in the South Region semifinals in Louisville, Ky. on Friday.
Before the game even tipped off, two top seeds — Purdue and defending national champion Kansas — had gone down, and No. 1 seed Houston trailed Tide rival Auburn by 10 points at halftime earlier at Legacy Arena before pulling away.
Julian Reese had 14 points for Maryland (22-13) before fouling out. Jahmir Young scored 12.
Alabama, the top overall seed, faced scant drama, unlike the other No. 1s.
SAN DIEGO STATE 75 FURMAN 52
In Orlando, Fla., the Aztecs had little trouble ending the run of March Madness darling Furman, getting 16 points from Micah Parrish.
Darrion Trammell had 13 points, Lamont Butler added 12 and leading scorer Matt Bradley finished with 10 for San Diego State (29-6), which is heading to its first Sweet 16 since 2004.
EAST REGION TENNESSEE 65, DUKE 52
In Orlando, Fla., Olivier Nkamhoua tied his career high with 27 points, including 13 straight during a decisive span in the second half, and the fourth-seeded Volunteers advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.
Santiago Vescovi added 14 points and five assists for Tennessee (25-10), which ended Duke's 10-game winning streak and sent first-year coach Jon Scheyer — charged with replacing Mike Krzyzewski — home after just two NCAA Tournament games. Not sure Coach K could have done anything different to combat these Vols, who used a brand of “bully ball” to send the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (27-9) packing.
WEST REGION UCLA 68, NORTHWESTERN 63
In Sacramento, Calif., Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 24 points and the Bruins withstood a second-half push from the Wildcats to get back to the Sweet 16.
The second-seeded Bruins (31-5) turned up the defensive intensity late, holding the seventh-seeded Wildcats to 1-for-12 shooting during a key late-game stretch.
UCLA's David Singleton went down in extreme pain with a right leg injury with 20.3 seconds remaining. He stayed down on the court for a few minutes before getting helped off by teammates and going straight to the locker room.
There was no immediate word on the extent of the injury.