Princeton stuns Arizona with late run
Tigers end with 9-0 blitz to oust Pac-12 tourney champions
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ryan Langborg scored to give Princeton its first lead with 2:03 left, and the Tigers used a late-game run to earn their first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years, topping No. 8-ranked Arizona 59-55 on Thursday. The 15th-seeded Tigers (22-9) scored the final nine points, shutting out the second-seeded Wildcats (28-7) over the final 4:43.
Tosan Evbuomwan had 15 points for Princeton in its first NCAA Tournament win since it beat UNLV in 1998 when current coach Mitch Henderson played for the Tigers. Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points for Arizona, the Pac12 tournament champion.
It marked the third straight year and 11th time overall that a No. 15 seed won a first-round game. Arizona is the lone school to be on the wrong end of two of those upsets, also losing to Steve Nash and Santa Clara in 1993. ■ No. 1 Alabama 96, Texas A&m-corpus Christi 75: At Birmingham, Ala., Nick Pringle had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the top-seeded Crimson Tide (30-5), who hit 10 first-half 3-pointers. The 16th-seeded Islanders (24-11) held standout freshman Brandon Miller scoreless. ■ Furman 68, No. 14 Virginia 67:
At Orlando, Fla., J.P. Pegues hit a goahead 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left for the 13th-seeded Paladins (28-7), who overcame a 12-point second-half deficit in their first NCAA Tournament game in 43 years. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers (25-8) were ousted in the first round by a worse-seeded team for the third time in their past four NCAA Tournaments. ■ No. 18 San Diego State 63, Charleston 57: At Orlando, Fla.,
Matt Bradley scored 17 points for the fifth-seeded Aztecs (28-6), who won their first NCAA Tournament game since 2015 and halted an 11-game slide for the Mountain West. The 12th-seeded Cougars (31-4), who lost for the first time in six weeks, haven’t won in the tournament since 1997.
■ No. 23 Missouri 76, Utah State 65: At Sacramento, Calif., Kobe Brown hit three 3-pointers in a 13-2 run that put the seventh-seeded Tigers (25-9) up 62-53 as they halted a six-game NCAA Tournament skid dating back 13 years. The 10th-seeded Aggies (26-9) lost their 10th straight NCAA Tournament game dating to 2001.
■ Maryland 67, West Virginia 65: At Birmingham, Ala., the eighth-seeded Terrapins (22-12) overcame a 12-point first-half deficit. Kedrian Johnson scored 27 points for the ninth-seeded Mountaineers (19-15) but saw his potential winning shot bounce off the side of the rim as the horn sounded.
West
■ No. 4 Kansas 96, Howard 68: At Des Moines, Iowa, Jalen Wilson scored 20 points for the top-seeded Jayhawks (28-7), who won their 16th straight first-round game. They were without coach Bill Self, who is recovering from a heart procedure. The 16th-seeded Bison (22-13) were in the tournament for the first time since 1992.
■ No. 7 UCLA 86, UNC Asheville 53: At Sacramento, Calif., Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Amari Bailey each scored 17 points for the second-seeded Bruins (30-5), who raced to a 14-0 lead and halted a nine-game win streak by the 15th-seeded Bulldogs (27-8).
■ Northwestern 75, Boise State 67: At Sacramento, Calif., Boo Buie scored 22 points and Chase Audige 20 for the seventh-seeded Wildcats (2211), who didn’t trail in their second NCAA Tournament win and first since 2017. The 10th-seeded Broncos (2410) are 0-9 in the NCAA Tournament.
■ Arkansas 73, Illinois 63: At
Des Moines, Iowa, Ricky Council IV scored 18 points for the eighth-seeded Razorbacks (21-13), who held the ninth-seeded Illini (20-13) to 38.5 percent shooting and scored 19 points off 17 Illinois turnovers.
Midwest
■ No. 2 Houston 63, Northern
Kentucky 52: At Birmingham, Ala., All-america guard Marcus Sasser scored five points in 14 minutes before aggravating a groin injury for the top-seeded Cougars (32-2). The 16th-seeded Norse (22-13), who shot 27.5 percent, trailed 30-27 at halftime.
■ No. 5 Texas 81, Colgate 61: At Des Moines, Iowa, Sir’jabari Rice scored 23 points for the second-seeded Longhorns (27-8), who hit 13 of 23 3-point tries. The 15th-seeded Raiders
(26-9), the nation’s most prolific outside-shooting team, missed 12 of 15 3-point tries.
■ Penn State 76, No. 17 Texas A&M 59: At Des Moines, Iowa, Andrew Funk hit 8 of 10 3-point tries and totaled 27 points for the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions (23-13) in their first NCAA Tournament win since 2001. The seventh-seeded Aggies (25-10) shot 33.9 percent.
■ Auburn 83, Iowa 75: At Birmingham, Ala., Johni Broome had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks for the ninth-seeded Tigers (21-12), who hit 11 of 12 free throws in the final four minutes. The eighth-seeded Hawkeyes (19-14) twice got within four points in the final minutes.
East
■ No. 12 Duke 74, Oral Roberts 51:
At Orlando, Fla., Jeremy Roach scored 23 points for the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (27-8), who raced to a 15-0 lead while winning their 10th straight game and halting a nation-best 17-game win streak by the 12th-seeded Golden Eagles (30-5).
■ No. 20 Tennessee 58, Louisiana-lafayette 55: At Orlando, Fla., the 13th-seeded Ragin’ Cajuns (26-8) cut an 18-point deficit to three in the final minute, and the fourth-seeded Volunteers (24-10) overcame 18 turnovers.