Princeton doesn’t feel like Cinderella ahead of Sweet 16 clash with Creighton
LOUISVILLE, KY. >> In the eyes of the college basketball world, the Princeton men’s basketball team may be Cinderella as a No. 15 seed in the Sweet 16.
Just don’t tell that to these Tigers.
“We might be considered nationally as a mid-major, but our school thinks very highly of its basketball history, and we think that this team reflects that history very well,” coach Mitch Henderson said. “I would put this team up against any of them.”
Princeton (23-8) has played like it belongs at the ball in NCAA Tournament victories over No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 7 seed Missouri in Sacramento last weekend. That has led it to a regional semifinal here at the KFC Yum! Center against No. 6 seed Creighton (23-12) on Friday night (9 p.m., TBS).
“We know who we are and what we bring to the table,” star forward Tosan Evbuomwan said. “It doesn’t mean too much to me what everyone else calls us. I think we know who we are, so you guys can call us whatever you want.”
What the Tigers have been is tough on defense and even better on the glass. They out-rebounded both Arizona and Missouri — Missouri by a whopping 14, including 16 offensive boards, and out-scored those two, 31-4, on second-chance points — and are allowing just 63 points per game over the course of a sixgame winning streak.
So you can forget any chance that the Blue Jays are looking past this No. 15 seed.
“I’ve watched a lot of Ivy League basketball the last three or four days and I’ll be watching more in the future because I’ve been really impressed with the execution, and the coaching in that league is outstanding,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott.
“For them to be co-champions of that conference speaks to how good they are.”
Princeton is trying to make this the second straight year a No. 15 seed has reached the Elite Eight after its New Jersey neighbor Saint Peter’s took the country on a magical ride last March.
“Each team has a special life to live in the tournament,” Henderson said. “You’re lucky and fortunate if you get a chance — I’ve seen it on the other side as a coach and watched teams forever, but this is — it’s amazing and hard to put into words what it feels like on this end, but I’m glad — I don’t think seeds matter as much as they used to.”
Henderson said the turning point of the Princeton season was a loss to Yale on Feb. 18 when it blew an 18-point lead with eightand-a-half minutes remaining. In his words, it opened his group up
in a painstaking way, but it also provided perspective.
The Tigers responded with victories over Harvard and Penn to grab a share of the Ivy League regular-season title, then finally snapped the Yale hex in the Ivy Tournament final in front of a roaring home crowd.
“We took it to heart,” Henderson said. “… We had gone through this really big swing in two weeks of the emotion of a game. It gave them the confidence to know that the worst thing in the world can happen to you and we’re going to wake up the next morning and they decided what the hell let’s go play.”
Led by their star, Evbuomwan, and a supporting cast of shot makers and hard-hat defenders, the Tigers have done just that.
Senior Ryan Langborg and sophomore Blake Peters took
starring turns in the win over Missouri with 22 and 17 points, respectively, freshman Caden Pierce has been a walking double-double for a month, senior Matt Allocco a steadying hand and solid minutes from senior Keeshawn Kellman and junior Zach Martini.
“We have our hands full,” McDermott said. “This is a really good basketball team and it’s not a fluke that they are still playing.”
Call them Cinderella if you want, but the Tigers aren’t even looking at the clock.
“At least the good thing that comes out of it is everyone in the arena supports you outside of the team you’re playing against,” Allocco said. “I don’t think we pay attention a lot to the labels and all that because we know we belong here.”