Princeton scratched, clawed and withstood several Arizona runs to overtake the Wildcats in the final minutes of regulation and pull off a stunning first round upset, 59–55.
The Tigers were led by 15 points from senior forward Tosan Evbuomwan, and held Arizona to just 42% shooting from the floor and 18.8% shooting from three.
Arizona was paced offensively by forward Ąžuolas Tubelis, who scored a game-high 22 points in the loss. The Wildcats, who captured the Pac-12 championship last weekend, now exit in the Round of 64 after many expected a deep tournament run.
This is the third consecutive season and 11th time in the history of the NCAA tournament that a 15-seed has beaten a 2-seed in the first round, per David Worlock. This is also the largest upset by an Ivy League team since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985, according to ESPN.
The Tigers will move on to the second round and will face No. 7 seed Missouri, who knocked off No. 10 seed Utah State 76–65 in early action on Thursday.
