Princeton stuns Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 59-55

The No. 15 seed Princeton Tigers (22-9) used some pesky defense to stun the No. 2 seeded Arizona Wildcats (28-7) on Thursday afternoon 59-55, in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history. The Tigers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, thanks to some strong closing runs to finish the first and second half. They finished the first half on an 8-0 run to only trail the Wildcats 31-30 at halftime, and Princeton closed the game on a 9-0 run to prevail victorious, in one of the biggest wins in school history. Arizona came into the game averaging over 80 points a game, but only managed to score 55 points against a pesky Princeton defense that blocked six shots. It also marked the third straight year and 11th time overall in the NCAA Tournament where the No. 15 seed has won their first-round matchup.

Princeton’s stunning upset of Arizona is by far the biggest upset of the 2023 NCAA Tournament so far. It’ll be a tough one to top, that’s for certain. Princeton pulled it off and they didn’t even play their best basketball. The Tigers only connected on 4 of their 25 attempts from the three-point line. Arizona appeared to try and take control of the game in the second half, but Princeton hung around thanks to their pesky defense, which clearly bothered the Wildcats for much of the contest. Arizona turned the basketball over 13 times. The victory was Princeton’s first NCAA Tournament win since 1998. In losing to Princeton, Arizona became the first No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 15 seed twice.

Arizona picked the wrong time of the season to play their worst basketball of the year. The Pac-12 Tournament champions were held scoreless in the final 4:43 of the game. The 55 points they scored on Thursday was their lowest output they managed all season long. Now, they’re heading home early after being dealt a devastating dose of heartbreak.

That doesn’t discount the spectacular season they had. The Wildcats finished with an overall record of 28-7, including an impressive run to the Pac-12 Tournament title, after they defeated the second-ranked UCLA Bruins. The Wildcats outlasted the Bruins 61-59, in one of the better college basketball games of the 2022-2023 season.

The historic upset meant that many of the nation’s brackets immediately went up in flames, as there were only 0.12% of brackets remaining that were perfect, per March Madness Men’s Basketball. Princeton advanced to play seventh-seeded Missouri in the second round of the South Region.