SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ryan Langborg lifted Princeton to its first lead with 2:03 to play and the Tigers used a late-game run to earn their first NCAA tournament win in 25 years, topping No. 2 seed Arizona 59-55 on Thursday.
The 15th-seeded Tigers (22-9) scored the final nine points, holding the Pac-12 Tournament champion scoreless over the final 4:43. The 55 points were a season-low for the Wildcats, who became the first team in NCAA tournament history with multiple losses to 15 seeds in any round. Arizona also fell to Steve Nash and 15-seed Santa Clara in the opening round of the 1993 tournament.
The Tigers’ upset marked the third straight year and 11th time overall that a No. 15 seed won a first-round game.
Tosan Evbuomwan scored 15 points in Princeton’s first tournament victory since beating UNLV in 1998 when current coach Mitch Henderson was a player for the Tigers.
Princeton advances to the second round of the South Region, where it will face Missouri, a 76-65 winner over Utah State earlier Thursday.
Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points for the Wildcats (28-7), who haven’t won a tournament game in consecutive years since 2014-15.
The Wildcats seemed in control of this one when Oumar Ballo‘s basket put them up by 10 with eight minutes left.
But the Tigers responded with seven straight points, capped by a second-chance 3-pointer from Blake Peters that made it 51-48 with about six minutes left.
They closed the game with a 9-0 run — just like they did in their most memorable tournament win against defending champion UCLA in 1996 when Henderson was also on the team.
Keeshawn Kellman started the spurt with a putback dunk before Langborg hit a jumper and then a layup to give the Tigers the lead.
The Wildcats then missed all five shots down the stretch and Princeton put it away at the foul line.
Courtney Ramey, who hit a game-winning shot in the Pac-12 tournament, missed a contested 3-pointer with 14 seconds left that could have tied the score. Kerr Kriisa also missed from long range after an offensive rebound, sending Princeton into an early celebration.
Princeton won as a 16-point underdog, giving the Tigers the largest upset victory by an Ivy League team since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. That record was previously held by Harvard, which beat New Mexico as a 10.5-point underdog in 2013.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.