money March Madness: Princeton vs. Arizona preview and prediction
It’s the moment that still defines March Madness, 27 years later: Princeton’s basketball team beating UCLA on a last-second backdoor layup.
As the current Tigers arrive in California for Thursday’s NCAA Tournament opener against mighty Arizona (4:10 p.m., TNT), the comparison surely will be drawn – by West Coast media, fans, and even Princeton’s head coach. After all, Mitch Henderson played 37 minutes in that epic. He’s fully qualified to infuse a deep sense of belief in his 15th-seeded charges.
“I can tell them that, it was as improbable then as us beating Arizona would be,” Henderson said by phone Monday. “This is the beauty of the tournament. There’s magic in March, and you want to tap into that.”
He doesn’t even have to reach back to 1996 for inspiration.
“We’ll talk about that and other upsets that happened in the tournament recently that they’re probably more familiar with,” Henderson said, referencing Saint Peter’s toppling of Kentucky and Purdue last March.
Assessing the matchup
Arizona (28-6) attacks with the pedal down, averaging 83 points per game (fourth in the nation). The Princeton of Henderson’s playing days would be taking the air out of the ball, but these Tigers (21-8) no longer do that. They’re a good-shooting, unselfish team with a green light. Defensively, their metrics are slightly above average, but they put their best foot forward in the Ivy League Tournament final, locking down explosive Yale.
“I think we’re peaking,” Henderson said. “We played our best basketball these last two games.”
Each team boasts a dominant big man. For Arizona it’s 6-foot-11 Azuolas Tubelis (19.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg). For Princeton it’s 6-8 Tosan Evbuomwan (15.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 4.8 apg), a point forward who has a chance to open eyes around the nation.
“Tosan gives us the passing big that’s unusual,” Henderson said. “So we have a shot with the way we pass the ball – and he’s the start of it.”
Channeling history
This is Princeton’s 26th NCAA Tournament appearance and second under Henderson. In 2017, his 12th-seeded Tigers took fifth-seeded Notre Dame to the wire before falling by two. As someone who has experienced the Big Dance as a player and a coach, Henderson sees the big-picture value of the experience. He wants his guys to be loose. Whatever pressure they felt as Ivy League Tournament hosts is off.
“You need to get ready, but you have to enjoy every little part of it,” he said. “Channeling your inner kid is the most important thing. We want to enjoy the experience. A lot of hard work has gone into this. I want them to feel good – they deserve to feel good.”
As always, Henderson will be thinking of his legendary coach Pete Carril, whose 514th and final victory came against UCLA. Carril died in August at age 92; he lived near campus and kept a close eye on his beloved program.
“He said to me last year, ‘You’re doing a good job,’” Henderson said. “That’s about as much praise as you’ll get from Coach. I would think he would look at this group and say he sees in them what he taught me and he taught everybody else: This is a group that plays for one another.”
Prediction
The best way for Princeton to slow down Arizona’s offense is to play close to turnover-free and shoot a high percentage, limiting long-rebound opportunities. The Tigers are capable of the latter; the former is a tall order. A road environment makes is that much tougher. Arizona 84, Princeton 72.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NCAA Tournament: Princeton vs. Arizona March Madness preview, prediction
