Princeton Is Able to Rebound in 54-47 Win Over Georgetown

Princeton was worried that Georgetown would dominate rebounding in their first-round National Invitation Tournament game. Mason Rocca made sure that didn’t happen.

Rocca, a junior making his first career start, grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds as the Tigers defeated the Hoyas, 54-47, Wednesday night at Princeton, N.J.

Rocca’s rebounding total was the highest by a Princeton player since Bill Bradley had 21 against Columbia in 1965, and it came against a team that entered the game with 495 more rebounds than the Tigers (21-7).

Ten years ago, 16th-seeded Princeton nearly pulled off the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history before losing to top-seeded Georgetown by one point.

Georgetown (15-16) finished with its first losing record since 1973, John Thompson’s first season as head coach. Thompson resigned on Jan. 8 and was replaced by Craig Esherick.

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Sean Lampley scored 28 points and California (18-11) overcame a 13-point deficit in the final 15:30 to beat Fresno State (21-12), 79-71, at Oakland. . . . Oregon (17-11) was a 67-64 winner over Georgia Tech (15-16) at Eugene, Ore. . . . Old Dominion (25-8) used a 12-2 run over the final three minutes in a 75-56 victory over Seton Hall (15-15) at Norfolk, Va. . . . Reserve Ron Kelley scored 21 points at Raleigh, N.C., to lead North Carolina State (19-14) to a 92-86 victory over Providence (16-14) and avenge an earlier loss to the Friars. . . . Nebraska beat Nevada Las Vegas, 68-55, at Lincoln, Neb., as the Cornhuskers improved to 14-4 in the NIT--including the 1996 title--during Coach Danny Nee’s 13 seasons. . . . Georgia (15-15) had its worst shooting performance this season (23.7%) in a 73-57 loss to Clemson (17-14) at Clemson, S.C. . . . Rutgers (19-12), playing in its first postseason game since 1992, struggled at Piscataway, N.J., before beating Hofstra, 58-45. Rutgers won despite shooting 39% from the field, including four for 20 on three-point attempts. . . . Freshman Quentin Richardson had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead DePaul (18-12) to its first postseason victory since 1990--69-64 over Northwestern (15-14). . . . Wake Forest (17-13) had no problem in a 73-57 victory over Alabama (17-15) at Winston-Salem, N.C., spoiling the Crimson Tide’s first postseason appearance since 1996. . . . Xavier (22-10) was an 86-84 winner over Toledo (19-8) as James Posey scored 20 points, including a key three-point basket down the stretch, at Toledo. . . . Colorado State (18-10) overcame poor shooting (39%) to beat Mississippi State, 69-56, at Fort Collins, Colo. . . . LaVall Jordan came up from a scramble under the basket and made a shot with less than five seconds left at Peoria, Ill., to give Butler (21-9) a 51-50 victory over Bradley (17-12). . . . Lee Nailon scored 22 points as Texas Christian (20-10) posted a 72-71 victory over Kansas State (20-13) at Manhattan, Kan. Oregon (17-11) defeated Georgia Tech, 67-64, at Eugene, Ore.