No. 15 Princeton stuns No. 2 Arizona in NCAAs; No. 13 Furman beats No. 4 Virginia

Tosan Evbuomwan and Princeton used a late-game run to earn the school’s 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 to finish the upset, holding the Pac-12 tournament champion scoreless over the final 4:21.

Evbuomwan scored 15 points in Princeton’s first tournament victory since beating Nevada Las Vegas in 1998 when current coach Mitch Henderson was a player for the Tigers.

Princeton advanced to play seventh-seeded Missouri in the second round of the South Region. The Tigers beat Utah State 76-65.

Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points for the Wildcats (28-7), who haven’t won a tournament game in consecutive years since 2014-15.

×

No. 13 Furman 68, No. 4 Virginia 67

Furman forward Tyrese Hughey (15) and forward Alex Williams, right, celebrate their win against Virginia during a first-round NCAA tournament game on Thursday in Orlando, Fla.

(Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)

ORLANDO, Fla. — JP Pegues made a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining, and No. 13 seed Furman completed a rally from a 12-point second-half deficit to hand fourth-seeded Virginia another first-round NCAA tournament loss 68-67.

Making their first trip to the tournament in 43 years, the Paladins (28-7) advanced to the second round in the South Region, where they will play either San Diego State or Charleston on Saturday.

Kihei Clark, who starred as a freshman on Virginia’s 2019 national title-winning team, threw a bad pass that Garrett Hein intercepted at midcourt with seven seconds to go, setting up Pegues’ go-ahead basket.

Sports

Full coverage: 2023 NCAA basketball tournament

March Madness is upon us. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

March 25, 2023

Reece Beekman’s deep three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim and Virginia (25-8) was eliminated in the first round as the higher-seeded team for the third time in its past four NCAA tournaments — most notably its loss as a No. 1 seed to 16th-seeded University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2018.

Also on Thursday morning, Maryland overcame a sluggish start and a final heave at the buzzer by Kedrian Johnson, topping West Virginia 67-65 in a first-round game.

×