SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson found himself in the same situation 27 years later as his 15th-seeded Tigers upended the No. 2 seeded Arizona Wildcats 59-55 on Thursday.
Henderson, who was a player on the 1996 Princeton team, helped pull off one of the tournaments biggest upsets ever defeating UCLA. He is also the first to win a tournament game as a player and coach at Princeton
The Tigers' upset marked the third straight year and 11th time overall that a No. 15 seed won a first-round game.
The Tigers were led by English forward Tosan Evbuomwan, who scored 15 points with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Arizona looked as if they had control of the game after building it's largest lead of game to 47-35 with just under 12 minutes left and held a 10-point lead with eight minutes to play.
Despite the Tigers struggling from behind the arc, shooting just 4-of-25 from 3-point range for the game, they began chipping away at Arizona's lead.
Princeton finally took the lead when Ryan Langborg fought his way through the lane and banked in a shot to give the Tigers a 56-55 with two minutes left in the game.
The Tigers would make a key defensive stop about a minute later, as Langbord would swat away a shot from Courtney Ramey and Evbuomwan would haul in a rebound off a missed shot in the same possession.
With the loss, Arizona became the first team in NCAA tournament history to suffer multiple losses to 15 seeds in any round. The Wildcats also fell to Steve Nash and 15-seed Santa Clara in the opening round of the 1993 tournament.
Princeton will now play No. 7 Missouri in the second round Saturday.
Alabama 96, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 75
The Alabama Crimson Tide rolled to a 96-75 win over the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders on Thursday despite star forward Brandon Miller being held scoreless for the first time this season.
Miller, who has been dealing with a groin injury, played only 19 minutes and missed all five of his field goal attempts. He finished the game with five rebounds, three assists and three turnovers.
Nick Pringle came off the bench for the Tide and delivered a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Mark Sears added 15 and Jahvon Quinerly chipped in 13.
Trevian Tennyson lead the Islanders with 20 points. Issac Mushila recorded a double-double, with 16 points and 15 reounds.
Houston 63, Northern Kentucky 52
The 1-seeded Houston Cougars held on to beat the upset-minded No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky Norse on Thursday.
Houston star guard Marcus Sasser, who recently suffered a groin injury, played just 14 minutes before re-aggravating his injury. The American Conference player of the year limped to the bench and sat out the remainder of the game.
Houston struggled to pull away from the Norse, who used 21 points off second-chance opportunities to keep the game close.
Jarace Walker lead the Cougars with 16 points and six rebounds. Jamal Shead added 13 points, he also hyperextended his knee during the win but expects to play on Saturday.
Sam Vinson lead the Norse with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Penn State 75, Texas A&M 59
Andrew Funk scored 27 points to lead the No. 10 seed Penn State Nittany Lions to a 75-59 upset win over the 7th-seeded Texas A&M Aggies on Thursday.
The Lions used a 17-3 run to jump out to an 11-point lead at the 5:14 mark of the opening half. Funk's six point helped fuel the run.
A dunk from Kebba Njie and a trey from Funk kickstarted a 10-6 run to begin the second half that put the Nittany Lions up by 20 points and coast into the second round.
Jalen Pickett also scored 19 points and Seth Lundy added 10 points for Penn State.
The Aggies were led in scoring by Dexter Dennis with 19 points and eight rebounds, including a team-high four 3-pointers.
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