Arizona suffers epic upset against Princeton

UofA suffered a historic upset in March Madness, falling to 15-seed Princeton on the first day of the NCAA tournament.

What happened: Princeton, a 16-point underdog, beat Arizona 59-55.

• UofA led almost the entire game — Princeton didn't take its first lead until there were just 50 seconds left — and was up by as much as 12 points in the second half but never appeared in control.
• Princeton ended the first half on a 8-0 run to narrow the Cats' lead to one point and went on a 9-0 run to end the game.
• The Wildcats had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds but missed a pair of 3-pointers on their last possession, forcing them to foul.

Between the lines: UofA was one of highest-scoring teams in college basketball this season, averaging 82.7 points per game on 49.58% shooting, ranking them fifth and fourth in the nation, respectively.

• That offensive prowess certainly wasn't on display against the Tigers, who held the Cats to a season-low 55 points on 42.1% shooting.
• The Cats went 3-16 from 3-point range.

Context: This is only the 11th time since the NCAA expanded the tournament to 64 teams that a 15-seed defeated a 2-seed in the first round, the most recent being Kentucky's loss to St. Peter's last year.

• This isn't even the first time it's happened to UofA — Steve Nash's 15-seed Santa Clara beat Damon Stoudamire's Wildcats squad in the first round in 1993.

• That makes UofA the only program with two first-round losses to a 15-seed.

Of note: UofA busted President Biden's bracket.

Jeremy's thought bubble: As a UofA fan, I've had my share of March Madness disappointment — who else is still scarred by that overtime loss to Illinois in the 2005 Elite Eight? — and I didn't expect the Cats to go to the Final Four this year, but this was a real gut punch.