Tiger Madness

 It's 2048, in the lobby of Frick Chemistry Building, or whatever building isn't even in the planning stage yet.

There's a men's basketball game at home on this night, and there's a special ceremony at halftime. It's the 25th anniversary of that magical night in Sacramento, and now all of the players from that team have gathered for a pregame reception.

Maybe one of those players is now the head coach, or maybe even the Director of Athletics. Wherever they are in their lives and their careers, whatever paths they've taken since Princeton, they've all come back to be together once again, to talk about it all over again, to watch the replay for the who-knows-how-manyieth time.

They'll see Ryan Langborg's driving shot to give them the lead, and then that ridiculous pass that Zach Martini threw. They'll react to both, and to every highlight, as if they've never seen it before.

Princeton defeated Arizona 59-55 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, and in doing so the Tigers added another amazing chapter to two incredible legacies. First, there is the NCAA tournament opening round itself, which celebrates first-round upsets year after year after year. 

And then there is Princeton Men's Basketball. As TigerBlog wrote before the game, when the ball goes up, you have the chance to make history. And that's exactly what Princeton did. 

Headed To The Round Of 32!

The Tigers downed No. 2 seed Arizona, 59-55!#MakeShots 🐯🏀 | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/VuPhZMdPpi

— Princeton Men’s Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) March 16, 2023

In doing so, this group accomplished something that will be remembered forever at Princeton. If it can be compared to anything, it would be Princeton's 1996 win over UCLA in the opening round, another big upset, though not quite as big, as this time it was No. 15 over No. 2, as opposed to No. 13 over No. 4 in 1996.

To everyone who said that Princeton won this game against Arizona as a "cerebral" team or by being the "smart guys," well, that is completely missing the point of what happened. Princeton won this game not by out-thinking Arizona but by out-Arizonaing the Wildcats, if such a word exists. If it doesn't, what TigerBlog is saying is that Princeton won because it was the more physical team.

Arizona is a team with great height, like 6-11 and 7-0 leading scorer height. And yet Princeton won the rebounding battle 38-36, had nine offensive rebounds to seven for Arizona and blocked six shots to Arizona's one.

Every Arizona pass was contested. Nothing was give up easily. As a result, Princeton held Arizona to a season low of 55 points, more than 25 below its average. You don't do any of that by out-thinking someone. You do it by imposing your will on them.

Speaking of imposing your will, Princeton shut out Arizona from the under-four media timeout of both halves, finishing the first on an 8-0 run to go from down nine to down one and then finishing the game on a 9-0 run. At one point of the second half, Princeton trailed by 12.

Again, that's not about being smart. It's about being tough. And that's exactly what Princeton did.

If Princeton was just playing a smart game, it never would have overcome 4 for 25 three-point shooting. If good shooting hides a multitude of sins, then playing extraordinarily hard and being extraordinarily physical hides a multitude of bad shooting.

And where did that line come from anyway? Did TigerBlog just think it up? Uh, no. Where do you think it came from?

Princeton won this game in the city where Pete Carril coached for 10 NBA seasons after he left Princeton after that 1996 season. When you think of Carril, you think more of his time in high school and college than in the NBA, but he did make a real impact on the careers of several members of the Sacramento Kings.

And there was something really, really fitting that Princeton played this game in that city in its first season since Coach passed away at the age of 92 last August. 

What would Carril have thought of what Princeton did? He would have had a grimaced, anguished look on his face with every shot that went up early in the shot clock. He would have crushed his rolled-up program (or copy of the game notes) at the back-to-back offensive fouls called against Tosan Evbuomwan.

But man, would he have loved how hard the Tigers played. He also would have loved how the team did it all without having any timeouts left. He would have loved the balanced scoring.

Princeton made every big play down the stretch. Evbuomwan was able to get to the basket and score when the three's weren't falling to keep the team in it and start the comeback from down 47-35.

Langborg's tough driving bank shot gave Princeton its first lead was not easy, and it made it 56-55 with two minutes to go. The biggest moments, though, were yet to come. First there was Langborg's blocked shot on Courtney Ramey with 50 seconds left in the game and eight seconds left on the shot clock.

Then there was the pass that Martini threw. It was one of the best passes TB has ever seen a Princeton player throw, and he saw Mitch Henderson throw some extraordinary ones.

This one came at huge moment, with the shot clock on its way down in a one-possession game. Evbuomwan threw it to Martini on the outside, and then Martini threaded a bounce pass through three Arizona defenders, hitting Caden Pierce underneath. Pierce was fouled and made both foul shots, and then after two Arizona missed threes and one more Evbuomwan foul shot, it was done.

Henderson (now the first to win an NCAA game as a Princeton player and Princeton head coach) didn't run across the court and jump with his arms extended upwards in triumph, like he did as a sophomore point guard on that 1996 team. He reacted calmly, on the outside at least.

On the inside, he had to bursting with pride at how his team had played. It was a reflection of him, after all. Play hard, at all times. Be tough. Know what to do in any situation. Practice hard, and the results will speak for themselves.

A week ago, Princeton was getting ready to play in the Ivy tournament at Jadwin Gym. Now the team is getting ready to take on Missouri Saturday, in a game that will send one of those Tigers to the Sweet 16.

Whatever happens next, what this Princeton team did against Arizona will never be forgotten. Nor should it be.

Princeton had a chance to make history in Sacramento, and it took full advantage of that opportunity.