Upset city!: No. 15 Princeton ousts No. 2 Arizona in NCAA Tournament shocker in Sacramento

Carril died in August at 92, but his spirit lives on, and his legacy was on the minds of Princeton players and coaches Thursday afternoon.

A darkhorse again and always, 15th-seeded Princeton stunned No. 2-seeded Arizona 59-55 in a first-round NCAA Tournament thriller at Golden 1 Center, where only Wildcats fans and their band were pulling for the Pac-12 program with Final Four aspirations. Everyone else was pulling for an upset because it’s the upsets that make this March Madness.

Tosan Evbuomwan had 15 points and seven rebounds in muscling around the bigger and taller Wildcats. Caden Pierce had two late free throws to stun Arizona, nearly 27 years to the day that Carril led 13th-seeded Princeton past defending champion UCLA in a tournament opener.

Princeton coach Mitch Henderson was a member of that 1996 Tigers team, scoring eight points, and he rejoiced in this one, too, in a job he never expected to have, saying Thursday: “I pinch myself every day.”

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