Dispatches from the long March, part 1

Arizona's tournament problems are inter-generational.

Tommy Lloyd

It became a familiar line in press rooms and watering holes on the NCAA tournament trail. Don’t go to Lute Olson’s bar. It closes after one round.

As Olson built the Pac-10/12’s most successful basketball program since John Wooden hung up his whistle, he was haunted by seasons that ended too soon. Famously, Arizona lost to 15th-seeded Santa Clara in 1993. Freshman Steve Nash is erroneously given sole credit for that upset, long before anyone knew he’d be a 2-time NBA Most Valuable Player. He was good but so were the rest of the Broncos, and Arizona looked slow, clunky and bored. But, the year before, Arizona had stumbled over East Tennessee State, a 14th seed, in the first round. A 12th-seeded Miami (Ohio) squad got the Wildcats in 1995.

The reputation was a bit unfair to Olson. Some years, the bar stayed open until last call. Arizona was in the 1988 and 1994 Final Fours. Arizona tried a novel approach in 1997, knocking off three No. 1 seeds and beating Kentucky in an overtime final, one of the underrated upsets in championship-game history. Then Olson got the Wildcats back to the Final Four in 2001.

Sean Miller never could get there, losing painful regional finals in back-to-back years to Wisconsin, and then taking a 21-point thrashing from 13th-seeded Buffalo in the first round of 2018.

Overall, six top-seeded Arizona teams have failed to get to the Final Four.

What happened on Thursday was a little different, because the Wildcats were a 2 seed, with several inexplicable Pac-12 losses that preceded a run to the conference tournament title. Arizona had sold out to beat a banged-up UCLA team in Las Vegas. Perhaps that investment was too much, or perhaps the Wildcats, who are worshipped at home to a degree that’s unusual in college basketball, saw Princeton’s name pop up in the brackets and shrugged.

In any event, Arizona became the first team to lose a first-round game to a 15th seed a second time. Princeton won, 58-55, and coach Mitch Henderson was quick to point out that the Tigers are a “national program” and shouldn’t be considered illusionists. Maybe he’s right, but this was far more about Arizona than Princeton.

It’s not like the Tigers played their A game. They shot 40.6 percent and missed 21 of 25 three-pointers. Nobody in Princeton’s starting lineup made a long shot. Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona’s All-America big man, scored 22 of Arizona’s 55, but the rest of the Wildcats had only 13 field goals and, much to the wonderment of second-year coach Tommy Lloyd, Arizona stood on the free-throw line only seven times.

Spotty guard play hurt Arizona, which is not a news flash. Kerr Kriisa shot seven three-pointers and missed six, and also had four turnovers. The Wildcats blocked one shot, even with the imposing Tubelis and Oumar Ballo underneath. Princeton battled them to a standstill on the boards, and after Tubelis made a layup with 4:45 left, the Wildcats never scored again.

There were good vibes all along for Princeton. Hall of Fame coach Pete Carril died in late 2022, and he had been an assistant for the Sacramento Kings when they were an NBA power in the early 2000s. This game was held in the Kings’ downtown arena. Henderson was on the 1996 Princeton team that eliminated UCLA, the defending chapmps, in the first round.

Tosan Evboumwan, as usual, was the main driver for Princeton, and it is hoped they were paying attention back in London. Starting freshman Caden Pierce has a brother, Alec, who was a star rookie receiver with the Colts last fall.

Matt Allocco is the point guard, although Evboumwan is the most renowned passer. “A lot of Princeton players think the shortest distance between two points is a curve,” Henderson said. “What I love about Matt is that he knows it’s a straight line.”

The curves of March have a way of derailing Arizona, no matter who’s coaching or who’s playing or whether the office secretaries use computers or typewriters. Said Lloyd, “If you want to do great things in life, you’ve got to be willing to step into some dog shit once in a while.” Maybe that’s why Arizona was told to take it outside, after one round.

Otherwise:

— Biggest shot: J.P. Pegues swished a 3-pointer to give Furman a 68-67 win over fourth-seeded Virginia in Orlando. The Cavaliers led by four but missed enough foul shots and made enough mistakes, including a very strange interception from the hand of senior point guard Kihei Clark, to let Pegues get the chance from transition. True to its brand, Virginia missed 10 of 12 3-pointers.

— Best performance: Tenth-seeded Penn State opened up a can on Texas A&M from the very beginning, winning 76-59 and hitting 13 of 22 threes in the process. Jalen Pickett played all 40 minutes and had eight assists and no turnovers. A&M, which was in the SEC tournament final, shot 33.9 percent.

— Best traveler: Inexplicaly, San Diego State was asked to travel to Orlando to play Charleston even though the Aztecs were fourth-seeded. They shrugged off the jet lag and won, 63-57, only Charleston’s fourth loss of the season, and they did it the Aztec way, holding Charleston to 32.1 percent shooting.

— Player under pressure: Alabama’s Brandon Miller had armed guards accompanying him to practice in Birmingham Wednesday. He was 0-for-5 in 19 minutes and did not score in the 96-75 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

— Most unfortunate traveler: It might not have mattered, but 8th-seeded Iowa had to play 9th-seeded Auburn in Birmingham, and it never really got situated in an 83-75 loss. Auburn got 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks from Johni Broome.

— Biggest question: Will Houston pay for playing Marcus Sasser and watching him re-aggravate a groin injury? The Cougars, top seeded, were pushed hard by Northern Kentucky before they won, 63-52. Seventeen turnovers made it difficult, and Houston gave up 18 offensive rebounds, but the defense was firm (27.5 percent shooting by NKU). Now Houston prepares for Auburn, still in Birmngham.

— Best bench player: Sir’Jabari Rice of Texas might be America’s sub-above, and he brought seven 3-pointers off the bench in an 81-61 win over Colgate. UCLA also found reserve strength in big men Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne, who combined to shoot 9-for-9 in an unmerciful 86-53 win over UNC Asheville.

— Best continuation: Duke, fifth-seeded, kept the mojo going from its ACC tournament victory by scoring the first 14 points of a 75-51 win over Oral Roberts. Dereck Lively set a tournament record for a freshman by blocking six shots.