.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Texas
Upset Bid Falls Just Short For Men's Hoops In ESPN Clash With Texas
December 22, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2002
Final Stats
AUSTIN, Texas - Tenth-ranked Texas used a 33-21 rebound advantage and a 12-3 edge in free throws to avoid a home upset at the hands of the Princeton men's basketball team today in front of 10,671 at the Frank Erwin Center. Kyle Wente led Princeton with 12 points, but it was Brandon Mouton's 21-point performance that kept the Longhorns from falling victim to the upset-minded Tigers in a 57-54 win.
The game saw 11 ties and nine lead changes. Junior Ed Persia, who earlier in the season beat Monmouth with an 85-foot shot at the buzzer, tried to make it 12 ties with another buzzer-beating three-pointer, but his attempt was long.
Spencer Gloger improved his consecutive game streak with at least 10 points to 16 with an 11-point performance. Persia ended with eight points, while Judson Wallace and Will Venable had six points apiece. Ray Robins contributed five points. Wente added a team-high seven rebounds, while Gloger led Princeton with three assists. "I thought we played really well on the offensive end," Persia said. "I thought we slowed them down as well as we could. They killed us on the boards in the second half."
Nine different Longhorns had at least one rebound, with James Thomas' seven leading the way. Texas had 16 offensive rebounds, two more than Princeton had on the defensive glass.
Princeton made sure to get each of its starters involved early, as all five Tigers combined to take the team's first five shots. Three-pointers by Kyle Wente and Ed Persia, who made his first start of the season, helped Princeton to a 6-3 lead at the first media timeout. Tough team defense and early shooting woes by both sides kept the score that way for the second media timeout, which came four minutes later. Outside of a three-pointer by Brandon Mouton, Texas missed six shots and turned the ball over five times in the first 10 minutes of the game. At that point, Princeton led 8-3, following an 18-foot jumper by Judson Wallace.
Mouton ignited the Texas offense, draining another three-pointer and adding a putback to help Texas to a 12-11 lead with 6:31 remaining. At that stage, the two teams combined to make eight of the 29 total field goal attempts.
Texas caught a break minutes later. Following a made free throw by Brad Buckman, a double-lane violation was called, and Texas was awarded the ball due to the possession arrow. Sydmill Harris made Princeton pay for its miscue, hitting on a three-pointer from the right baseline to open a 16-13 lead, the Longhorns' biggest lead of the game at that point. Princeton clamped down defensively and retook the lead after a free throw by Will Venable and the second three-pointer by Wente. The senior captain added an offensive rebound, a jumper that just beat the shot clock and a tough turnaround jumper to assure Princeton would go into halftime with a 21-18 lead.
Wente continued his solid play to open the second half, flicking in a short jumper to bring the lead to 23-18, but Texas would score 11 of the team's next 13 points to grab a 29-25 lead with 14:38 remaining. Mouton hit another three-pointer, and All-America candidate T.J. Ford scored his first basket of the game while assisting on another to help the Longhorns reclaim the lead.
Princeton drew even again on a three-pointer by Ray Robins, and then took the lead on a driving dunk by Robins on Princeton's ensuing possession. Texas evened it again on a pair of Buckman free throws, but with 10 minutes remaining, the Tigers had survived Texas' first big run of the game and stood even. They were back ahead when Persia hit a three-pointer, although Mouton was quick to answer with a basket of his own. He would hit another basket on another Texas second-chance opportunity, and a free throw by Deginald Erskin tied the score at 40-40 with 7:45 remaining.
Following a backdoor layup by Wallace and a rainbow jumper by Ford, Venable gave Princeton a 44-42 lead with 5:55 remaining on a putback following a Wente miss. Mouton was fouled on the next possession, putting Texas in the bonus, and converted both attempts to even the score again.
Gloger put Princeton ahead temporarily with an 18-foot jumper, but Ford came back with a layup, and a steal by James Thomas led to a powerful dunk at the other end that brought the masses to their feet. It was imperative for Princeton to respond and silence the crowd, and Wallace did so with a pair of free throws. The silence was short-lived, as Texas reserve Chris Ogden came off a screen to hit a three-pointer with four minutes remaining. The Longhorns pressured Princeton into a bad shot on its next possession, and Thomas added a free throw following an offensive rebound to bring the lead back to four points.
Robins cut that lead in half by hitting on both ends of a one-and-one, and Gloger got Princeton the ball back by taking a charge against Royal Ivey. Wallace missed a hook shot, and Ivey hit one of two free throws to bring the lead to 53-50 with 1:46 remaining.
Wallace missed a shot from the right elbow, and Ford followed with a running miss, which was nearly rebounded by Thomas but ended up in the hands of Persia. The junior guard called Princeton's final timeout, and the Tigers responded with a major play. Robins found Wente with a backdoor cut, and the senior hit the layup while getting fouled. A career 73% free throw shooter, Wente's attempt was long and rebounded by Thomas.
Ford used his speed to beat the first foul attempt and drew eight seconds off the clock before being fouled by Venable. He opened the lead back to three points with a pair of free throws, and Texas called timeout to set its defense for a potential final possession by the Tigers. Without an open three-pointer, Robins instead took a close runner, which went in and cut the score to 55-54 with eight seconds remaining. Ford was again fouled and calmly drained both shots to bring the lead to 57-54 with 6.6 seconds remaining.
Princeton inbounded underneath its own basket and got it in to Persia, whose final attempt was long as the final buzzer signaled the end of Princeton's gutsy upset effort.
Princeton will return to the court this Friday when it takes on Texas A&M in the second semifinal game of the Cable Car Classic, scheduled to begin at 11:30 p.m. EST. Santa Clara and Mississippi Valley St. will meet in the first game. The games can be seen on HDNet, a service available through DirecTV, and can be heard on WBUD 1260 AM and GoPrincetonTigers.com.