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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Oklahoma
Tigers Edged by No. 7 Oklahoma at All-College Classic, 58-55
January 03, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2004
Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Unfortunately, the 2003-04 Princeton men's basketball team has seen this ending before. But the Tigers certainly have nothing to be ashamed of after another outstanding performance against a national basketball powerhouse.
When Ed Persia's game-tying three-point attempt for Princeton at the buzzer fell short, seventh-ranked Oklahoma had escaped with a 58-55 victory over the Tigers in the first game of the All-College Classic at downtown Oklahoma City's Ford Center. And even if the Tigers hadn't gained many fans in the partisan Sooner crowd, they certainly gained a fan in Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson.
"They execute well, as well as any team in the country," said Sampson. "They're the kind of team I really love to watch play, but not when they're playing against us." Princeton, which led the No. 7 Sooners 27-26 after a stellar first half, trailed 56-43 with under eight minutes left but scored 10 straight points after that and used a zone defense to hold Oklahoma off the scoreboard and pull within 56-53 on Andre Logan's layup with 2:33 left. Oklahoma's Jason Detrick then hit two free throws to put the Sooners ahead 58-53 with 37 seconds left, but Detrick missed two free throws with seven seconds left to set up Persia's game-tying three-point attempt."
"It was a great comeback, but I think this group is getting a little tired of losing games like this to teams like this," said Princeton head coach John Thompson. "We're disappointed we weren't able to pull this one out based on how well we played for most of the game."
Persia scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the first half as the Tigers held Oklahoma without a field goal for the final 5:03 of the half to take the 27-26 halftime lead. But the Sooners then scored 14 of the first 17 points of the second half, taking a double-digit lead at 40-30 on De'Angelo Alexander's three-point shot with 13:51 left in the game.
Alexander scored a game-high 22 points for the Sooners, who won despite shooting just 4 for 21 from three-point range, inculding 2 for 12 in the second half. The sophomore guard shot 8 for 12 from the field and 4 for 4 from the line.
Princeton would go on a 9-3 run of its own to cut the Sooner lead to 43-39 with 10:37 left on Harrison Schaen's fast-break layup, but Oklahoma then scored 8 of the next 10 points in a two-minute span to regain a double-digit lead.
Scott Greenman also had a strong game for Princeton, tying a career high with 14 points, including a layup with eight seconds left that pulled the Tigers within 58-55. Greenman scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half. The Tigers shot 49% for the game (21 for 43) and outrebounded Oklahoma 27-24, but leading scorer Judson Wallace shot just 1 for 4 from the field and scored two points after coming into the game averaging better than 17 points per game.
Drew Lavender scored 7 of his 11 points in the first half for Oklahoma, which gave Sampson his 400th career win in improving to 10-0 on the season.
Princeton led a Top 10 at halftime for the third straight season. The Tigers led No. 10 Texas 21-18 in Austin last year and led No. 4 Maryland 36-23 at the BB&T Classic in Washington, DC, two years ago.