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Princeton University Athletics
Men's Basketball to Face Texas in NCAA First Round in Denver
March 14, 2004 | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2004
The Princeton men's basketball team will face a relatively familiar opponent in the Tigers' return to the NCAA tournament--Texas--in a first-round game at Denver's Pepsi Center on Thurs., March 18. Game time is 7:20 p.m. EST (5:20 p.m. MST), and the game will be televised live by CBS.
The No. 14 seed Tigers (20-7) and No. 3 seed Longhorns (23-7) have met three times in the last six seasons, including a game at Austin, Texas's Erwin Center last season (Dec. 22, 2002). Princeton led the Longhorns 21-18 at halftime and was ahead with just more than five minutes remaining, but Beaumont, Texas, native Ed Persia's three-point shot was off the mark at the buzzer and the Longhorns escaped with a 57-54 victory.
"We played well against them last year," said Persia, who played all 40 minutes against the Longhorns last season. "But it's a new season and every team in the NCAA tournament is a great team. We're just excited to be playing in March." "This is why we do what we do, to the get to the NCAA tournament and compete," said Princeton head coach John Thompson. "We're familiar with Texas, but we know they have some great players who are playing well right now."
Princeton has a 4-1 record against the Longhorns all-time on neutral courts. The Tigers defeated Texas in the 1998 Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, 56-46, on the way to that tournament's championship, and also defeated the Longhorns 62-56 in the first game of the 1997-98 season at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the Meadowlands.
Princeton has a 4-3 lead in the all-time series. The teams also played in 1992 (a Texas win, 63-53, in Charlotte, N.C.) and a year earlier, 1991, when the Longhorns defeated the Tigers 57-46 in Austin in the second round of the Preseason NIT.
The Tigers are champions of the Ivy League for the 25th time and are making their 23rd NCAA appearance, a number surpassed by only 16 other Division I schools. Princeton won nine straight games to end the regular season to clinch its 17th 20-win season and ninth NCAA bid in the last 16 years.
11th-ranked Texas fell to Oklahoma State, 64-49, in the Big 12 championship game Sunday afternoon in Dallas. The Longhorns, under head coach Rick Barnes, defeated Oklahoma and Kansas in the first two rounds of that tournament to advance to the championship game.
Brandon Mouton leads the Longhorns in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game, while P.J. Tucker averages better than 10 points per game. The Longhorns have allowed their opponents just 39.7% shooting from the field this season.
Princeton is led by junior center Judson Wallace, a first-team All-Ivy selection who averages 15.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and classmate Will Venable, a first-team All-Ivy pick who averages better than 10 points per game and leads the team in field-goal percentage (56%), assists (78) and steals (35).
The winner of the Texas-Princeton game will face the winner of the North Carolina-Air Force game in Saturday's second round at the Pepsi Center. The Tigers faced North Carolina in the 2001 NCAA tournament first round, while Air Force head coach Joe Scott is a former Princeton assistant coach and player for the Tigers from 1983-87.
Maryland will face UTEP and Syracuse will face Brigham Young in the other first-round games in Denver, though those games are part of the Phoenix (West) regional. The Tigers are in the Atlanta (South) Regional, where Duke is the No. 1 seed.
Remember, the only way to get official championship gear is through www.IvySport.com.