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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Texas (NCAA Tournament)
Men's Basketball Falls to Texas, 66-49, in NCAA First Round
March 18, 2004 | Men's Basketball
March 18, 2004
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DENVER - The Texas Longhorns proved just how quickly a college basketball game can change Thursday night. And they also proved that it doesn't hurt to hit a few three-point shots either.
Brandon Mouton hit three of his five three-point shots in the first seven minutes of the second half and Texas hit nine of its first 14 shots of the half to turn a three-point deficit into a 13-point lead, defeating Princeton 66-49 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Denver's Pepsi Center Thursday night.
Princeton (20-8) at halftime despite shooting just 36% in the first half, leading by as many as nine points in the first 20 minutes, but the Tigers could never get closer than eight points after Texas's big run to being the second half. "I thought we were getting open looks in the first half but just not making them," said Princeton head coach John Thompson. "They made a lot of shots in the second half, and ours still wouldn't go down."
After Andre Logan scored the first basket of the second half to put Princeton ahead 27-22, Mouton hit the first of his three big three-point shots in Texas's run to cut the Longhorn deficit to two points. Kenton Paulino then hit another "three" to put Texas ahead 28-27, and Mouton's layup 2:30 into the second half would give Texas a 30-29 lead. The Tigers were within 39-33 with 13:16 on the clock after Will Venable's tip-in, but Mouton hit another three-point shot on Texas's next possession to start a 7-0 Longhorn run.
"From my point of view, our seniors did exactly what we expected them to do tonight," said Texas head coach Rick Barnes "We got some good looks in the second half and we made those shots."
Venable led Princeton with 16 points, but no other Tiger player scored in double figures as the Tigers shot just 35% for the game and 5 for 26 (19%) from three-point range overall. Texas shot 15 for 25 in the second half, outscoring Princeton 44-24 in the final 20 minutes.
The Longhorns shot 11 for 15 from three-point range, the ninth-best three-point shooting performance in NCAA tournament history. Mouton, who shot 5 for 6 from beyond the arc, scored a game-high 23 points, while Royal Ivey had 15 points and Brian Boddicker came off the bench to make all four of his three-point attempts and score 14 points.
The game was a low-scoring one early on, but the Tigers took the early momentum with an 11-0 run in a four-minute span midway through the half. Two Venable free throws gave the Tigers a 14-6 lead with 8:48 to go in the half, and the Tigers still led by eight, 20-12, after two Andre Logan free throws with 4:56 left. Texas pulled within one point at 23-22 in the final minute before Logan's short jumper gave the Tigers a 25-22 lead at halftime.
"We were optimistic early on after getting the lead, but it's a long game," said Thompson. "They made some shots early in the second half, including some ones I thought we contested pretty well."
Princeton, which won 20 games for the 17th time in school history, has all but one player from its 2003-04 roster back for next season.
"This loss makes us hungry," said sophomore Scott Greenman. "It'll make us work harder in the offseason. We don't want our season to end the same way next year."