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Saturday, December 29
Tempe, Ariz.
2:00 PM MT/4:00 PM ET
Princeton University
7-5
67
at
66
Arizona State
9-3
1
2
F
Princeton
37
30
67
Arizona State
30
36
66
Princeton stunned Arizona State 67-66 a game after the Sun Devils beat then-No. 1 Kansas on the same floor.
Photo by: Billy Hardiman
Princeton Stuns No. 17 Arizona State, 67-66
December 29, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Richmond Aririguzoh's goal after basketball is to be Dr. Aririguzoh. Whatever tense moments may be in the someday-doc's future, Saturday in Tempe, the college basketball world saw the big junior is cool under pressure.
With Princeton down a point and 24.8 seconds left on the clock at Wells Fargo Arena, the home floor of 17th-ranked Arizona State, Aririguzoh, a 77 percent free-throw shooter this season, drained both to put Princeton ahead. And after the Tigers survived a frantic final possession in which the Sun Devils had three shots at the likely game-winning basket, the 67-66 victory was Princeton's.
"Just envision, just make free throws, calm down, just block out the noise, pretty much, and just follow the routine that you've been doing since you first started playing basketball," Aririguzoh said of withstanding the noise sent his way from a crowd of 10,000, some of whom undoubtedly were in the same seats a week earlier when the Sun Devils beat then-No. 1 Kansas.
The win was Princeton's first over an AP-ranked opponent since beating then-No. 25 Harvard on Feb. 11, 2012 in Jadwin, and first over an AP top-20 opponent since Mar. 14, 1996, when the Tigers upset then-No. 17 and defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, leading to then-sophomore Mitch Henderson's iconic celebratory leap.
Nearly 23 years later, Henderson was on the sidelines, willing the current Tigers, led by a game-high 21 points from senior Devin Cannady, to victory as the team's head coach.
"For the seniors at least, our goal since we came in as freshmen was to knock off a ranked opponent," Cannady said. "We checked that goal off."
Princeton led for most of the final 14-plus minutes of the first half and never trailed in that span, building a 10-point lead on a Cannady 3-pointer 19 seconds into the second half.
ASU, though, went on a 12-2 run to pass Princeton at 45-44 with 12-plus minutes left in the game. From there, neither team led by more than four points.
ASU last led at 66-65 with two minutes to go before Aririguzoh calmly hit two free throws to put Princeton up by the eventual final, 67-66. Still, Arizona State had 24 seconds with which to work on its final possession and had three shots at the bucket with none falling.
"I really feel like we had a plan and we'd stick to the plan and throughout the game, the guys believed in each other," Henderson said. "(ASU) had shots at it to get the win at the very end, and usually those fall. They fall at home, and they didn't tonight, so I'm so proud of the guys."
While Cannady's scoring output lifted him closer to seventh place on Princeton's all-time scoring list, now with 1,426 points to stand just two behind seventh-place Brian Earl '99 (1,428), sophomores Sebastian Much and Jerome Desrosiers were standouts as well, with Desrosiers dropping in a career-high 16 points and Much adding a season-high 13. Aririguzoh's 13 points gave him his ninth double-figure scoring game of the season after the junior's single-game best was nine points entering the year. Desrosiers' 16 points were two better than his previous career best, and his nine rebounds were a career-best by one.
Postgame Notes
• Along with moving closer to eighth place on Princeton's all-time scoring list, Devin Cannady added five 3-pointers chipped away at the gap between him and Douglas Davis '12, who stands second on Princeton's career 3-pointer list at 276. Cannady now has 262, and Brian Earl '99 holds the record at 281.
• This was Princeton's second consecutive season with a win over a Pac-12 team, as the Tigers beat USC 103-93 in OT last December on the Trojans' home floor. It's Princeton's fourth true road win over a team in the conference, along with the USC win and two wins at Stanford in 1967 and 1970.
• Arizona State's two made 3-pointers were a season-low for a Tiger opponent, as was the Sun Devils' .133 3-pointer clip (2-15) and overall field goal percentage of .323 (20-62).
• Princeton hit 10 3-pointers, marking the fifth time this season Princeton has hit at least 10 3s, all in the last eight games.
• This was just the second meeting between Princeton and Arizona State. ASU won the first 61-42 on Nov. 20, 2007 in the Maui Invitational led by 22 points from future NBA star James Harden, whose retired jersey hung from the rafters over the Princeton bench Saturday.
With Princeton down a point and 24.8 seconds left on the clock at Wells Fargo Arena, the home floor of 17th-ranked Arizona State, Aririguzoh, a 77 percent free-throw shooter this season, drained both to put Princeton ahead. And after the Tigers survived a frantic final possession in which the Sun Devils had three shots at the likely game-winning basket, the 67-66 victory was Princeton's.
"Just envision, just make free throws, calm down, just block out the noise, pretty much, and just follow the routine that you've been doing since you first started playing basketball," Aririguzoh said of withstanding the noise sent his way from a crowd of 10,000, some of whom undoubtedly were in the same seats a week earlier when the Sun Devils beat then-No. 1 Kansas.
The win was Princeton's first over an AP-ranked opponent since beating then-No. 25 Harvard on Feb. 11, 2012 in Jadwin, and first over an AP top-20 opponent since Mar. 14, 1996, when the Tigers upset then-No. 17 and defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, leading to then-sophomore Mitch Henderson's iconic celebratory leap.
Nearly 23 years later, Henderson was on the sidelines, willing the current Tigers, led by a game-high 21 points from senior Devin Cannady, to victory as the team's head coach.
"For the seniors at least, our goal since we came in as freshmen was to knock off a ranked opponent," Cannady said. "We checked that goal off."
Princeton led for most of the final 14-plus minutes of the first half and never trailed in that span, building a 10-point lead on a Cannady 3-pointer 19 seconds into the second half.
ASU, though, went on a 12-2 run to pass Princeton at 45-44 with 12-plus minutes left in the game. From there, neither team led by more than four points.
ASU last led at 66-65 with two minutes to go before Aririguzoh calmly hit two free throws to put Princeton up by the eventual final, 67-66. Still, Arizona State had 24 seconds with which to work on its final possession and had three shots at the bucket with none falling.
"I really feel like we had a plan and we'd stick to the plan and throughout the game, the guys believed in each other," Henderson said. "(ASU) had shots at it to get the win at the very end, and usually those fall. They fall at home, and they didn't tonight, so I'm so proud of the guys."
While Cannady's scoring output lifted him closer to seventh place on Princeton's all-time scoring list, now with 1,426 points to stand just two behind seventh-place Brian Earl '99 (1,428), sophomores Sebastian Much and Jerome Desrosiers were standouts as well, with Desrosiers dropping in a career-high 16 points and Much adding a season-high 13. Aririguzoh's 13 points gave him his ninth double-figure scoring game of the season after the junior's single-game best was nine points entering the year. Desrosiers' 16 points were two better than his previous career best, and his nine rebounds were a career-best by one.
A game after No. 17 Arizona State beat No. 1 Kansas on this very floor, Princeton comes in and wins. Let Ted Robinson and Bill Walton P'01 give you the finish. pic.twitter.com/nkQyP9Xx7x
— Princeton Basketball (@Princeton_Hoops) December 29, 2018
Postgame Notes
• Along with moving closer to eighth place on Princeton's all-time scoring list, Devin Cannady added five 3-pointers chipped away at the gap between him and Douglas Davis '12, who stands second on Princeton's career 3-pointer list at 276. Cannady now has 262, and Brian Earl '99 holds the record at 281.
• This was Princeton's second consecutive season with a win over a Pac-12 team, as the Tigers beat USC 103-93 in OT last December on the Trojans' home floor. It's Princeton's fourth true road win over a team in the conference, along with the USC win and two wins at Stanford in 1967 and 1970.
• Arizona State's two made 3-pointers were a season-low for a Tiger opponent, as was the Sun Devils' .133 3-pointer clip (2-15) and overall field goal percentage of .323 (20-62).
• Princeton hit 10 3-pointers, marking the fifth time this season Princeton has hit at least 10 3s, all in the last eight games.
• This was just the second meeting between Princeton and Arizona State. ASU won the first 61-42 on Nov. 20, 2007 in the Maui Invitational led by 22 points from future NBA star James Harden, whose retired jersey hung from the rafters over the Princeton bench Saturday.
Team Stats
PRIN
ASU
FG%
.351
.323
3FG%
.323
.133
FT%
.773
.750
RB
42
45
TO
11
7
STL
2
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballReflections from the Princeton Athletics Class of 2025
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