Persia-led second-half run not enough for Tiger men in NCAA tournament
By: Kirsten Feil
NEW ORLEANS — There were moments in the 2000-2001 season when the Princeton University men’s basketball team didn’t know where they’d be on March 16th. But Friday the 15th-seeded Tigers showed up in the Louisiana Superdome for a NCAA tournament South Region challenge. Almost a 19-point underdog, Princeton entered its game against second-seeded North Carolina with a game plan.
And everything went according to plan, except for one thing — the shots refused to fall in the Tigers’ 70-48 loss to the Tar Heels.
"We didn’t have to alter or change what we were doing," said Princeton head coach John Thompson, whose team ended its season 16-11 overall. "We got the shots we wanted and thought we would get. They just weren’t falling."
Princeton’s field goal percentage in the first half was only 29 percent and their much depended-upon three-pointers fell just 15 percent of the time. North Carolina, on the other hand, shot 44 percent from the field and 31 percent from three-point range. These differences helped account for the 8-0 lead that UNC opened up in the first 2:53 of play, a lead that they never lost on their way to improving to 26-6.
North Carolina’s size advantage was a contributing factor to the lopsided start and subsequent lead. Nate Walton, the only Princeton player to have any NCAA tournament experience — albeit a single minute against Michigan State in 1998, did not even contest the game’s opening jump ball. Instead, he let Brendan Haywood easily tip the ball to begin the Tar Heels’ scoring explosion.
Trailing by twenty points at the half, 36-16, the Tigers’ Ed Persia led what would be the team’s only narrowing of the deficit. The freshman hit three three-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half followed by a pair of lay-ups. With this spark, Princeton cut the halftime lead to a mere 12-point discrepancy, 46-34.
Persia’s much-needed spark was just part of the game plan.
"I just tried to come in and give the team some energy," said Persia, who finished as Princeton’s leading scorer with 16 points. "People have been stepping up all year and hitting shots. It was just my turn."
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the 46-34 score was as close as they would get. Persia’s shooting and Walton’s team-high seven assists were not enough to keep North Carolina from ending the Ivy League champion’s season.
North Carolina had four players in double figures, led by Haywood’s 15 points. Princeton is now 0-6 against the Tar Heels in games played on neutral sites. With this loss, players might mitigate the rest of the season because as Thompson noted, "It’s hard to sit here after a loss and realize how good the year was and what this group accomplished."
But even North Carolina’s Matt Doherty, whose team was the co-champ of the Atlantic Coast Conference this season with Duke, recognized Princeton’s place at the tournament. The Tigers won their 23rd Ivy title despite losing five eligible players who were starters at some point in their career, their head coach and an assistant.
"Princeton’s here for a reason," said Doherty, the first-year Tar Heel head coach. "They’re a pretty good team. They’re a tough team to get a lead on."
Accomplishments notwithstanding, the 70-48 loss was not the envisioned game plan and as a subdued Walton and teammates met with reporters after the game, he summed up Friday’s feelings simply.
"You always take the losses harder," said the Tiger captain, who became the first Princeton player ever to lead the team in scoring, assists, rebounds and steals in one season.
As Princeton, which loses just Walton and seniors C.J. Chapman and Terence Rozier-Byrd, heads home to reflect on its accomplishments this season, the Tar Heels will continue their season by staying in New Orleans to play Penn State on Sunday.