Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Last Memorable Ivy NCAA Tournament Win

Okay, so there have been so few that all are memorable, but, this game was special. . .

Princeton, 12 years ago, upset defending champion UCLA, a #4 seed to Princeton's #13, in the first round in Indianapolis. Tiger fans will remember Gus Johnson's great call of the game, but more so they'll remember the last Tiger possession, when Steve Goodrich hit Gabe Lewullis on a backdoor pass to give the Tigers a 43-41 lead and the victory. You can check it out on YouTube here. Among the members of that team was current head Princeton coach Sydney Johnson. It was a great game for the Tigers and their fans. It's hard to believe that it's been 12 years since that game.

UPDATE: Pennfan correctly pointed out when I first posted this that the last Ivy win was actually 10 years ago, when Princeton beat UNLV in the first round (and barely lost to Michigan State in the second round). That Tiger team finished 27-2 on the season (losing only to North Carolina and MSU) and rose to #8 in the polls.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know you're a big Ivy fan. So, I'm surprised you forgot Princeton's 1998 win over UNLV.

SportsProf said...

Penn fan: You are very kind for not throwing me under the bus. You're absolutely right, and I stand corrected. I suppose this goes to show you that the current state of Tiger hoops is such that my mind is a bit addled when it comes to the subject. Thanks for pointing this out. All the best, SportsProf

P.S.: Penn has some very nice talent and will re-emerge pretty quickly.

Anonymous said...

is that correct, that princeton rose to #8 in the polls in 1998? also, what year was it when penn won? didn't they beat nebraska or is my memory flawed.