Men's Basketball: Last-second shot knocks Tigers out of NCAA Tournament

TAMPA, Fla. – Last Saturday, the men’s basketball team was on the joyous end of a last-second shot.

Five days later and a thousand miles to the south, the Tigers learned what it felt like to be on the other end.

Kentucky freshman Brandon Knight banked in a running layup from the right side with two seconds to play, giving the fourth-seeded Wildcats a dramatic 59-57 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and ending 13-seed Princeton’s season.

“I just wanted to be aggressive and not settle for a jump shot,” said Knight, who was 0-for-7 from the floor and scoreless before his game-winner. “I was able to get in the lane and finish.”

The Tigers have made a habit of bringing games down to the wire this season, and Thursday afternoon was no exception. Down by four points with two minutes and 14 seconds remaining, senior guard and co-captain Dan Mavraides capped off a long possession with a basket, banking in a leaner from the center of the lane. Kentucky forward DeAndre Liggins and senior forward Kareem Maddox traded baskets before Knight missed a jumper on the other end with a minute to play.

Out of a timeout, Mavraides drove to the elbow, pulled up and sent a high jumper into the air. It came through the net cleanly, tying the game at 57. Kentucky head coach John Calipari called timeout to set up the Wildcats’ final play, with a one-second differential between the game and shot clocks.

“I got a ballscreen driving towards the middle, I was able to create space on the step-back and I was open,” Mavraides said of the equalizing shot. “I let it go, and it went in.”

Knight held the ball at midcourt, running out most of the clock before making his move with seven seconds left. He drove to the right block off a high screen, scooped a high-arcing layup off the glass and watched it fall through the net, sealing the Tigers’ fate.

“[Mavraides and I] switched, and Brandon blew by me for the game-winning bucket,” said Maddox, who was guarding Knight on the drive. “That’s all there is to say.”

Knight, who entered the game as his team’s leading scorer, was 0-for-7 and scoreless until his game-winning shot.

“I think it was a difficulty 10 layup,” Mavraides said. “Kareem’s our longest, biggest defender, there’s no one else we’d like to have defending in that situation.”

Maddox could not get a half-court shot off in time and the heavily favored Wildcats escaped with a victory in one of Thursday’s many thrilling games.

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“I really liked this matchup. I thought it was a special one for the tourney, because Princeton and Kentucky are two of the best basketball programs that we’ve seen in college basketball. I wanted to demand from my players that we live up to that, and I think we did that,” said head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 in the postgame press conference, fighting through tears during the final sentence.

Playing their first NCAA Tournament game since 2004, the Tigers started slowly, and it looked like the game might turn into a rout. Princeton missed its first five shots and did not score until sophomore forward Ian Hummer hit a tough shot from the post four minutes in; a three-pointer in response from guard Darius Miller gave Kentucky a 9-2 advantage.

Princeton responded, however, soon reeling off an 8-2 run of its own to close within one possession. Maddox scored twice in the sequence, which was capped by a fast-break layup by Hummer from the left side.

“I knew we would settle in; we always have all season,” Mavraides said. “Once we started running our offense and doing what we do, we calmed down.”

Still, the Wildcats kept control of the lead until junior guard Doug Davis heated up. Davis, who sent the Tigers dancing with a buzzer-beating shot to beat Harvard in the Ivy League playoff, hit three jumpers for seven points. A three from the left side tied the score at 20-20 and forced Calipari to call a timeout, electrifying the sizeable group of Princeton fans across from the team’s bench.

Davis continued to spark the Princeton offense, drawing two free throws on the next possession to tie the game again at 22. After an empty possession for the Wildcats, the junior grabbed a loose rebound and pulled up from the right wing in transition to hit yet another jumper, capping a stretch of 11 consecutive Princeton points for Davis and giving the Tigers their first lead of the game.

“The ball was falling, and I was able to get open,” Davis said. “My teammates set me up and we just ran our offense. I was able to get open and knock down some shots.”

Davis was not finished, hitting a pull-up jumper with a hand in his face after two Kentucky baskets. A trey from Miller, who dropped 15 points in the first half, momentarily put the Wildcats back ahead, but Mavraides hit a three from the right corner to draw even at 31.

Mavraides then forced a steal and tossed the ball ahead to Davis, who found Maddox streaking to the basket for a fast-break dunk. But a three-pointer from Liggins gave the Wildcats a one-point lead at halftime.

Davis would not score in the second half, but the frontcourt stepped up, as Princeton’s top four scorers finished with double figures.

“They played the ballscreens a bit better [in the second half], trailing me tight, but that’s what you expect,” Davis said. “I was just trying to get my teammates involved.”

Kentucky looked to take control coming out of the break, but a block from Hummer and a steal by junior forward Patrick Saunders denied the Wildcats twice. Mavraides held the ball on the right side and went up for a heat-check three, hitting nothing but net for a 36-34 lead.

Princeton held its opponents scoreless for their first six possessions of the half, but the Tigers managed nothing else on offense, and a three-point play from center Josh Harrellson gave the lead back to the Wildcats.

Neither team managed another point in the first five minutes of the half until Princeton scored three consecutive baskets. Maddox hit a tough jumper, Hummer tipped in a Mavraides miss and sophomore center Brendan Connolly hit an open layup off a drive and dish from Mavraides, giving the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 42-37.

But Kentucky stormed back, retaking the lead with a 10-2 run marked by strong play from Harrellson inside. The Tigers had been cheating off shooters to help inside all game and Kentucky finally made them pay, hitting consecutive threes around the seven-minute mark to go up by five points.

Hummer scored off a weak-side cut, assisted by Maddox, blocked Harrellson on the other end and then drove to the basket, drawing a foul and hitting one of two free throws. But the huge Harrellson, who finished with 15 points and a double-double, grabbed an offensive rebound and made a putback while fouled.

He missed the free throw, putting Kentucky up four and setting the stage for Princeton’s late-game comeback.

Princeton held the game to just 54 possessions, the slowest of the year for both teams. The Tigers committed only six turnovers and outrebounded Kentucky, but made just three of 14 three-pointers.

The Wildcats’ next opponent is fifth-seeded West Virginia, which defeated Clemson earlier in the day. The Tigers, meanwhile, finish the season at 25-7, their best record since a 27-2 campaign in 1997-98.

“We had a lot of confidence in each other from day one this season, and once we settled into the game we knew we could play with [Kentucky],” Mavraides said. “I think we can play with anyone in cohntry, and hope this game proved that.”

Thursday produced eerie parallels to Princeton’s first-round game 15 years ago, when the 13-seed Tigers took down 4-seed UCLA by two points on a last-second shot.

But this time, the game-winner sent Princeton home in defeat.