Maybe it ended sooner than it could have.
Previously unbeaten No. 8 Princeton was overpowered by No. 1 Maryland in the second half of the Round of 32 matchup on the Terrapins” home floor Monday night, reeling off a 17-2 run to start the second half that distanced themselves from Princeton for good and helped secure the 85-70 victory.
The Tigers (31-1) trailed 42-38 at the half and had harnessed momentum from the program”s first ever NCAA tournament win Saturday against Wisconsin-Green Bay. But Maryland (32-2) shot 12-for-20 from beyond the arc and enjoyed too many hot hands for Princeton to handle. Maryland”s Laurin Mincy led all scorers with 27 points and nbso online casino reviews seven assists, and Princeton guard Blake Dietrick notched 26 points in 40 minutes.
Maryland seals its second straight Sweet 16 appearance with the win.
In semi-related business, President Barack Obama attended the opener (his niece is a backup forward), as did Supreme Court justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, who both graduated from Princeton.
Princeton”s No. 8 seeding was controversial and considered by many to be too low for a team that ran the table in convincing fashion and posted quality wins over Michigan, Pitt, Drexel, Wake Forest, Charlotte and Georgetown.
I watched the game. Except for the first five minutes of the second half (when Maryland extended their lead from 4 to 17…. and Princeton’s coach could not bring herself to call a much-needed timeout), Princeton was a good match for Maryland. If they played 10 times, I think Princeton could win two of those games. Unfortunately, last night wasn’t one of those two wins. Princeton did the Ivy League very proud. They are probably better than some other teams in the Sweet Sixteen, but boy did they get HOSED with that seeding…