SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Princeton.
The No. 15 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament and the champion of the Ivy League has become an early Cinderella candidate after stunning No. 2 seed Arizona on Thursday.
Now, it's also the team that stands in the way of a trip to the Sweet 16 for Missouri men's basketball.
Missouri faces Princeton at 5:10 p.m. CDT Saturday at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. The game can be seen on TNT.
After defeating Utah State in its Round of 64 matchup, many fans likely expected MU to next face Arizona before an inspired Princeton team became the third No. 15 seed in as many seasons to pick up a win in the Big Dance.
Both of the No. 15 seeds that won in 2021 and 2022 advanced to the Sweet 16. Missouri does not plan to let Princeton continue the trend.
"I think yesterday Princeton outworked Arizona," Noah Carter said. "They really fought hard, fought for their life. Not saying Arizona disrespected them, but they might have underlooked them a little bit."
Princeton shared the Ivy League regular-season title with Yale this season before taking down Cornell and the Bulldogs in its conference tournament to claim an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Led by coach Mitch Henderson, who played for Princeton from 1994-98, Princeton has a plethora of experience on its sideline. Henderson took the helm in 2011 and has a 207-116 record, including three conference titles and six postseason appearances between the NCAA Tournament, NIT and CBI.
Henderson is also not underestimating what stands in Princeton's way of continuing its Cinderella run: a free-scoring Missouri team that Princeton will have to slow down.
In its win over Arizona, Princeton made just four 3s. In MU's win over Utah State, D'Moi Hodge made five.
"(Missouri is a) very different team than Arizona," Henderson said. "(They) pressure, pick you up full (court), very talented team offensively. (They) give you a lot of different looks defensively. Hodge might be the best shooter we've seen in a long time."
Hodge was Missouri's leading scorer in its first-round victory over Utah State, continuing an impressive run of recent form. Hodge has scored 20-plus points in each of the past three games while knocking down 48% of his 3-pointers. Over the same stretch, Hodge has notched seven steals.
"I just want to do what I do and win games," Hodge said. "If that's me scoring 15 points, 10 points and we win, I'm happy with that. But it's just the fact that my teammates trust me to the make shots and they give me the ball to make plays."
Missouri is undefeated against the Ivy League since 1949, including a 92-85 victory over Penn on Nov. 11 in Columbia. While Missouri has undoubtedly grown since its second game of the season, its players said MU's matchup with the Quakers was a valuable game to reevaluate to understand how Princeton plays.
“The whole Ivy League is kind of like (a) run-your-offense-type, execute-your-own-coaches-play type of league,” Sean East II said. “(Princeton runs) similar stuff to us, but it’s just a slower pace. We’ve seen it before and we’re gonna be well-prepared.”
Both Penn and Princeton average 75 points per game and just under 71 possessions per game, compared to Missouri's 79 points and 72 possessions per game. While Princeton doesn’t move as quickly as MU, East said Missouri needs to maintain its fast pace on both ends.
“Just transition defense,” East said on what Missouri needs to improve on following its win over Utah State. “(Princeton) don’t really like to push it that much, but transition defense and continue to stay on the glass and make sure our offense isn’t stagnant.”
Princeton is also a strong rebounding team. Its work on the glass — outrebounding the Wildcats 38-37 — helped it defeat Arizona.
It also held Arizona, the nation's seventh-best offense, to a season-low 55 points. The last time MU was held under 60 points was Feb. 14 in an 89-56 loss to Auburn. Utah State was able to chip away at Missouri's first-half lead Thursday after holding it to a scoring drought of over three minutes.
“We've gotta keep our foot on the gas. We've gotta get up and we've gotta keep going,” Hodge said. “We can’t ease up and let the (other) team get confidence.”
Missouri's ability to keep its foot on the gas and respond to adversity represents the growth MU has made to become comfortable in big moments this season.
With one of the biggest games of his players' lives less than 24 hours away, MU coach Dennis Gates said his team's bond has been forged all season and allows MU to respond to adversity quickly.
"When you look at the Kansas game, our guys were able to reflect in a positive way, no frustration, stress-free." Gates said. "That allows us now to respond and get right back to what we need to get to, on the path we need to be directed on."
With the neutral fans at the Golden 1 Center potentially allying with the traveling Princeton supporters, MU's composure will need to be on full display to overcome any adversities. If it can play to its strengths, speed Princeton up and have its stars step up once again, Missouri has a strong opportunity to reach its first Sweet 16 since 2009.