Louisville, Kentucky – Creighton used his size, 3-point shooting and tight second-half defense to end March Madness in Princeton, defeating the 15th-seeded Tigers 86-75 on Friday night in the Sweet 16 tournament.
The sixth-seeded Bluejays (24-12) are in their first regional final since making the eight-team NCAA tournament in 1941. Creighton will play No. 5 seed San Diego State in Sunday’s South Region final, with each team looking to his first Final Four.
Ryan Kalkbenner, the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, scored 22 points to lead the Bluejays to their sixth win in seven games. Baylor Scheierman made five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points.
Princeton upset the gridiron everywhere, beating No. 2 seed Arizona in the first round and then beating seventh seed Missouri last weekend in Sacramento, Calif.
The Tigers (23-9) were led by Ryan Langborg with 26 points and Ivy League MVP Thosan Eubuomwan with 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists.
Princeton, playing in its first Sweet 16 since 1967, was hoping to become the first Ivy League champion to reach the Elite Eight since Penn in 1979, the first Tigers team to reach the Final Four. after Bill Bradley took them there in 1965. , and the second consecutive No. 1 seed to play in the regional final. Last year, St. Peter’s became the first No. 15 to achieve the feat.
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