Texas runs away from m. hoops in second half

DENVER — For 20 minutes, it seemed as if the men's basketball team was on the verge of adding another chapter to Princeton's proud history of NCAA tournament upsets.

Then reality — in the form of Brandon Mouton — set in.

Texas' star senior guard caught fire after halftime, drilling three three-pointers early in the second half en route to a game-high 23 points. Propelled by the sharp shooting of Mouton and his teammates, the Longhorns took over the game with a 24-8 run during the first nine minutes after intermission.

"I took it upon myself to come out and try to get us going," Mouton said. "Shots started falling and we started rolling from there."

The No. 14 seeded Tigers (20-8 overall, 13-1 Ivy League) would never seriously threaten again, and No. 3 Texas (24-7) extended its lead down the stretch, winning 66-49.

Early on, however, everything went according to plan for Princeton. After trailing 6-2 at the first TV timeout, the Tigers held the Longhorns scoreless for the next seven minutes, taking control of the game with a 12-0 run.

Nine of the points came from junior guard Will Venable, who repeatedly sliced through the Texas defense to either make layups or draw trips to the foul line. His drives forced the Longhorns to collapse into the lane, providing Princeton with a bevy of open looks from beyond the arc.

Controlling tempo

Meanwhile, Texas struggled to score. Despite the Longhorns' size advantage, which allowed them to pound the ball inside and grab 17 offensive rebounds on the night, they repeatedly failed to convert on high-percentage shots in the paint during the first half.

"We were getting stops early and it was our tempo," sophomore guard Scott Greenman said. "Everything was how we wanted it."

On the other hand, the Longhorns appeared frustrated by the game's pace. Head coach Rick Barnes crouched in front of his bench, frozen in a perplexed position resembling Rodin's "The Thinker."

Still, the Tigers were unable to stretch their lead to double digits. Despite the open shots from outside, they hit just 2-of-11 from three in the first half, a hint of things to come. On the other hand, the Longhorns got a spark off the bench from forward Brian Boddicker, who drained three straight open treys to keep Texas within reach. His last, with 42 seconds left before the break, cut the Princeton lead to one.

The Tigers took a bit of momentum into the half, when Andre Logan hit a baseline jumper with one second to play. Logan scored on the first play of the second stanza, too, pushing the lead to five.

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But Princeton wouldn't hold the advantage for long. Mouton answered Logan's bucket with a three, and backcourt mate Kenton Paulino followed suit on the Longhorns' next possession. Both shots were taken with a defender's hand in the shooters' face, but it didn't seem to matter.

A dunk by freshman Harrison Schaen briefly put the Tigers back up one, 29-28. It would be their last lead of the game, however, as the Texas run continued. Mouton sliced into the lane for a layup, and then he and Paulino hit back-to-back trifectas, forcing exasperated Princeton head coach John Thompson '88 to take a timeout.

"We felt like we had to go inside and put pressure on them," Texas head coach Rick Barnes said. "We didn't get much at first, but it finally loosened up [perimeter shots]."

While the Longhorn offense hit high gear, the Tiger offense sputtered. Venable continued to be the only Princeton player putting points on the board, chipping in two buckets off offensive rebounds. He would finish with the top Tiger stat line of the night by far — 16 points, eight boards, three assists, and three steals.

"What he did tonight is what he has done all year," Thompson said. "He's productive in so many facets of the game."

Venable could not carry his team, alone, however, and by the under-12-minute TV timeout, Princeton had fallen behind 46-33. Over the decisive first nine minutes of the second half, the Tigers missed all six shots they attempted from beyond the arc, while the Longhorns drained all five of their attempts.

The long-range discrepancy during the critical stretch mirrored that of the whole game — while Texas shot an incredible 11-of-15, Princeton made just 5-of-26.

The cause of Princeton's offensive woes is difficult to pinpoint. Texas' physical defense was partially to blame, but the Tigers still created many good looks and turned the ball over just seven times for the game.

"They did a very good job of rotating between man-to-man and zone, but I don't think, from a tactical standpoint, it took us away from what we were looking for," Thompson said. "To be honest, we got good shots, but the ball just didn't go in."

Perhaps the greatest effect of the Longhorn defense came in limiting Princeton's ability to score inside. Texas' larger and stronger big men limited junior center Judson Wallace to nine points (on 4-of-13 shooting) and junior forward Andre Logan to eight (3-11). Other than Venable, the Tigers were frequently forced to settle for either long-distance bombs or midrange jump shots.

With the game slipping away, Thompson turned to senior guard Ed Persia for a spark. Persia spent the first 30 minutes of the game on the bench, still not fully recovered from the deep thigh contusion that sidelined him for the last five games of the season.

"I wanted to use him [Persia] in the second half," Thompson said. "I thought that if I used him too much early he might not be able to go later in the game."

The move paid off immediately, as Persia nailed a trey on the first possession out of the timeout. Perhaps his shooting karma rubbed off, as Greenman drained back-to-back trifectas of his own a few minutes later, cutting the deficit to nine with seven minutes to play.

Princeton was unable, however, to mount one final charge. After the final TV timeout, the Tigers had the ball, down eight, with just over three minutes remaining, but Logan inadvertently kicked away the ball. On the ensuing Texas possession, forward Royal Ivey hit a tough floater in the lane, got fouled, and made the free throw, ending any chance of a Princeton comeback.

"We have a group of 15 players, four coaches, and a trainer who are extremely disappointed right now," Thompson said in the post-game press conference. "We came here to win and we are disappointed that we weren't able to. This hurts."

Not surprisingly, the Princeton locker room resembled a morgue after the game. The Tigers slowly dressed while staring blankly at a TV screen showing the next game, not quite believing that their season was over. Several spoke of the promise of next year, with everyone on the team, save Persia, returning.

"We don't ever want to feel like this again — it's a terrible feeling," Greenman said dejectedly. "We just have to work this offseason to make sure it doesn't happen again."