PRINCETON, N.J. - The Princeton University men’s basketball team punched its ticket to the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon, pulling off the 74-65 upset of top-seeded Yale to claim the 2023 Ivy Madness Championship crown inside Jadwin Gymnasium.
 
Second-seeded Princeton took advantage of playing on its home floor, scoring the game’s first 12 points in front of a crowd of over 3,600 fans. However, the Bulldogs fought back to take a 25-23 lead with just over three minutes to play in the first half on a Matt Knowling layup as both sides traded blows prior to intermission.
 
Freshman standout Caden Pierce closed the period on an individual 5-0 run, burying a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Tigers ahead by four, 33-29, at the break.
 
The Tigers led wire-to-wire in the second half of action, cruising to the tournament title and claiming the League’s automatic bid in next week’s NCAA Tournament.
 
Princeton’s Tosan Evbuomwan was named the Most Outstanding Player following his second straight 20-point performance, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor. The senior also tallied five rebounds and four assists in the win, while Pierce recorded 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the postseason.
 
Yale’s Bez Mbeng has 18 points and six rebounds to lead the Bulldogs, but the team shot just 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) from the charity stripe and lost the rebound battle 36-31 to Princeton.
 
The Tigers will be making their 26th all-time trip to the dance and the first since the 2016-17 season. Princeton finds out its seeding in the NCAA Tournament during tonight’s selection show.

All-Tournament Team
Tosan Evbuomwan, Princeton
Caden Pierce, Princeton
Jordan Dingle, Penn
Chris Manon, Cornell
August Mahoney, Yale
 
Most Outstanding Player 
Tosan Evbuomwan, Princeton