NCAA Men's Basketball Scoreboard: Recap

Recap | Box Score | Today's Scoreboard

Louisville 66, Princeton 65

Posted: Wednesday March 13, 2002 12:50 PM

Princeton Related Info: Team Page Conference Page City Page: • Princeton Message Boards: • Princeton • Ivy League

Louisville Related Info: Team Page Conference Page City Page: • Louisville Message Boards: • Louisville • Conference USA

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Ticker) -- Reece Gaines drove the length of the court and banked in a jumper with five seconds remaining to give Louisville a 66-65 victory over Princeton in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Princeton trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half but took a 65-64 lead with 12 seconds left on a trademark backdoor layup by Ed Persia.

But Gaines sent Louisville (19-12) on to a second-round matchup with the winner of Wednesday's game between Temple and Fresno State.

"We came down here to compete and win. I thought we played well," Princeton coach John Thompson said. "The kid just made a really tough shot to win it." Gaines scored 23 points and Luke Whitehead and reserve Erik Brown added 10 apiece for the Cardinals, who are appearing in the NIT for the first time since 1985. They won the tournament in 1956.

Mike Bechtold led all scorers with 24 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Princeton (16-12), which fell to 0-3 all-time against Louisville.

The Cardinals led by 10 points with just under six minutes left, but the Tigers drilled four straight 3-pointers and held Louisville without a basket for six minutes to get back in the game.

The Cardinals made 11-of-14 free throws during their drought from the field and took a 62-58 lead on Bryant Northern's 3-pointer with 1:54 to play.

Princeton's Ray Robins and Louisville's Luke Whitehead each made two free throws before Bechtold was fouled while trying a 3-pointer for the Tigers. He converted all three free throws to get Princeton within 64-63, setting the stage for the frantic finish.

The Cardinals shot just 43 percent but had a 32-22 rebounding advantage and outscored the Tigers from the free-throw line, 21-7.

Robins finished with 15 points and Persia had 11 for Princeton, which shot 51 percent (23-of-45) and made 12-of-25 3-pointers.

"I thought we hit every big shot we needed to," Robins said. "It was a good game. It leaves us with a better taste than our last games." Princeton was coming off a loss to Yale in the two-game playoff for the Ivy League's berth in the NCAA Tournament.