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Mitch Henderson has had a hand in one of the biggest upsets of the NCAA Tournament. Whether you mean in 1996 or 2023 makes no difference.

Henderson coached Princeton to an improbable upset of 2-seed Arizona in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Thursday. It not only busted brackets all over the country, it also represented just the program’s third NCAA Tournament victory of the expanded-bracket era.

MORE: History of 15 vs. 2 upsets, statistics for NCAA Tournament

The 15-seed Tigers upended Tommy Lloyd’s Pac-12 champion Wildcats 59-55 in Sacramento, Calif. Princeton ended the first and second halves with runs of 8-0 and 9-0, respectively. The Wildcats were held scoreless following their last bucket with 4:45 remaining


Henderson, who has coached at his alma mater since 2011, was also a member of Pete Carril’s 1995-96 Princeton team that upset 4-seed UCLA in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.


Still, Henderson opened his postgame news conference by saying he did not want to compare the 2022-23 team and the 1995-96 team.

“There’s going to be some comparisons from some of you, I’m sure, to coach Carril. But I want to be really clear that this group did this,” Henderson said. “That was a really long time ago. But this group did something really special for its university, for the fans, for the former players and for one another in a very similar way that you see in the tournament that they just came together and did it.”

MORE: Are there any perfect brackets left in 2023?

When asked what Carril would say of this team’s victory, Henderson reiterated his earlier point:

“I remember when that win (in 1996) had happened, he had lost a lot of first-round games,” Henderson said. “These games are very difficult to win. He’d just be very proud of the group. He wouldn’t want any attention to be brought anywhere else other than to what these guys did.”

DeCOURCY: Signs of an upset were present from both Princeton & Arizona

Regardless of what Carril would say, it is not hyperbole to say Henderson has been a part of all of Princeton’s NCAA Tournament victories in the expanded-bracket era. He was a player on the Bill Carmody-coached team that, as a 5 seed, beat 12-seed UNLV 69-57 in the 1998 tournament.

But Henderson’s impact arguably was greatest as a coach. He contributed eight points on 3-of-11 shooting in the 43-41 slugfest against UCLA in 1996, though he did have 19 points on 57.1 percent shooting vs. UNLV two years later.

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Neither of those games quite compares to Thursday’s victory, which marks just the 11th time in March Madness history a 15-seed has beaten a 2-seed. It’s worth noting that 15-2 upsets have become more frequent in recent years, with seven occurring since the 2011 tournament and one each in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

That’s to take nothing away from Princeton’s upset victory in the NCAA Tournament — whether in 1996 or 2023.

Source: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/mitch-henderson-princeton-march-madness-upsets/oak45ndlq6sezbrlb3tpm8ln