Brown stuns top-seeded Princeton to reach Ivy League final

Brown guard Aaron Cooley. Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

Brown stuns top-seeded Princeton to reach Ivy League championship game

By Eric Smithling | Last updated Mar 16, 2024 3:00 PM ET

Look at what Brown can do.

The Ivy League Tournament was thrown upside down after Brown, which entered Saturday with a 12-17 record, upset the tourney's No. 1 overall seed, Princeton, 90-81.

With the loss, Princeton (24-4, 12-2 Ivy League) will no longer qualify for the Big Dance. It was previously a projected No. 12 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi.

Meanwhile, Brown, which was 6-17 through its first 23 games, has won seven in a row — the program's longest streak in 21 years, per CBS Sports.

THE 17TH NO. 1 SEED HAS GONE DOWN

Brown snaps Princeton's 9-game win streak to advance to the @IvyLeague Final. @BrownU_MBB has won 7 straight games since starting the season 6-17, which is their longest win streak since 2003. pic.twitter.com/uwMFWAVyOv
— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) March 16, 2024

The Bears are now just one win away from their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1986.

Brown (13-17, 8-6 in Ivy League) shot 55.6 percent from the field, well above its season average of 42.6 percent, which ranked 286th in the country.

College basketball analytics expert Evan Miyakawa noted that the result fits with the team's recent play and its performances against tougher opponents. Per EvanMiya.com, Brown "plays much better" against more difficult competition.

That bodes well for the program in the Ivy League championship game, where it will face either Cornell (22-6, 11-3 in Ivy League) or Yale (20-9, 11-3 in Ivy League).

After Saturday's surprising result continued the team's hot streak, it's clear that Brown can do to either of them what it just did to Princeton. The Bears will just need to stay hot.

Eric Smithling

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans

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