The Hoyas, who were strong favorites, won by an unexpectedly narrow margin of 50–49, only securing their win by preventing a Princeton basket on the final possession of the game.

[1] The game is credited with halting discussions to downsize the NCAA tournament by eliminating automatic bids for smaller conferences.

Georgetown entered the NCAA tournament with a 22–4 regular-season record, and a roster that included future NBA stars such as Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo.

CBS had other programming lined up for primetime on Thursday and Friday of the tournament's opening weekend, and thus limited their first round coverage to the late-night slots.

The decision to air the Georgetown–Princeton game has been attributed to Tom Odjakian, who was in charge of ESPN's college basketball programming at the time.

After the game, Vitale wore a Princeton sweatshirt and praised the underdog's performance, remarking, "That would have been the greatest upset in the history of the NCAA tournament."

With 15 seconds remaining, Princeton senior Bob Scrabis attempted a three-pointer but was blocked by Mourning, sending the ball out of bounds.

Kit Mueller received the inbound pass with one second left to attempt a final shot, but Mourning executed another successful block as time expired.

[10][11] Prior to this near-upset, the NCAA had been considering eliminating automatic tournament bids for smaller conferences such as Princeton's Ivy League; this game is widely credited with halting those discussions.