The Peacocks NCAA tournament that runs at this point has already put them in historic company, after shocking Kentucky No. 2 in the first round as an 18.5-point underdog, marking one of the biggest upheavals in Big Dance history. However, their victory over Purdue as a 13-point dog brought them to the top of Cinderella’s big stories alone, as it yielded what the other two No. 15 seeds that had previously made Sweet 16 – Oral Roberts and Florida Gulf Coast – could not: survive and move on. “I said, ‘What will they say now?’ Does anyone have anything to say? ” Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway said in a post-match interview on CBS responding to people who doubted his Peacocks. “They say I can not do this, Cinderella, underdog, this, that … I have a bunch of kids who just play basketball and have fun. That’s all we do.” And so it was fitting that on Peacock National Day, it was the Peacocks of Saint Peter’s who made one of the biggest surprises of this tournament, breaking the Missouri record of 2002 – then No. 12 seed – as the team with the lowest seeds made by Elite Eight. They got 14 points from top scorer Daryl Banks III, 11 points from Clarence Rupert and 10 from the bench from superhero mustache Doug Edert. It was at the defensive end, though, that they won. Faced with a No. 1 Purdue attack on KenPom.com’s customized performance, they kept the Boilermakers on 23-of-54 shots from the field, 5-of-21 from the 3-point range and forced 15 turnovers. It marked the sixth worst shooting game for Purdue off the floor all season and equalized for the fourth highest turnover in a single game. “They beat us like the other two teams did: strong-willed, dirty, tough, on you,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “Shaheen Holloway has done an incredible job at Saint Peter’s.” Purdue star and potential NBA Draft No. 1 Jaden Ivey did his best to put Purdue in a position to win the regulation or force an extra period, scoring a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds to go. remain to close the deficit to one point and overcome. out a three-pointer to the buzzer that would have forced the extension. However, he scored just five points in the second half and the Boilermakers stumbled on the finish line, scoring just two goals from the pitch in the final five minutes. Ivy finished with 11 points, while Trevion Williams had 16 points and the great Jacques Eddie had 11 points. “We are not a team that is going to blow up the teams. We are trying to keep it close. We are trying to make the teams make mistakes all over,” said Holloway. “When you play against teams like the one they are supposed to win, when you keep it tight, certain things can happen. I told my kids to keep fighting. I knew the ball would bounce in our way. And it did.”
