Eder’s giant leap into the roaring crowd may have been his only mistake at night. “Did you jump on a table?” asked coach Shaheen Holloway later and then stopped for a serious look for a comic result. Come on, coach. Let the Peacocks beat their stuff. The upheavals are not over yet even the tiny passenger college in Jersey City, New Jersey, still exceeds all expectations for March. Next stop: the Elite Eight, a first-time destination for No. 15 in the NCAA Tournament. “We are writing history,” Edert said. “We look forward to writing more history.” Daryl Banks III scored the equalizing baskets that pushed Saint Peter’s one step closer to the Final Four, with the suddenly popular Peacocks thriving on the pitch to win third place Purdue 67-64 on Friday night. The Peacocks (22-11) added the Boilermakers to their series of reversals and will face North Carolina in the Eastern Conference final on Sunday. Saint Peter’s had fans inside the packed Wells Fargo Center on the side from the top of the opening and the arena erupted when Banks tied the game at 57-all in a swing. He made a driving lay with 2:17 left which he did 59-57. The Peacocks kept their cool – well, they are used to these victories now after eliminating No. 2 seed Kentucky and No. 7 seed Murray State – and kept a Purdue team trying to playfully intimidate them. “What will they say now?” Holloway spoke about the defendants in his group, a group whose numbers are dwindling. The Boilermakers (29-8), favorites 12 and a half points never before with more than six. Nearly 30 years after Duke’s Christian Laettner struck Kentucky with a buzzer-beater for overtime to win a regional final in the now-defunct Spectrum, Purdue and Saint Peter’s have created their own classic Philly. Saint Peter fans walked 93 miles south to help fill the arena and give the Peacocks a bigger edge than they usually have in their bandbox, known as the Run Baby Run Arena. Think about it, just 434 fans were recorded as the total number of spectators for Saint Peter’s first game of the season against LIU. More than that it turned out he gave the team expulsion of Sweet 16 from campus this week. Saint Peter’s Peacocks players celebrate with head coach Shaheen Holloway after beating the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday night in Philadelphia. Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images “Everyone wanted tickets. “I can not get tickets for everyone,” said Holloway. “I’m going to tell you what, my friend, I can not believe the support I had. This is unbelievable. “Jersey City was incredible for us.” Even more basketball fans – yes, even those whose braces helped cut them off – suddenly started coming to Saint Peter’s, an unpretentious campus right across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan. Jaden Ivy buried a three-yard touchdown run in the NBA with eight seconds left to pull Perdie to 65-64 and the crowd erupted instantly. Do not worry. Endert, whose crazy mustache and stupid persona won a fast food deal with chicken, made two free throws to seal the victory. Endert drove the madness to the court and took it to the table. He greeted the fans in the front rows as the rest of the Peacocks raged and hugged each other before gathering in the basket to celebrate – once again – the biggest win in the program’s history. “Yes. I found a small opening and started moving things,” Edert said of his table hop. I do not know, I was so excited. The Peacocks fell and made snowmen on the field and soon there was a huge celebration of the fans who were pulling the hall shouting “SPU! SPU!” SPU! » The students and followers of St. Peter celebrated as if they had won a championship. Saint Peter’s had never won an NCAA tournament game and now, they will just keep dancing for at least one more game. The school is small. The players are small. Does not make sense. However, this is March, right? The Peacocks were the third No. 15 ever to reach the Sweet 16. The Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 and the Oral Roberts last year failed to reach the regional finals. Only two 12 seeds have reached a regional final. Meanwhile, a place in the Final Four remains elusive for Boilermakers coach Matt Painter and the eternal Big Ten contender. “I wish I could have trained better, I wish we could have played a little better,” said Pinder. “But this is part of the competition.”
No. 8 North Carolina 73, No. 4 UCLA 66
Caleb Love equalized and scored three points 37 seconds behind and North Carolina advanced to its 21st Final Four, beating UCLA in a combination of power programs. Love, a sophomore, finished with a career-high 30 points, including six three-pointers and two free throws that marked the game with 7.8 seconds left. He scored 27 of Carolina 45 points in the second half, including a 10-point lead that kept the Tar Heels (27-9) in the game. Love’s three “green” came with 1:03 left and marked the last of 14 changes in the lead in the game which was also a draw eight times. Fourth place UCLA (27-8) fell two wins before the 20th Final Four. Last season ended with a close-up shot from Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs. This time, Love made it to the Bruins, who got 16 points from Jules Bernard and 15 from Tyger Campbell.
No. 1 Kansas 66, No. 4 Providence 61
Remy Martin scored 23 points for the season and Kansas made his role as the only remaining No. 1 seed, keeping Providence at 17 points in the first half and continuing to reach the Elite Eight. The Jahocks (31-6) will face Miami on Sunday. Jalen Wilson added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who are returning to a regional final for the first time since 2018, when they reached the 15th Final Four. Coach Bill Self is looking for his fourth trip there since arriving in 2003. Kansas also outscored Kentucky for the most wins in Division I history with 2,354. The Jayhawks led by 13 points at the beginning of the second half, let it go and then regrouped. The fourth seed Providence (27-6) took a short-lived lead of one point, but Kansas responded by scoring seven in a row. Al Durham scored 21 points for the Friars, who shot 33.8%.
No. 10 Miami 70, No. 11 Iowa State 56
Cameron McGasty scored 27 points and Miami qualified for the Elite Eight for the first time, using their swarm defense to beat Iowa State. Jordan Miller added 16 points to a 6-on-6 shot as Miami No. 10 had more than his own in a game with two of the tournament’s most suffocating defenses. The 11th Cyclones shot 32% from the field in the second half and ended with 18 caps. With Charlie Moore directing the attack on his hometown, the Hurricanes (26-10) took their first win in the school’s fourth appearance at Sweet 16. Gabe Kalscheur had 13 points for Iowa State (22-13) and freshman Tyrese Hunter had 13 points and seven assists. Izaiah Brockington finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
