Saint Peter’s Seals Historic Trip to Elite Eight With 67-64 Win Over Purdue
The Many Saints of the NCAA live on!
The Peacocks (22-11) are headed to the Elite Eight, becoming the first 15th seed in NCAA tournament history to advance past the Sweet Sixteen. On National Peacock Day, no less.
Saint Peter’s defeated Purdue, 67-64, in a stunning upset that was also too improbable not to happen.
(Ask OutKick’s Clay Travis, and he would’ve made you a ton of money tonight.)
Beating the Boilermakers on Friday night, the Peacocks added another chapter to their Cinderella story — first started with Saint Peter’s win against the second-seeded Kentucky Wildcats in the first round.
Saint Peter’s guard Daryl Banks III led the charge with 14 points, while the electric Doug Edert contributed 10 points off the bench.
Banks was money in the clutch, hitting the tie-breaking jumper at 57 each to put the Peacocks up.
But in the end, it was Saint Peter’s never say die attitude that kept them in the game when Purdue played like the favorite.
Boilermakers star Jaden Ivey had a quiet evening on the big stage: scoring nine points after shooting 4 of 12 from the field. The three-ball also didn’t fall for Ivey, going 1-of-6 from deep.
Trading leads in the second half, the Peacocks’ underdog spirit took over in the final minutes.
Saint Peter’s will face the winner of Friday night’s North Carolina versus UCLA matchup.
The young Peacocks squad is certainly passing the eye test with flying colors.
Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela