Saint Peter’s isn’t quite right. For the moment, let’s forget about how the Peacocks win games. It is hard enough to understand what they do well.
No. No. 3 Purdue was still grasping for air. This is the short answer to about how the Peacocks became the first 15-seed in NCAA Tournament history to secure a spot at the Elite Eight .
Saint Peter’s has a lot of experienced players like the mid-majors who have been dominating the tournament in recent decades. The Peacocks don’t have a lot of size, so their best and most experienced player, KC Ndefo (6 feet 7 inches), often plays out-of-position. The Peacocks don’t have any star players, much less a guaranteed NBA prospect.
They do it better than anyone else: they turn doubts into fuel.
Coach Shaheen Holloway asked, “What,” after his Peacocks defeated the Boilermakers to win 67-64. “Is it going to be something they say now?”
Column: Saint Peter boils Purdue; is mighty Carolina next?
By JIM LITKEtoday
Shaheen Holloway, Saint Peter’s basketball coach, speaks to his players in the first half of a college basketball match against Purdue, Friday, March 25, 2022 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Saint Peter’s isn’t quite right. For the moment, let’s forget about how the Peacocks win games. It is hard enough to understand what they do well.
No. No. 3 Purdue was still grasping for air. This is the short answer to about how the Peacocks became the first 15-seed in NCAA Tournament history to secure a spot at the Elite Eight .
Saint Peter’s has a lot of experienced players like the mid-majors who have been changing the tables at the tournament over recent years. The Peacocks don’t have a lot of size, so their best and most experienced player, KC Ndefo (6 feet 7 inches), often plays out-of-position. The Peacocks don’t have any star players, much less a guaranteed NBA prospect.
They do it better than anyone else: they turn doubts into fuel.
Coach Shaheen Holloway asked, “What,” after his Peacocks defeated the Boilermakers to win 67-64. “Are they going to tell now?”
NCAA TOURNAMENT MARCH MADNESS
Saint Peter’s draws blueblood North Carolina, which holds the record for most Final Four appearances (20), in Sunday’s East Regional Final. After Caleb Love’s game-tying, go-ahead 3-pointers were made 37 seconds apart, added two free throws with 7.8 seconds remaining to win.
Love scored 1 for 8 in halftime. In a move that is likely to be remembered in a sneaker advertisement, Eric Hoots (the team’s director for operations), suggested changing shoes at halftime. In the second half, Love scored 10 goals for 16.
Hubert Davis, Tar Heels coach, said that he would give the player a raise. He was referring to Love and not Hoots.
After the Kansas Jayhawks, which are the last remaining No. 1, Coach Bill Self may be eligible for a pay raise. , the No. 1 seed, held Providence off on the defensive end and won 66-61. Kansas was able to meet No. 10 Miami and also won the most Division I wins with 2,354.
However, history was not easy. The Friars were trailing by 13 points in the first half and scored just 17 points in the second. However, they rallied behind Noah Horchler who made a pair 3 pointers to pull within 41-40 at midway. Horchler added another layup at 5:49 to give Providence its first lead of 48-47.
Self stated that he didn’t know that he fully believed that the team would never be rattled. “But I think… our league (the Big 12), has prepared us in the manner you play so many close matches. Every game is a fistfight.
The Hurricanes defeated 11th-seeded Iowa State by a score of 70 to 56 in the nightcap. However, the matchup between two of the most oppressive defenses in the tourney was almost entirely one-sided. The Cyclones scored 32% in the second period, and submerged their cause by turning the ball over 18 more times.
Kameron McGusty of Miami led all scorers, scoring 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting. He also had six rebounds.
McGusty stated, “At the start of the season, if we told people we were going to Elite Eight,” McGusty laughed. “Even three-weeks into the season, everyone would look at us crazy,” McGusty said.
The feeling is well-known by the Peacocks and their 45-year old coach. Holloway’s basketball journey is worth a documentary. However, there are likely many more chapters and one about his time at Saint Peter’s.
Holloway was a top point-guard prospect in the country during high school. He won MVP honors in 1996 McDonald’s All American game against the likes Richard Hamilton, Mike Bibby, and Kobe Bryant. To stay close to his family, Holloway turned down scholarship offers from Syracuse, Kansas, and Duke and chose Seton Hall.
His college career was ended by a freak ankle injury sustained in a 2000 tournament match against Temple. He also lost his chance of being able to play in the NBA. Instead of dwelling on what could have been, he set about becoming a coach. The two themes that defined Holloway — loyalty and a pick-yourself-up-after-you’ve-been-knocked down mentality — proved irresistible to the collection of overlooked and under-recruited he drew to a tiny commuter school in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The night will decide what the Peacocks do best. Daryl Banks III scored 27 points against Kentucky. He scored 14 points against Purdue but missed the tie and go-ahead baskets. Clarence Rupert added 11, while Zach Edey (7-foot-4 Boilermakers) fought in the paint all the way. Doug Edert also added 10, with two free throws, to finish Purdue off.
Saint Peter’s will again be an underdog when it faces North Carolina. The Peacocks will not be awed.
Holloway laughed when he was asked how his players dealt with being pushed around by a larger, more experienced team after the Murray State upset. Holloway’s answer has been the Peacocks mantra.
He said, “I got men from New Jersey and New York City.” “You think that we are afraid of anything?”
