The Cinderella run for Saint Peter’s continued on Friday night, as the Peacocks upset No. 3 seed Purdue 67–64 to become the first No. 15 seed in NCAA tournament history to make it to the Elite Eight.
Darryl Banks III’s 14 points led the way for Saint Peter’s, who pulled off the improbable upset despite shooting a shade under 39% from the floor and a paltry 28.6% from three. However, when the game was on the line, the Peacocks made their free throws.
Saint Peter’s ended the game on a 15–8 scoring run, with a majority of the points coming from the charity stripe. Fan-favorite Doug Edert knocked down two free throws with less than four seconds to play to put the Peacocks up 67–64. Edert, who came in averaging nearly 15 points per game in the tournament, finished with 10 points. He was 7-for-8 from the free throw line and Saint Peter’s finished the contest 19-for-21 from the line as a team.
The Peacocks sucked the life out of Purdue from the jump, matching the Boilermakers punch for punch throughout a game that featured 15 lead changes. Purdue played exactly the game that it wanted to play against Saint Peter’s as the Boilers tried to use their significant size mismatch to their advantage. Fourteen of Purdue’s 23 made field goals came on either layups or dunks, which on paper seemed to be a surefire way to wear out the Peacocks.
However, Purdue was ultimately did in by 15 turnovers and only five made threes. The Boilermakers finished the game shooting under 24% from deep. In particular, it was a frustrating night for Purdue’s star guard Jaden Ivey. The future lottery pick finished with nine points and eight rebounds on 4-for-12 shooting from the floor, and had six turnovers as his frustration with his play clearly affected him as the game went along.
Ivey’s lone highlight came on a deep three with eight seconds to play to cut the Saint Peter’s lead to 65–64, but it proved to be too little too late for the Boilermakers on this night.
With the victory, Saint Peter’s became the only team in NCAA tournament history to win multiple games as a double-digit underdog since the field expanded in 1985, per ESPN. Saint Peter’s was an 18.5-point underdog against Kentucky in the first round and a 13-point underdog against Purdue on Friday.
Saint Peter’s will square off in Sunday’s historic Elite Eight matchup against the winner of North Carolina and UCLA.
