ALL ELITE!!! Saint Peter’s makes history, bounces Purdue to become first 15 seed in regional final

Matthew Lee exults after Saint Peter’s upset Purdue to become first No. 15 seed in Elite Eight. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

PHILADELPHIA — The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion stands 40 minutes from a Final Four.

Saint Peter’s, the breakout story of this year’s NCAA Tournament after its captivating upsets of Kentucky and Murray State last weekend, continued its historic run through March on Friday, knocking off No. 3 seed Purdue in a 67-64 decision to topple the Boilermakers and, in the process, become the first-ever No. 15 seed to advance to a regional final.

“We feel like we belong,” said Doug Edert as the Peacocks won their tenth straight game dating back to February 20 to earn themselves a meeting with North Carolina in Sunday’s East Regional final. “The more games we win, the more confidence we build.”

“I don’t think any of us were nervous or really cared about how many people were there watching us. We just went out there and did our thing.”

Playing just 93 miles from its Jersey City campus, Saint Peter’s (22-11) stayed true to its March blueprint once again, forcing Purdue to play at its tempo and luring the Boilermakers into nine first-half turnovers amid uncharacteristic off nights from both 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey and All-American point guard Jaden Ivey. The Peacocks survived the physical style, and regained the lead with a 10-0 run late in the first half before Purdue responded with eight straight points of its own. A Jaylen Murray layup at the horn cut the Saint Peter’s deficit to 33-29 at halftime, but the seeds had been planted for another shocker with the underdogs’ defensive exploits.

“We knew their tendencies and what they did,” said Daryl Banks III, praising Shaheen Holloway and his staff’s scouting report of Purdue. “We knew they were also going to go inside a lot with the height difference, but we just stuck to our defensive principles, executed when we needed to, and it worked out for us.”

Purdue led for the first 13 minutes after the intermission, but Saint Peter’s again refused to go quietly, answering the Boilermakers by counterpunching on offense and getting critical stops on defense before a Fousseyni Drame 3-pointer gave the Peacocks a 50-49 lead with 6:42 remaining in regulation. Purdue would score seven of the next nine points over a span of 84 seconds, opening up a 56-52 cushion and setting Cinderella up for its latest heroic dance.

“I told my guys, ‘just keep battling,’” Holloway recalled. “Keep battling, let’s see what happens. When you keep it tight, certain things can happen. I knew the ball was going to bounce our way, and it did.”

After Edert uncharacteristically missed the front end of a 1-and-1 before a driving layup rattled out, the junior atoned for the missed opportunity when he drew a foul while shooting a three, proceeding to knock down all three shots to pull Saint Peter’s within one. Trevion Williams would extend the Purdue lead to two after splitting a pair of free throws, but a jumper and layup by Banks put Saint Peter’s ahead by two, with Hassan Drame draining two foul shots to double the edge to four points.

The lead would stay at four after Purdue's Mason Gillis and the Peacocks’ Matthew Lee traded free throws, and again after a Gillis layup and two foul shots by Banks, which he made after the Boilermakers took 11 seconds off the clock before fouling. Ivey answered with a desperation 3-pointer to make it a one-point game in the final seconds, but Purdue was forced to foul Edert, who sank the final two shots at the charity stripe to seal the victory, another war on the hardwood for a team that may not win pretty, but wins at the end of the night.

“That’s what we’ve been the whole year,” Holloway proclaimed. “That’s who we are. We’re not a team that’s going to blow teams out. That’s not our DNA. We try to keep it close and try to make them make mistakes down the stretch.”

The clock is nowhere close to midnight yet, and for Saint Peter’s, the mindset is all business heading into Sunday.

“We’re happy,” Edert admitted. “But don’t mistake, we’re not satisfied at all. The job is not finished.”