Saint Peter’s Stunned Purdue To Become The First 15 Seed To Make The Elite 8

A small Jesuit school in New Jersey with fewer than 3,000 students is officially making NCAA Tournament history. Saint Peter’s, which won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and made it out of the first weekend of the tournament by beating Kentucky and Murray State, became the first 15-seed to ever punch its ticket the Elite 8 with a shocking 67-64 win over Purdue on Friday night.

The Peacocks’ vaunted defense absolutely stifled the Boilermakers, which boasted the No. 1 offense in the country per KenPom. Purdue shot 42.6 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from three, while standout guard and potential 2022 NBA Draft pick Jaden Ivey just could not get going. Ivey had nine points on 4-for-12 shooting with eight rebounds, two assists, and six turnovers. While the Boilermakers attempted to use their size advantage with big men Zach Edey and Trevion Williams serving as the focal points of their offense for much of the game, they just could not provide enough of a lift while the Peacocks swarmed the team’s backcourt.

On the other end of the floor, guard Daryl Banks III scored a team-high 14 points, while forward Clarence Rupert came up huge in the first half, scoring all 11 of his points before the break to keep the team in the game. High-scoring bench option Doug Edert gave them 10 points off the bench, and while he struggled from the field, he hit seven of his eight free throws.

It was a legitimately spectacular basketball game — any time one team started to create a little separation, the other seemed to have an answer to get right back in it. In all, the game had 15 lead changes. Purdue got a chance right at the end to force overtime, but Ivey’s three from the logo was just short.

As a result, Saint Peter’s will sit back and wait to see if it will play North Carolina or UCLA with a spot in the Final Four on the line.