‘Little St. Peter’s’ stymies Purdue giants, first 15 seed in Elite Eight
Hassan and Fousseyni Drame fell together, in supplication, at midcourt at the Wells Fargo Center Friday night.
The twins from Mali had come a long way. With their 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s teammates, they’re going just a little further.
The Drames and the Peacocks turned up the defense in the second half against a taller, supposedly stronger Purdue club, hanging on for a 67-64 win over the thirdseeded Boilermakers to ensure the little school from Jersey City advances to its first Elite Eight. Along the way, they made a little history.
St. Peter’s is the first No. 15 seed to make the Elite Eight round in the modern history of the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re happy,” said Peacocks guard Doug Edert, “but don’t mistake it, we’re not satisfied.”
For a team that has so marvelously blasted through its ceiling these last few weeks, height was always likely to constitute the upper limit of what the Peacocks could achieve. Staring down the 7-foot-4 mountain that is Purdue’s Zach Edey and the dynamic 6-10 Trevion Williams, the Peacocks would have to find ways around, not over, the Boilermakers.
That they did, in tremendous fashion, behind 14 points from Daryl Banks III and smothering defense in the post.
Purdue held a 16-12 edge in the first half in points in the paint. Edey, in just eight and a half minutes, had seven points on the way to 11 for the game. Williams had a game-high 16 points plus eight rebounds.
But the Peacocks were able to get around the big bodies in the lane, get them moving and on both ends. They’ve already showed, with 6-7 forward KC Ndefo being among the nation’s leader in blocked shots, that raw height isn’t everything.
“Coach (Shaheen Holloway) trusts us at the end of games because we do it in practice every day,” Edert said. “He demands perfection in practice, and that makes it easier in games and we do our best to get the job done.”
Clarence Rupert led that effort early, scoring Saint Peter’s first seven points and leading all with 11 at the break for the North Philadelphia native by way of Miller School of Albemarle (Va.). He went to the bench early in the second half with three fouls, stopping his offensive momentum. But a rotation with nine players averaging at least 13 minutes each weathered that, using the fresh bodies to swarm Purdue with defenders.
A 3:46 scoring drought late in the first half allowed Purdue to go up 33-27 before Jaylen Murray hit a layup at the horn. That was the start of a 10-0 spurt for the Peacocks, paired with a 5:55 Boilermaker drought.
When Purdue needed to jolt its offense, it turned to Williams, who scored six straight points in an 8-0 run to put the Boilermakers up 41-37.
Every time down the stretch, a big seemed to provide an answer. When Fousseyni Drame drained a 3-pointer to make it 5049
Saint Peter’s, Edey came back with a slam. Williams added a 3-point play the next trip down, then a reverse layin off a Jaden Ivey feed to put them up 56-52.
Saint Peter’s figured out how to cut the Boilermakers down to size. The Drame twins denied Williams on two straight possessions after Daryl Banks III hit backto-back buckets to put the Peacocks up 59-57. A miss by Williams was cleaned up by Mason Gillis to hit two free throws, but Hassan Drame’s offensive rebound led to two
free throws to put the Peacocks up 63-57.
“That was part of the game plan,” said St. Peter’s guard Matthew Lee. “Coach preached it and we saw it on film. We knew when they catch the ball deep in the post, they’re two of the best big men in the country.”
Ivey hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to get within three, but Doug Edert calmly stroked home two free throws, and Ivey’s 30-footer at the horn clanked off iron to give the Peacocks at least one more day of dancing.