The Saint Peters 2022 Basketball Run.
How a 15 seed with an enrollment of 2,300 kids has shocked the basketball world.
Shocking the basketball world twice, Saint Peter moves on to the elite 8
Located primarily on one street in Jersey City, the small university of Saint Peters has cemented itself into college basketball history. With a gym size of about the same as most high school gyms and only 2,300 kids in their enrollment, Saint Peters knocked off Kentucky on March 17th in the 2022 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament.
The Peacocks’ magical run started early March when their defense shut down Monmouth to clinch the MAAC tournament championship and clinch a spot in the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. Led by 22-year-old Doug Edert, who dropped 20 points, the Peacocks were too much for Monmouth.
Saint Peters would take this momentum into the NCAA tournament with their matchup against the powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats have a history with 8 NCAA tournament championships and countless final four appearances, making them a scary appointment in March. However, Saint Peters would prove to be a challenge for Kentucky as the game was tied at halftime. It was anyone’s game up as the score did not get as far apart as 7 points for either team. A late push by Junior Daryl Banks, Doug Edert, and the Peacocks would force overtime with one of the premier basketball schools in the country and a favorite to win the national championship. Kentucky would start overtime by taking a quick 4 point lead. However, Saint Peters showed resilience and would go on a 10-1 run to end overtime and shock both Kentucky and the basketball world with a win.
According to spending, Kentucky spends 18.3 million dollars on its basketball program compared to Saint Peter’s 1.6 million. This would be the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history by program spending. Many college basketball bracket experts, including Dick Vitale, predicted that Kentucky would win the national championship as this upset would shock the entire basketball world.
I spoke with Joey Sims, an avid basketball fan, on how the Saint peters run has shocked his bracket and the entire basketball world. “Saint peters played better basketball than Kentucky and Murray State. This is because a Peacock is a better mascot than a Wildcat or Racer. To quote the Yankee Clipper from The Other Guys, “I’m a peacock Terry, you got to let me fly.’ “
Shocking the world again, Saint Peters became the 3rd 15 seed to clinch the sweet 16. On Friday, they will match up against Purdue at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly against the three seed Purdue Boilermakers. Winning this game would Cement themselves into basketball history as they would become the first 15 ever to clinch a spot in the elite 8.
Fresh off of their miracle upset on Thursday, they got sent to round two against Murray State two days later. Murray State would go into the game, also winning in the round of 64 against San Francisco. However, it was more of the same for the Peacocks as their offense proved to be completely dominant for the Murray State defense. This would be led primarily by Doug Edert again as he dropped a solid 13 points.
