The greatest run in NCAA men’s tournament history will continue for at least two more days.
The story of the opening weekend after advancing with upsets of No. 2 Kentucky and No. 7 Murray State, No. 15 Saint Peter’s stunned No. 3 Purdue on Friday, becoming the first No. 15 seed in tournament history to reach the Elite Eight.
The Peacocks will meet No. 8 North Carolina, which dispatched No. 4 UCLA, for a shot at the Final Four.
Purdue’s 67-64 loss as the favorite represents the Boilermakers’ latest postseason nightmare. They have only two Final Four bids in program history, the last in 1980.
Also on Friday, No. 1 Kansas held off No. 4 Providence in a 66-61 win defined by lackluster offense from both teams. Later, No. 10 Miami (Fla.) took care of No. 11 Iowa State.
Attention now turns to this weekend’s slate of Elite Eight games, beginning with Saturday’s matchups featuring No. 2 Villanova against No. 5 Houston and No. 2 Duke against No. 4 Arkansas.
The Peacocks, Boilermakers, Jayhawks and others make up Friday’s list of winners and losers:
WINNERS
Saint Peter’s
They had no chance against Kentucky. Didn’t have what it took to beat Murray State. Had a shot against Purdue, which was nobody’s idea of a juggernaut, but the dream was supposed to die in the Sweet 16. What is there to say about the Peacocks? This team takes its lead from coach Shaheen Holloway and plays with poise and composure despite the huge stakes in March. While the Boilermakers wilted, Saint Peter’s pulled out of a 56-52 hole and was nearly perfect from the line, making 19-of-21 free throws and all eight of its tries in the final two minutes. This latest upset may have been written in the stars — or on the calendar, at least. What is March 25? Why, it’s National Peacock Day, of course.
ACC
There were well-founded criticisms of the conference through most of the season as only Duke seemed capable of mounting a tournament run and the rest of the league’s teams were just struggling to find a way to get into the field. Five teams eventually made it in with the help of some late-season surges. After the Blue Devils locked up their place in the Elite Eight on Thursday, they were joined Friday by North Carolina and Miami, while no other conference has more than one team left. The three teams advancing come one year after the league was shut out of the regional finals last season.
Kansas
Guard Remy Martin scored 22 points and did almost all of the heavy lifting in the first half as Kansas topped Providence to reach the Elite Eight for the ninth time under coach Bill Self. Martin has led the Jayhawks in scoring in all three tournament games; he scored 15 points in the win against No. 16 Texas Southern and 20 points against No. 9 Creighton. But this game was on defense and on the boards: Kansas pulled down 43 rebounds, 10 on the offensive end resulting in 17 second-chance points, and had 11 blocks.
Jim Larrañaga
Coach L has been here before. For the second time in his coaching career he has taken a double-digit seed to the Elite Eight. No other coach has done that before. The first time was with George Mason in 2006 when the Patriots unexpectedly reached the Final Four. He’s now taken Miami to its first regional final with the Hurricanes blowing away Iowa State with their veteran backcourt leading the way. A matchup with No. 1 seed Kansas awaits, but with the way Miami has jelled late in the season and with the steady hand of Larrañaga guiding the team, you can’t write them off.
LOSERS
Big Ten
There were two Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16. With first Michigan and then Purdue sent packing, there will be none in the Elite Eight. Nine teams from the Big Ten made the tournament, the most of any conference. How the others fared: Rutgers lost in the First Four, Iowa and Indiana lost in the first round, and Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Illinois lost in the second round.
Mick Cronin
Last year’s run to the Final Four from the First Four could be overlooked as a weird product of playing in a COVID-impacted season in a tournament bubble. A second consecutive trip would have validated the UCLA coach’s place with the Bruins after many criticized his hiring. Instead, Cronin and his team will rue a missed opportunity to reach another Final Four with too many wasteful possessions with the lead late against North Carolina. Caleb Love’s shooting kept the Bruins from moving one step from New Orleans. You’d have loved their chances against Saint Peter’s, but unfortunately they’re headed home to Los Angeles.
Purdue
Purdue’s stomach-churning postseason history has its lowest moment. This is a program with a strong track record of tournament wins under coach Matt Painter, who has led the Boilermakers to at least the Sweet 16 in each of the past five tournaments. But given the size advantage, talent gap and the team’s favored status against the underdog Peacocks, this is a loss that will linger around Purdue until the program can break through this ceiling and return to the Final Four for the first time in more than 40 years.
Providence
After winning 27 games, the Friars’ most in a season since 1974, and reaching the Sweet 16, a first since 1997, Providence bricked away a shot at the program’s third Final Four bid by shooting just 20% from the field in the first half and 32.3% overall against the Jayhawks. Down only nine points at halftime, however, the Friars were close enough to even take a short lead, 48-47, with under six minutes to go. But the offense went missing again, allowing Kansas to pull off the win despite failing to hit a shot from the field in the game’s final three minutes.
