INDIANAPOLIS (March 19, 2022) - The Saint Peter's University men's basketball team continues to make history, proving doubters wrong once again as they continued their magical run, advancing to the Sweet 16 Saturday with a 70-60 victory over Murray State University inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in the 2022 NCAA Championship's second round matchup.
The Peacocks got a team-high 17 points from KC Ndefo and another clutch shooting night from Doug Edert who finished with 13 as they advanced to become one of the last 16 teams remaining in college basketball. SPU now has the nation's longest winning streak at nine straight games and will advance to play the winner of Sunday night's matchup between #3 Purdue and #6 Texas Friday night (March 25th) in Philadelphia looking to advance to the Elite 8.
SPU led wire-to-wire in the contest and handed Murray State, who previously held the record for the longest active win streak, just their third loss of the season to improve to 21-11 overall while the Racers ended their season 31-3.
Ndefo, the three-time reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, recorded 10 rebounds to go along with his 17 points to record his seventh career double-double while also adding six blocks to become the first player in program history to reach 300 career blocks.
The Peacocks are the first team in the history of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to advance to the Sweet 16.
How it Happened
- SPU never trailed in the contest, but the two teams traded baskets throughout the majority of the first part of the opening half with the Peacocks never leading by more than four points for the first 17 minutes of game action.
- Leading 29-27, SPU began to create some separation as they bridged the first and second halves with an 11-0 run that featured a balanced scoring effort from Fousseyni Drame, Hassan Drame, Ndefo, Matthew Lee, Daryl Banks III and Clarence Rupert to push the lead to 13, the largest of the night.
- The Racers did not go away, however, using a quick 9-2 run to cut the deficit back down to six with 13:08 left to play.
- After a pair of Jaylen Murray free throws re-extended the lead to double figures, rattled off seven straight points on a free throw and back-to-back 3-pointers to make the score 50-47.
- Ndefo answered with a pair of free throws and handed the game over to Edert who scored the next 10 points for SPU to make the score 64-57 with less than three minutes remaining.
- A jumper and a free throw made it a two-possession game at 64-60 with exactly one minute left and a Racer timeout reset things with SPU in possession of the basketball.
- Murray State fouled Banks III who calmly stepped to the line and buried two free throws to make the score 66-60 with 50 seconds left.
- The Peacocks defense held on the next trip down, forcing a missed 3-pointer and not allowing any second chance opportunity as Ndefo rebounded the miss and quickly dished the ball out to Lee who drew the foul.
- Like Banks III, Lee walked to the charity stripe and confidently knocked down a pair to push the lead to eight.
- Murray State would get two more looks at 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds but could not connect as Hassan Drame added the final two points on free throws to seal the 70-60 win.
Inside the Numbers
- Lee finished just shy of double figures with nine points while also facilitating the offensive attack with four assists.
- Hassan Drame was a force down low, nearly joining Ndefo in the double-double category with eight points and eight boards.
- As a team, SPU shot 41.5% from the floor while holding the Racers to 34.6% overall and 33.3% from downtown.
- The Racers struggled from the free throw line in the loss going 16 for 25 while the Peacocks finished 23 of 31.
- With his six-block night, Ndefo now has 304 in his collegiate career, the second-most among active players in the NCAA.
- The Peacocks allowed just 60 points against a team who came into the contest averaging over 80 points per game. With that, SPU has now held eight of its last nine opponents to under 70 points.
- The nine-game win streak is the longest for the Peacocks since winning nine straight in the 1994-95 season, one of just three other trips to the NCAA Tournament in program history.
- The outside shooting wasn't extremely effective for SPU (3 for 13) but Edert's second-half 3-pointer in addition to him getting fouled while shooting a 3-pointer were crucial down the stretch.
- SPU turned the ball over just 10 times while forcing 12 to lead to a 15-4 edge in points off turnovers. The Peacocks are now 8-1 when turning the ball over 11 times or less.
- As it has all season, the bench for SPU was tremendous with 23 total points compared to just three for the Racers.
- Nine different players scored in double figures marking the 26th straight game with at least eight different scorers.
- SPU is now 5-0 in neutral site games this season and 7-0 in the month of March.
Postgame Press Conference (Head Coach Shaheen Holloway, KC Ndefo, Doug Edert, Matthew Lee, Hassan Drame)
Next Up
- The magical run continues Friday as the Peacocks will play the winner of #3 Purdue and #6 Texas in the Sweet 16 in Philadelphia, Pa.
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