INDIANOPOLIS – On Thursday night, Tiny Saint Peter’s withdrew the basketball family, scoring 27 points from Daryl Banks III in overtime 85-79 over Kentucky’s second seed in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The Peacocks became the No. 15 No. 15 to win the game in the first round since the 1985 tournament expanded to 64 teams and brought Kentucky its first defeat in the first round under coach John Calipari.
St. Petersburg, the champion of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, kept him close, and Banks ’two free throws with a score of 1:45 left in overtime allowed the Peacocks to stay ahead forever. Edert’s postponement 24 seconds before the end turned the game into overtime. He also made two final free throws for the Peacocks and scored 20 points.
In Saturday’s second round in the Eastern Region, St. Peters (20-11) will meet Murray or San Francisco.
Not bad for a private Jesuit school in Jersey City, which has played twice as little in NCAA tournaments (four) than Kentucky (eight).
Oscar Tsybwe scored 30 points and 16 rebounds in Kentucky (26-8), but his pair of missed free throws early in the overtime was costly, and the Wildcats lacked a reliable secondary scorer. TyTy Washington Jr. scored five points when shooting 2 out of 10.
The game had 16 draws and 13 changes. Kentucky went ahead with a score of 68-62 on the Sahvir Wheeler ride with a score of 4:12. Next, St. Peters scored seven unanswered points, culminating in Edert’s 3-point selection from 1:25 to the end. Kellan Grady brought Kentucky back ahead before Edert forced OT.
The big picture
Saint Peter’s: The Peacocks did not flinch in front of their more talented enemy, keeping up and sometimes dictating the pace. Banks ’shooting around the perimeter was huge in the first half before he came out at the end of the game and into the OT.
Kentucky: Wildcats had to work on almost every basket, but they managed to get to the line. But they struggled to move the ball and missed a few key shots that could have won the game. Instead, they return home a year after missing the tournament altogether.
