No. 15 Saint Peter’s Takes Down No. 2 University of Kentucky in NCAA Tournament

It may have just been the opening day of this year’s March Madness, but No. 2 seed University of Kentucky was upset by No. 15-seed Saint Peter’s University, 85-79 in overtime in Indianapolis.

Daryl Banks III of Saint Peter’s University led the way with 27 points for the Peacocks.

“It’s huge,” Banks said after the win. “Putting Jersey City on the map, in New Jersey, we come from a small state. Probably, a lot of people probably don’t even know who we are. It’s huge for our school and everybody back home.”

Kentucky holds the collegiate record for the most appearances, most games played and most victories in the NCAA men’s tournament.

“No disrespect to anybody, but we wasn’t coming down here just to lose,” Saint Peter’s head coach Shaheen Holloway said. “We came down here to fight and we did.”

Saint Peter’s University became  just the 10th No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2 since 1985.

“My whole thing this week, because I knew they had never played in this stuff, was to get them free and loose and we never got to that point,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. “Even during timeouts, I was trying to do that. As a coach it’s your job to figure out how to finish the game and we didn’t do that.”

Fun fact – Kentucky head coach John Calipari’s salary is more than five times Saint Peter’s entire basketball budget. Kentucky has four assistant coaches who make more than Saint Peter’s head coach Shaheen Holloway.

“We just love being the underdogs,” KC Ndefo said. Ndefo is considered one of the Peacocks’ top defensive prospects.

“[I] couldn’t get [Kentucky] to throw the ball to the middle,” Calipari said after the loss, reflecting on Saint Peter’s zone defense. “I mean, we had not had that issue against any zone we played. But we did today.”

Moving forward to the next round, Saint Peter’s will face No. 7 Murray State, who advanced by beating No. 10 San Francisco, 92-87.