New Jersey Team Makes History in NCAA Basketball

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New Jerseyans have starred in the NCAA tournament for decades with players from Jersey City’s Bobby Hurley (Duke) to Plainfield’s Jay Williams (Duke) to Piscataway’s Karl-Anthony Towns (Kentucky).

Last night, the Jersey City-based Saint Peter’s Peacocks made history as the first 15 seed to make it to the elite eight in NCAA history.

St. Peter’s pulled off the historic upset over No. 3 Purdue in an edge-of-your-seat game that ended in the Peacock’s 67-64 victory.

The team seemed to pull off a Cinderella-style victory that featured no star player or singular moment, but rather consistent teamwork among the five indomitable players on the court.

"That's who we are," Holloway told ESPN late Friday night. "That's what unites us. Not hitting a 3-pointer. That's what gets our team going. Once that happened, we have to get everyone excited about doing that. Then we get another one, and another one."

Saint Peter’s, a New Jersey college team, becomes the first 15 seed to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. No team ranked No. 13 or No. 14 and just two No. 12 seeds have advanced to the Elite Eight – Missouri in 2002 and Oregon State in 2021.

Saint Peter’s Overcame No. 2 Kentucky in the first round where they were an 18.5-point underdog, and Murray State in the second round where they were an 8-point underdog.

Last night's game had Saint Peter’s as a 13-point underdog against Purdue.

"We're making history and we look forward to making more history," said Peacocks guard Doug Edert, who scored seven of his 10 points from the free-throw line.

Saint Peter’s made history in the NCAA and New Jersey last night, and now the entire state will be glued to their TV Sunday at 5:05 PM as Saint Peter’s aims to continue their historic run against No. 8 North Carolina.

Catch the game after No. 1 Kansas plays No. 10 Miami (FL) at 2:20 PM, both on CBS.

Saint Peter’s will be playing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Wells Fargo Center.

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