by Chuck Sommers
Thursday, Mar 24, 2022
NCAA Tournament: Sweet 16, East Region
Time: 7:09 p.m. ET
Time: 7:09 p.m. ET
Venue: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Where to watch: CBS
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Purdue -12.5
BetMGM: NL
Caesars: Purdue -12.5
Season record
No. 15 Saint Peter's: 21-11
No. 3 Purdue: 29-7
It's been a profitable month for Scott Rickenbach on the college hardwood, going 28-16-0over the last month and reeling in a profit of $10,260. March is here, and the madness is underway. Your brackets might be busted for March, but don't let that impact your decision-making in the books You need to make sure you have the right picks on your side to cash in big this month. Catch Scott's plays available right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers
Saint Peter's - Purdue preview and analysis
No way they can do it again, right?
After destroying nearly half the country's brackets because they have no regard for all bracket contests and everything of the like, are the Saint Peter's Peacocks really this year's team of destiny, or just the little engine that could, that eventually died on the tracks?
A 15 seed in the Sweet 16, just like scripture predicted, and it's a school from New Jersey with their nickname as the Peacocks. Of course it is. They'll be taking on the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday in what will be a historic day for this program that showed up out of nowhere, it seems.
The Peacocks' run to the Sweet 16 is truly what storybooks are made of. You have to figure half the country took the Kentucky Wildcats (including this author, because why wouldn't I?) to win it all. It just seemed right. And it's not meant to be disrespectful to the Peacocks, but I guarantee that moneyline had to be absolutely nuts for Saint Peter's.
But Saint Peter's wasted no time taking everyone's bracket and dousing it with gasoline, only to get the flamethrower and set them all ablaze. And then the Peacocks did it one better in the second round to eliminate the Murray State Racers and advance to the Sweet 16.
Doug Edert had 13 points, including a run of seven in the final minutes, to help pace the offense to pull away. KC Ndefo led the starters with 17 points and 10 rebounds, as the Peacocks relied on their defense to hold Murray State to 34.6 percent shooting.
March has always shown to be the time where things can go haywire, clearly as you can see from this sort of run, and the books can get a little crazy. We see Saint Peter's working with 12.5 points, which is honestly respectable considering where they are in the tournament. It's not the kind of shocking run (yet) that would resemble Loyola-Chicago and Sister Jean, but the Peacocks have been a ton of fun to this point.
And honestly, with how hot-and-cold the Purdue Boilermakers have been to this point, would anyone be truly shocked if they had trouble with Saint Peter's? Clearly, the whole country is rooting for them and want the underdogs to win. But Purdue has been one of the best teams all year long, led by Jaden Ivey, Sasha Stefanovic and Zach Edey.
But the Boilermakers had their trouble with the Texas Longhorns in the second round, winning 81-71 and withstanding a push from Texas in the second half. Trevion Williams had 22 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench, and Jaden Ivey had 18 points while going just 4 of 7 from the floor.
''Just knowing what I've been through with those guys, it means a lot to be in this position,'' said Williams. ''This is what we work for.''
Ivey, with time winding down in the game, drilled a long-range 3-pointer over Texas' Courtney Ramey who was chirping him all night.
''All game he was chirping, just trying to get me out of rhythm,'' Ivey said. ''I just stayed poised the whole game. That's what it comes down to. People are going to try to get you out of rhythm and try to talk to you. You've just got to stay focused on the main goal, and I felt like I did that.''
The Boilermakers were once the No. 1 team in the country this season, but took a bit of a dive in the Big Ten as the year wore on. This team is battle tested and if they get by Saint Peter's, should be a worthy team left for this field in the NCAA tournament.
Prediction
That being said, sometimes you have to let it ride and hope for the best. There always tends to be that one team that just goes nuts at the right time. I might be thinking this is the water talking, but I'm going to go for the upset. If anything, the points are going to be intriguing enough to take. But I'm a fan of chaos, and this is the most chaotic thing that could possibly be. Purdue is great, but when you run into the power of the Peacock (and I'm not talking about the network), things tend to get crazy. Give me Saint Peter's. Why not? Saint Peter's by 2
Betting trends
Saint Peter's is 23-6 ATS as an underdog in the last three seasons.
Saint Peter's is 7-1 ATS after three straight wins or more this season.
Purdue is 14-20 ATS as a favorite this season.
Purdue is 12-26 ATS after winning five or six of their last seven games.
Projected starting lineup
Saint Peter's:
PG: Matthew Lee
SG: Daryl Banks III
SF: Hassan Drame
PF: Clarence Rupert
C: K.C. Ndefo
Purdue:
PG: Eric Hunter III
SG: Jaden Ivey
SF: Sasha Stefanovic
PF: Mason Gillis
C: Zach Edey
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
