INDIANAPOLIS — Can the Peacocks do it?
A mere day faraway from engineering the signature upset of the NCAA Match in dispatching No. 2-seeded Kentucky, can the Saint Peter’s gamers flip the web page rapidly sufficient to writer a second shocker in three days after they play Murray State Saturday evening in East Area motion on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a Candy 16 berth on the road?
That is the largest problem for the Peacocks (20-11) as they face the seventh-seeded Racers, who've the most effective file within the nation at 31-2, are driving a 21-game successful streak and haven’t misplaced since December.
“Off the excessive from [Thursday] we have now to place it behind us,’’ Saint Peter’s guard Doug Edert stated Friday. “Though it was an awesome accomplishment for us, we have now to place it behind us. It’s a fast turnaround, and we have now to be ready and carry on rolling. We've got to sort of overlook the previous and simply concentrate on the duty at hand, which is getting ready for Murray State and making an attempt to get the win over them.’’
Saint Peter’s guard Daryl Banks III, who scored a career-high 27 factors within the win over Kentucky, referred to as the upset “an incredible second’’ and added that the staff “sort of let it sink in’’ in a single day.
“However after [Thursday], that’s previously,’’ Banks stated. “We've got a recreation to play [Saturday], so got here in [Friday] with a concentrate on our recreation plan and walk-through for Murray State. They’re a very good staff. You need to keep locked in.’’
Banks referred to as Murray State “bodily and large,’’ including, “We all know it’s going to be a hard-nosed, [hard-]fought battle, so we will’t dwell on the previous an excessive amount of as a result of it is a recreation we have now to be locked in for.’’
Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway emphasised that there’s no stress on his staff.
“I don’t take a look at this as stress in any respect,’’ he stated. “Stress is when you may have a child and you'll’t feed your child, that’s stress. That is one thing that these children like to do. They work all year-round for it, me I’m simply able to assist them to information them by means of it. It’s the sport of basketball. That’s how I performed once I was a participant. I didn’t play with any stress in any respect. In case you can’t get juiced off of this, taking part in within the NCAA Match towards Kentucky, one thing is improper.”
That stated, Holloway is aware of what his staff is dealing with in Murray State, which absolutely took discover of the Peacocks’ upset of Kentucky.
“They're an excellent staff, very effectively coached, nice custom, nice historical past, obtained good gamers,’’ Holloway stated. “While you watch them, the factor I’m impressed probably the most about is their physicality, they get after you. They stress you man to man, they get down low, they’re athletic, they've a number of folks that may rating so you may’t lock in on one individual.
“It’s going to be probability for our guys. We've got to go on the market and do what Saint Peter’s College do.’’
What Saint Peter’s did to Kentucky was eye-opening. It actually obtained the eye of Murray State, which can also be situated in Kentucky.
“I want I may simply level to 1 factor,’’ Racers coach Matt McMahon stated of Saint Peter’s strengths. “We’ll must play very effectively at each ends of the ground. They’re so good defensively. They flip you over. They power you to take robust, troublesome pictures, after which on the offensive finish they’re taking part in actually good basketball.
“They shoot the ball effectively from behind the 3-point line. They don’t shoot a ton of them, however they’re very environment friendly after they do. I feel it’ll take a whole efficiency at each ends of the ground for us to come back out victorious.’’
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