So, yesterday was National Peacock Day. No, seriously. So, of course, the St. Peter's Peacocks play Purdue, and beat Purdue, to advance to the Elite 8. I mean, this team is the Cock of the Walk. Seriously running around Peacocking all over the NCAA Tournament. With this many bad puns, it is probably a good thing that they didn't play South Carolina!!!
What is St. Peter's, and how on earth have they - as a 15 seed - advanced to the Sweet 16? They are the only 15th seed to win a Sweet Sixteen game. Well, it probably starts with the coach. Their Coach is Shaheen Holloway ...
Holloway was a high school All-American playing for St. Patrick's in Elizabeth City, New Jersey. During his senior year, Holloway averaged 22.5 points, 9.1 assists, and an amazing 5.3 steals per game. He finished his St. Patrick's career with 2,151 points, 727 assists, and 520 steals. He was named second team Parade All American and selected to play in the McDonald's All-American game in 1996, where he was the starting point guard for the east team. In the game he scored 7 points, had 8 assists and 6 steals, leading the east team to victory. He was named the games Most Valuable Player, over other star players such as Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Stephen Jackson, Richard Hamilton, Tim Thomas, and Ed Cota. AND THAT WAS JUST FROM THE EAST SQUAD!!! The West team was headlined by Mateen Cleaves, Mike Bibby, Loren Woods, Jason Collier and Lester Earl. (Seriously, check out just the point guards on those teams - Holloway, Cota, Bibby and Cleaves - ridiculous!)
Holloway attended Seton Hall over offers from California, Duke and Georgia Tech. After enrolling, he immediately started for the Pirates, and averaged 17.3 points per game (5th in the Big East behind the likes of Victor Page from Georgetown, Pat Garrity of Notre Dame, Austin Croshere and Derrick Brown from Providence), with 6.3 assists per game (3rd in the conference behind Admore White of Notre Dame [6.7] and Providence's God Shammgod, [6.6] who is a whole separate posting in himself) and second in steals per game at 2.8 (tied with Jason Hart of Syracuse just behind Kelli Taylor of Pittsburgh.) He was named to the conference All-Rookie team and was named Second Team All Conference. Interestingly, the Conference Rookie of the Year Award went to Tim Thomas of Villanova, despite scoring less, having less assists.
His stats stagnated his sophomore year, but he still led the Big East in assists per game at 6.5, scored 15 points per game and was named Third Team All-Big East. His statistics did plummet his junior year - leading some to suspect he might have been playing injured - but he still finished second in the conference in assists per game at 5.0, behind Vernon Jennings from Miami. He rebounded his senior year averaging 13.2 points per game, 5.6 assists per game (fifth in the conference, behind Vernon Jennings, Jason Hart from Syracuse and Jimmy Dillon from Notre Dame), and even chipped in 5.1 rebounds per game and 1.7 steals per game to be named Most Improved Player in the conference and Second Team All-Big East. He led his team to a 22-9 record and a 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Pirates, then coached by now Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, headed into the East Regional in Buffalo, New York where they played the Oregon Ducks on St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick, you might recall, was Shaheen Holloway's alma mater. Seton Hall upset Oregon 72-71 in overtime, and Holloway PUT IN WORK. Holloway played 42 of the 45 minutes, scored a game-high 27 points, had 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. In scoring his 27 points, Holloway shot 11-17 from the field, including 3-3 from three-point range. Seton Hall advanced to the second round where they played the second seeded Temple Owls, led by one of my favorite players Pepe Sanchez. Temple was favored by 11 points, yet the Pirates, behind Ty Shine's 26 points off the bench, defeated the Owls 67-65. Alas, the tournament run was over for Shaheen Holloway, who 8 minutes into the game sustained an ankle injury on a fast break, was out for the tournament. Holloway did hit the shot in which he was injured, and finished with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Seton Hall hung in the Sweet Sixteen without their leader, but ultimately succumbed to the Oklahoma State Cowboys 68-66. Holloway likely would have been the difference in that round.
Holloway went undrafted in the 2000 NBA Draft, and played professionally for 7 years on 9 teams in 7 leagues in 7 different countries before entering coaching, ultimately becoming St. Peter's head coach in 2018. In other words, this is also HIS NCAA Tournament that he never got to finish, and his calm yet tough, experienced and confident demeanor is a large part of St. Peter's story. They have already advanced further in the tournament than any other 15 seed, so it would be imprudent for North Carolina to overlook them tomorrow.
Now, back to our brackets.
WE HAVE A WINNER, I mean, WE HAVE A LOSER!!! Day Yi 2 of Forest Hills, New York had two opportunities to gain points yesterday, and lost both games, meaning he is currently in last place and has no opportunities to win more points going forward. Day thus finishes in last place and will be receiving his money back. The return of the money is symbolic in that it is the entire pool just saying that bracket was so bad we cannot accept your money.
Conversely, Day Yi 1, crazily enough also from Forest Hills, New York, remains in first place as we had very little movement among the standings. Why so little movement you ask? It is because most people selected Kansas (if you did not you likely dropped a few spots), and absolutely nobody selected St. Peter's. We had 8 people select St. Mary's in that spot, but wrong patron so no points. I initially thought that I was going to mention those that selected St. Mary's, but then I saw that Steven Usma 3 of Miami, Florida successfully picked Miami to make it to the Elite 8. But even then that wasn't enough to earn him the coveted "Selection of the Day" Award as Braeden Helland 1 of Jacksonville, Florida picked BOTH Miami and North Carolina into the next round. Unfortunately for him, he did not have Kansas winning, otherwise he would have moved up more spots on the leaderboard. Congratulations anyway.
No movement among our champions as the only Champion in play yesterday, Kansas, defeated Providence despite a late run by the Friars. Our remaining champions stay the same, and they are: Auburn, Arizona, Baylor, DUKE, Gonzaga, Illinois, KANSAS, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas Tech, VILLANOVA, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin.
Players of the Day
Honorable Mention. Doug Edert's Mustache, St. Peter's - Edert himself didn't have a great game, scoring only 10 points on 1-6 shooting (but 7-8 from the free throw line), but his mustache is one of the all-time worst. Seriously, shave that thing! Otherwise he may be forced to register under Megan's Law.
Honorable Mention. Trevion Williams, Purdue. He scored 16 points with 10 rebounds in Purdue's loss to St. Peter's. I am mostly putting him in here because I neglected to mention his 22 points and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench against Texas last round.
5. Armando Bacot, North Carolina - Finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, including the key tip-in of a R.J Davis miss with 15 second left in the game to seal the win for the Tar Heels. He also had a key save after a Love miss that lead to a Love three with 1:47 left in the game, that might have been the actual turning point of North Carolina's win.
4. Remy Martin, Kansas - Martin scored a silky, smooth 23 points and finished with a taste of dried figs, raisins, brazil nuts, dark cocoa, licorice and caramel. Wait, sorry, wrong Remy Martin. He finished with 7 rebounds and was the best player on the court that featured his own All-American teammate.
3. Kameron McGusty, Miami - Scored 27 points, with 6 rebounds and 4 steals as Miami defeated Iowa State 70-56.
2. Aliyah Boston, South Carolina - Boston scored 28 points with 22 rebounds as the overall number 1 women's seed advanced to the Elite 8.
1. Caleb Love, North Carolina - Finished with 30 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists and virtually willed North Carolina over UCLA (along with Bacot).
Stats of the Day
5. Ochai Agbaji of Kansas had 4 blocks as Kansas defeated Providence 66-61.
4. Zach Edey of Purdue only played 17 minutes in Purdue's loss to St. Peter's despite scoring 11 points during that time. He was not in foul trouble either, as he committed 0 fouls during those 17 minutes. Edey, the 7'4" center, was left out of the game as coach Matt Painter tried to counter St. Peter's smaller lineup, however it would appear that forcing the Peacocks to guard Edey may have been a better strategy. ONLY 17 MINUTES!!!
3. Iowa State committed 9 turnovers in the first half against Miami (17 total). Prior to last night's game, Miami had committed 7 turnovers for the first 2 games!
2. Aliyah Boston of South Carolina scored all 13 of South Carolina's points in the 4th quarter.
1. Armando Bacot of North Carolina earned his 29th double-double of the year, the most in North Carolina's history. The Tar Heels have had some really good college big me, too, like - in no particular order - Bob McAdoo, James Worthy, Bobby Jones, Mitch Kupchak, Sam Perkins, J.R. Reid, Vince Carter (not technically a big, but his jumping ability helped him rebound ALOT,) Antawn Jamison, Tyler Hansbrough, Rasheed Wallace and Eric Montross. Bacot has more double-doubles that ALL of them (at least over the course of a season.)
Best Social Media Posts
To be fair, no social media posts compare to University of Maryland - Baltimore County's live tweets of its 1018 upset over Virginia.
Before you begin watching today/tonight's games, remember that for this round each win is worth 8 points!
Onto the standings, and remember, please double-check your scores, and let me know if you think I made a mistake.
1. Day Yi 1 - 89 - DUKE/ VILLANOVA
2. Javier Rodriguez 2 - 83 - Gonzaga/Arizona
3. Bill Ganoe 3 - 79 - Arizona/Gonzaga
4. Colonel Kareem Montague - 77 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Jeremy Spuhler - 77 - DUKE/Auburn
6. Scott Bieterman 1 - 76 - Gonzaga/Arizona
George Fox 1 - 76 - Gonzaga/Iowa
Scott Kroesen - 76 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Dawn Lamb (Keith) - 76 - KANSAS/DUKE
Jeff Plamondon 1 - 76 - KANSAS/Kentucky
11. Silas Nichols - 74 - Gonzaga/Arizona
12. John Hopps - 72 - Baylor/KANSAS
13. Sean McInerney 2 - 71 - Arizona/Kentucky
Brian McMahon - 71 - Kentucky/Tennessee
Allison Parker - 71 - Gonzaga/KANSAS
George Walks 1 - 71 - Arizona/Purduen
17. Jonathan Wasserman - 70 - Arizona/Kentucky
Justin Yung - 70 - DUKE/Auburn
19. Josh Zdrowak - 69 - Arizona/Baylor
20. Alyssa Hopps - 68 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Mike Wolff - 68 - Gonzaga/Arizona
22. Bill Ganoe 1 - 67 - Baylor/Arizona
Kline Kroesen - 67 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
Biscuit Zdrowak - 67 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
25. Justine Frank - 66 - Gonzaga/Wisconsin
Bill Ganoe 2 - 66 - Gonzaga/Auburn
Ryan Rodriguez - 66 - Baylor/Auburn
Steven Usma 1 - 66 - Arizona/Gonzaga
29. Brent Bellinger 2 - 65 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
Mac Kroesen - 65 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Steven Usma 3 - 65 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA
32. Brian Hinaman - 64 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Guy Hughes - 64 - Arizona/Kentucky
Blake Jackson - 64 - Kentucky/VILLANOVA
George Walks 2 - 64 - Arizona/Gonzaga
36. Sean McInerney 1 - 63 - Gonzaga/KANSAS
Dave Piasecki 1 - 63 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga
Barkley Sosa - 63 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
39. Brent Bellinger 1 - 62 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Braeden Helland 3 - 62 - KANSAS/Alabama
Matt Hopps - 62 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Edith Pecan - 62 - Virginia Tech/LSU
Javier Rodriguez - 62 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Rich Samuels 1 - 62 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga
45. Rachel Bornn - 61 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
Braeden Helland 2 - 61 - Kentucky/Tennessee
Chris Kroesen - 61 - KANSAS/Gonzaga
Pepe Sosa 1 - 61 - Kentucky/Auburn
Ron Stewart - 61 - KANSAS/Gonzaga
50. Scott Bieterman 2 - 60 - Arizona/Purdue
Paul Cummings 1 - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Larry Green - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Arlene Amo Hopps - 60- VILLANOVA/Purdue
Adam Jorgensen - 60 - Gonzaga/Iowa
Kevin Kroesen - 60 - Gonzaga/Auburn
Jessica Samuels - 60 - DUKE/Auburn
Hannah Sosa - 60 - Auburn/Baylor
Amanda Staudt - 60 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Steven Usma 2 - 60 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Amy Zdrowak - 60 - Auburn/DUKE
61. Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds - 59 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Jacey Fowler 1 -59 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
Glen Merchant - 59 - Arizona/Purdue
Javier Rodriguez 1 - 59 - Kentucky/Tennessee
Bubba Zdrowak - 59 - KANSAS/Texas
66. Jen Armstrong - 57 - Wisconsin/Kentucky
Eric Inge - 57 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Dawn Lamb (Colbie) - 57 - KANSAS/Texas Tech
Dave Marzouca 2 - 57 - Gonzaga/Auburn
Brandon Satterwhite - 57 - KANSAS/Kentucky
Jamie Toole - 57 - Arizona/Baylor
72. Jenna Finkelstein - 56 - Auburn/Texas Tech
Martha Kroesen - 56 - Gonzaga/Wisconsin
Philip Kroesen - 56 - Illinois/Gonzaga
Annette Pritchard - 56 - KANSAS/Gonzaga
Rich Samuels 3 - 56 - Tennessee/Gonzaga
Chris Simmons - 56 - KANSAS/Gonzaga
Keith Zdrowak - 56 - Arizona/Baylor
79. Jim Coleman - 55 - Arizona/Kentucky
Carolyn Fowler - 55 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Quinn Jackson - 55 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA
Dawn Lamb - 55 - KANSAS/Gonzaga
Kisha Marzouca 1 - 55 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
Sean McInerney 3 - 55 - KANSAS/Kentucky
Jane Reynolds - 55 - Auburn/Baylor
Pepe Sosa 2 - 55 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Steven Usma 4 - 55 - KANSAS/DUKE
88. Jonathan Cox - 53 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
Mark Holbert - 53 - KANSAS/Kentucky
Katie Kollmeyer - 53 - Gonzaga/Auburn
Dan Laishley - 53 - Gonzaga/KANSAS
Ty Leatherman - 53 - DUKE/Arizona
Sasha Moon - 53 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Ashley Poer 2 - 53 - Kentucky/Arizona
George Walks 4 - 53 - Gonzaga/Arizona
96. George Fox 2 - 52 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA
Alvaro Gonzalez - 52 - Gonzaga/KANSAS
Jeff Kroesen - 52 - Gonzaga/Auburn
Dave Piasecki 2 - 52 - Tennessee/Gonzaga
100. Paul Cummings 2 - 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona
James Davis - 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Marcus Jackson - 51 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA
Miles Jackson - 51 - Tennessee/Gonzaga
Emily Lawson 2- 51 - Gonzaga/Arizona
105. Chris LaForte 1 - 50 - Tennessee/Gonzaga
Dawn Lamb (Mitch) - 50 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Steph Stewart - 50 - VILLANOVA/Kentucky
108. Daniel Barsky - 49 - Arizona/Gonzaga
George Fox 3 - 49 - Tennessee/Gonzaga
Dave Marzouca 1 - 49 - Texas Tech/Auburn
Matt Nieman - 49 - Arizona/Gonzaga
Rich Samuels 4 - 49 - Gonzaga/VILLANOVA
113. Hilary Kroesen - 48 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga
Annette Pritchard 2 - 48 - Baylor/KANSAS
George Walks 3 - 48 - KANSAS/Gonzaga
116. ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 2 - 47 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
Gracie Kroesen - 47 - KANSAS/Gonzaga
Chris LaForte 2 - 47 - Michigan State/Tennessee
William Pujals - 47 - Gonzaga/KANSAS
Brittany Sosa - 47 - Gonzaga/Iowa
Katie Zdrowak - 47 - DUKE/KANSAS
122. Kisha Marzouca 2 - 46 - Baylor/Auburn
123. James Garvin - 45 - DUKE/Arizona
Braeden Helland 1 - 45 - Tennessee/Baylor
ShaneDog Millionaire Jernigan 1 - 45 - Arizona/Texas Tech
Rich Samuels 2 - 45 - Kentucky/Iowa
127. Dave Marzouca 3 - 44 - Arizona/Kentucky
Jeff Plamondon 2 - 44 - Gonzaga/Tennessee
Carl Walker - 44 - Gonzaga/Auburn
130. Scott Bieterman 3 - 43 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Kingfish Parham - 43 - Gonzaga/Arizona
132. Jacey Fowler - 42 - Gonzaga/Arizona
Emily Lawson 1 - 42 - Gonzaga/KANSAS
Kisha Marzouca 3 - 42 - Gonzaga/KANSAS
135. Nancy McInerney - 41 - VILLANOVA/Gonzaga
136. Emily Lawson 3 - 40 - Arizona/Gonzaga
137. Jason Spuhler - 37 - DUKE/Auburn
138. Randy Pacheco - 34 - Gonzaga/Arizona
139. Ashley Poer 1 - 33 - Gonzaga/Iowa
140. Dawn Lamb (Quarter) - 30 - Texas Tech/Iowa
141. Day Yi 2 - 28 - Gonzaga/Auburn
