Sweet 16 surprises: Saint Peter's leads list of those unexpectedly making noise in NCAA Tournament

Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway could be accused of embracing a sort of New Jersey stereotype when he talked about his team from Jersey City after its second straight upset victory in the NCAA Tournament. 

"I'm going to say this. It's going to come off a little crazy. I got guys from New Jersey and New York City," he said. "You think we're scared of anything? You think we're worried about guys trying to muscle us and tough us out?"

Not anymore.

Holloway’s team being in the Sweet 16, only the third 15 seed to do that, is the most surprising development of the first six days of the tournament.

The fact is Saint Peter’s has never really been good. The school’s previous best moment was an upset of Duke in the quarterfinals of the 1968 NIT when that tournament carried a lot more weight. The Peacocks got a spectacular individual moment in the first round of the NIT when forward Elnardo Webster scored 51 points in a double overtime victory over Marshall.

This version of the Peacocks could use some offensive help along the lines of Webster. It’s a defense-first group that plays low-scoring games keyed by a unique shot blocker in 6-foot-7 KC Ndefo. Offensively, their two NCAA victories do not represent the type of team they’ve been all season.

In many ways, the Peacocks are lucky to be here at all. They started the season 3-6, getting beaten badly by St. John’s and Providence and losing winnable games against St. Francis of Brooklyn and Stony Brook.

Probably the biggest reason they’re here is that Iona, by far the best team in Saint Peter’s league, the MAAC, got upset in the first round of the conference tournament by Rider. The Peacocks had lost twice to Iona in the regular season and would have been serious underdogs in a third meeting.

What’s really surprising is the offense they’ve played and it’s the reason they advanced. They are an excellent defensive team, and that’s been true in the NCAAs, but many times this season, their offense wasn’t clicking. 

For the Peacocks to have any chance they can’t revert to a sluggish offensive team. We know they're not going to back down.

FrontPageBets has some other surprising elements surrounding the Sweet 16:

Gonzaga not playing like championship team

Gonzaga struggled in beating Georgia State and Memphis. In the first round, the Zags just needed about five minutes of excellent play to end the game. Against Memphis, they trailed by 10 at the half and needed a full effort to finally overcome the Tigers. One plus, Memphis was justifiably seeded ninth based on its entire season, but the Tigers are playing much better than that seeding now. If they had played this way all season, they would have been nationally ranked and seeded much higher. Still, Gonzaga appears vulnerable.

The real Juwan Howard

The Michigan coach, suspended for five games for striking a Wisconsin assistant coach in a postgame altercation, is the same person who hugged a distraught Kennedy Chandler in the handshake line after the Wolverines' hard-fought victory over Tennessee. By the way, this is Michigan's sixth straight Sweet 16, the second-most active streak behind Gonzaga (seven).

UNC finds its form

North Carolina, maligned all year, and justifiably most of the time, is now playing very well after crushing Marquette and then surviving in overtime against No. 1 seed Baylor after blowing a 25-point lead. The Baylor rally had a lot of assistance from the officials who, for unknown reasons, decided to stop calling fouls. However, the Tar Heels did lose their composure before regaining it in overtime. Now, they’ve playing like a team that is dangerous. Coach Hubert Davis has a short rotation but the Heels are playing together as evidenced by 22 assists on 28 field goals against Baylor and 29 on 34 baskets against Marquette. Look out.

Remy Martin's emergence

Martin, who was the preseason player of the year in the Big 12, but missed nine games because of an injury and was only occasionally productive, is back for Kansas. He was the Jayhawks’ leading scorer in both NCAA games and it's an offensive asset they could use.

Friars firing on all cylinders

Providence coach Ed Cooley said his team's easy second-round victory over Richmond was their best game of the season. Good time for that. Kansas is next, however.

Eye of the Tyger

How good has UCLA point guard Tyger Campbell become. He’s an improved shooter but he has a unique ability to control the pace of the game and seems to effortlessly find the scorers in the right spot. He hit a ridiculously long shot standing on the March Madness logo to help the Bruins avoid an upset against Akron in the first round. If he’s going to play at this high of a level, the Bruins are a threat to win it all.

Houston has a shot 

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson has somehow forged together a team that has to be taken seriously as a Final Four contender despite losing two key players, Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark, for the season because of injury and losing another bunch of players from last season’s team. The philosophy is unchanged, defense first and hit the boards. The Cougars’ point guard Jamal Shead might be my favorite player in the tournament. I love his understated, unselfish game.

Cyclone warning

Iowa State, 2-22 a season ago, grinded its way into the Sweet 16 with a style that’s not very attractive. Much like Texas Tech, the Cyclones’ Big 12 buddy, Iowa State wins on the defensive end. The Cyclones rarely play a game that you would tell a friend he or she missed a great one. Amazingly, the strategy has produced a team that could even advance to the Elite Eight since the Cyclones play a beatable opponent in Miami.

Defensive-first Red Raiders

Texas Tech’s defense got the best of Notre Dame’s skillful players. Actually, Texas Tech coach Mark Adams was worried about his team because the Red Raiders blew out Montana State in the first round. “I don't want our guys thinking too much offense. I want them to stay with our identity on defense,’’ he said. Message received.

Miami on the ball

The Hurricanes have committed just seven turnovers in two games. Often-erratic Miami, seeded 10^th in the Midwest, has many skilled perimeter players, especially sophomore guard Isaiah Wong, another personal favorite. They really should win the next one against Iowa State and then coach Jim Larranaga would be one victory away from another surprise Final Four team like he did with George Mason in 2006. Of course, that victory would most likely have to be over No. 1 seed Kansas.

Boiler up

Purdue wasn’t affected by its lack of commitment to defense. The Boilers prevailed in a hard-fought game against Texas and now are set up for what should be an easy victory over Saint Peter’s. The Peacocks’ success has been fun but Purdue is just too big and quick. The Final Four beckons for the Boilers.

Working overtime

Arizona proved its toughness by beating TCU in overtime in a game where blood was spilled. The Wildcats will see more of the same against Houston this week; it’s going to take the same amount of persistence to advance.

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