Purdue beat St. Peter’s, but did you even watch?
Winners of their last 13 opening round NCAA Tournament games, the Boilermakers were hitting early and often, facing next to no resistance from the offensively challenged Peacocks. The lowest scoring team in the tournament at only 61 points a game, St. Peter’s fell behind 21-8 early and, coupled with a 30 percent shooting performance, just simply didn’t have any sort of weapons to claw back into the game. They were handcuffed from the outset, overwhelmed by the bright lights and occasion.
While nearly anyone on the Boilermakers roster could have had a career day, the team was led by big man JaJuan Johnson’s 16 and 16 output. The team’s heart and soul was dunking out of control on an undersized opponent, and probably could have been pulled for the game far before he logged his 36th and final minute
An easy victory that was analogous to the falling tree in the woods with nobody around, the lack of interest and drama of this game really makes me wonder if it really happened. Matt Painter’s club now waits for the winner of Georgetown-VCU, probably very excited to break a sweat and feel challenged.