By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Saint Peter’s Peacocks look to keep their surprise run in the NCAA Tournament going when they play Purdue Friday night in the East Region semifinal in Philadelphia. The Peacocks are the third No. 15 seed to make the Sweet 16 and are trying to become the first to get to the Elite Eight.
Saint Peter’s plays great defense but will have to get creative to keep third-seeded Purdue in check. The Big Ten Boilermakers have weapons all over the court in likely NBA lottery pick Jaden Ivey, Trevion Williams, deadeye 3-point shooter Sasha Stefanovic and 7-foot-4 Zach Edey.
For the little team from Jersey City, New Jersey, a lot of eyes will be on plucky point guard Doug Edert. Especially his mustache, which has attracted so much attention it now has its own Twitter account.
In Friday night's other games:
●Providence coach Ed Cooley says the Friars’ game against No. 1 seed Kansas in a Midwest semifinal is a great chance to show their stuff. He also wishes his team could play more of the sport’s biggest brands. Among the all-time winningest programs, excluding those that currently or previously played in the same conference as Providence, only North Carolina has played on the Friars’ home court. That was in 1978.
●UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez Jr., who sprained his right ankle in the second round against Saint Mary’s, is hopeful he’ll be able to play in the fourth-seeded Bruins’ East semifinal against No. 8 seed North Carolina. Jaquez is averaging 14 points per game for the season but 20.5 over the last eight games.
●The 11th-seeded Iowa State Cyclones take on the No. 10 seed Miami Hurricanes in Chicago, the hometown of Miami point guard Charlie Moore. He had one of his best games of the season in the second round with 15 points, eight assists and nine rebounds in an upset of Auburn. Iowa State’s Tyrese Hunter is third in the Big 12 in both assists and steals and was chosen the conference’s freshman of the year.