Saint Peter's shocks Kentucky with threes and free throws in March upset

Over his career, John Calipari has been one of the best coaches in the postseason. His record proves that. At Kentucky, the hall of fame coach has gotten out of the first weekend every year when given a top-two seed.

Saint Peter’s just ended that streak.

Thanks to some big-time perimeter shotmaking, clutch free throws, and multiple excellent in-game coaching decisions from Shaheen Holloway, Saint Peter’s stunned the college basketball world. The Peacocks have their first victory in NCAA Tournament history following an 85-79 victory against Kentucky.

YOU'VE GOTTA LET THE PEACOCK FLY ‼️

15-SEED SAINT PETER'S DEFEATS KENTUCKY IN OT #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/wZXXCEDJmz

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2022

The win felt like no fluke.

The MAAC champs were the best team on the floor for most of the game, and the Peacocks made the plays down the stretch and in overtime outscoring Kentucky 23-11 after the final media timeout.

All signs are currently pointing to a long offseason for the Kentucky basketball program, but first, we must react to what just unfolded in Indianapolis. KSR is diving into the box score to pull the numbers that made the difference in the latest postseason loss.

Kentucky could not overcome the long ball

John Calipari has an offensive philosophy, and it does not rely on the three-point shot. Kentucky will take open opportunities, but the Wildcats simply don’t put a huge emphasis on the three with just 28 percent of their field goal attempts coming from behind the arc.

That strategy works when you are efficiently scoring the ball. However, when the team shoots 17 of 29 at the rim (58.6%) and 5 of 17 on mid-range shots (29.4%), that can create a void on offense. Then, the team becomes vulnerable in the three-point battle.

From behind the arc, Saint Peter’s poured in 9 of 17 shots from deep, and Kentucky was just 4 of 15. The minus-15 mark from the three-point line ended up being a big difference in a game that became a possession-by-possession battle in crunch time.

Lost free throw battle after dominant first half

With the game tied at 37, Kentucky entered the halftime break with a 13-2 advantage at the charity stripe. As the game turned into a close affair, that was an advantage the Wildcats needed to win with the three-point battle going the wrong way.

The Wildcats were unable to hang on.

In the second half and overtime, Saint Peter’s was 16 of 18 (88.9%) at the line and Kentucky was just 10 of 20 (50%). That huge advantage became much smaller, and a 1-for-6 performance in the extra period ruined any chance Kentucky had at holding on in overtime.

Another lead guard cooks Kentucky

As the season progressed and March neared, Kentucky had one obvious weakness — the Wildcats could not stop lead guards. Problems seemed to be fixed after slowing down Scotty Pippen Jr. in the SEC Tournament, but immediately after that, Kennedy Chandler handed the Wildcats the next day.

Daryl Banks III was just the next guard to have a huge game against Kentucky.

The 6-foot-3 junior went for 16 points on nine shots in the first half keeping Saint Peter’s more than in the game with star forward KC Ndefo sitting on the bench with foul trouble. Banks finished the game with 27 points with five makes from three as he looked like the best player on the floor for most of the game.

Perimeter defense was a big worry for Kentucky, and it was a problem the Wildcats could just not get fixed. Once attention went away from Banks, Doug Edert became a shot maker and finished with 20 points on just seven field goal attempts.

The perimeter defense of Kentucky did not get the job done.

Crunch time meltdown

A Sahvir Wheeler lay-up with just over four minutes left in the second half gave Kentucky a 68-62 lead. After a Saint Peter’s turnover, the game entered the final media timeout with just 3:49 on the clock. The Wildcats were on the verge of surviving the upset bid.

Things then immediately fell apart.

Consecutive turnovers by Wheeler led to consecutive buckets from Saint Peter’s and a Doug Edert three-point make followed a Davion Mintz miss from two. Kentucky would respond with a three from Kellan Grady, but Kentucky’s defense would give up another bucket as the Peacocks scored on four straight possessions to end regulation.

With the game tied, Kentucky dribbled out the clock and got a bad shot as Calipari refused to call a timeout. Then, overtime happened, and the Wildcats couldn’t make a free throw as the No. 15 seed seized victory.

Saint Peter’s switched to a matchup zone, and Kentucky got flustered with the game on the line. Once again, the program lost another close game in crunch time which has been a common occurrence over the last two years.

Stats that stood out

• If it was his last performance in a Kentucky jersey, it was a spectacular one. Oscar Tshiebwe went for 30 points and 16 rebounds in 43 minutes as the junior attempted to carry the Wildcats to victory. However, as we all know, March is about guard play.
• At the end of the day, Kentucky’s starting backcourt was 7 of 27 (25.9%) from the field with a 3 of 11 mark from deep. There were eight turnovers, and Sahvir Wheeler missed three big free throws. TyTy Washington scored just eight points on 10 shots with Kellan Grady having another awful shooting day. Games are very hard to win in the NCAA Tournament with subpar guard play.
• Despite forcing 15 turnovers, Kentucky scored just nine points off those takeaways. Over the last two games, Kentucky’s transition game was off, and the inefficiency made scoring on a good Saint Peter’s defense that much harder.