Peacocks plucked
By BRIAN LEWIS

CHICAGO -- Nick Leon arrived at St. Peter's five years ago with coach John Dunne, and left clasped in an poignant embrace from his mentor. There were 2½ minutes left in last night's 65-43 second-round NCAA tournament loss to Purdue in the Southwest Region, but the Peacocks' Big Dance dreams -- and their seniors' careers -- were over.

The Peacocks (20-14), who rose from five wins in Dunne's debut to their first MAAC crown since 1995, fell behind 15-4 early and trailed by 27 in the second half. Led by 16 points and 16 rebounds from center JaJuan Johnson and ferocious ball pressure, Purdue steamrolled into tomorrow's third-round matchup against Georgetown or VCU.

"We've been through a lot. It was very emotional. We were sad at the moment, but there were also tears of joy," said Leon, who has had an emotional week. He told ESPN he had been sexually molested as a child by a "friend of the family" and used the NCAA platform to help others who had suffered the same trauma. Now, he was saying goodbye to Dunne, who has counseled him for five years.

"He taught me a lot, how to be a better person. He's been a huge mentor," he said. "I've been through so much, he knows about my history. I didn't have nobody to open up to, I opened up to him and he wasn't scared to listen and guide me the right way, so it was very emotional at that moment."

Third-seeded Purdue (26-7) pressured St. Peter's into 2-of-9 shooting with seven turnovers in the first 7:45. They led 33-17 at intermission and scored the first seven points. The lead grew to 47-20, the Peacocks -- with nobody over 6-foot-7 -- unable to handle E'Twaun Moore, who scored a game-high 19 points, and the 6-foot-10 Johnson, tabbed a first-round pick by Hoopshype.com and NBAdraft.net.

"Sometimes you hope in a 14-3 game they overlook you and you can get some rhythm early. But those guys came out to play," said Dunne, whose team was led by senior Jeron Belin's 12 points but shot just 29.3 percent.
Purdue has won its opener in its last 13 straight NCAA tournament appearances. Guard Ryne Smith (concussion) played but was scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting, while John Hart (foot) sat out. The Boilermakers got 12 points from guard Lewis Jackson.

"We did a really good job of being ready to play," Johnson said. "We didn't want to make it easy for them. Establishing ourselves early was the key."
brian.lewis@nypost.com

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FSU a team that has the highest rated FG% defense in 10 years vs Hansbrough and the Irish who live by the 3

9:40 gametime

Singleton and Hansbrough are likely high NBA draft picks

Unheard of old Sarge gets no love due to his age but he has been putting on the blocks. Should have had credit for 10 last game one was clean but he still got called for a foul

I had Notre Dame winning the thing- so oh well I guess!

Fridette pulled up from his own 20 yard line and SPLASHED.....

His range leaves the Milky Way Galaxy

He shot that like he knew it was going in before he even pulled the trigger

At least my Final Four is still in tact (Ohio St/Kansas/UConn/Florida).

I did my bracket in 5 min and it shows. I am done. My four are all cooked.

I wasn't bold in my picks, it was ignorant!

Williams is making a case to be the number one pick. Fredette is out and it will be interesting to see where his draft stock goes...

jimimou wrote:i didnt like what i saw from jimmer at the end of the game last night. he was just jocking shots up and not looking for his team at all in the final minutes and OT.

Yeah it was almost like watching a white Nate Robsinson derail the team in the last minutes. At the same time he tried to do what he could to get his team over a very strong Florida team.

nykshaknbake wrote:WHoley crap. Down goes Ohio State with what was left of my bracket.

I still have Kansas and Florida alive for the final four, but I picked Duke to win it all