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Southwest Region: Purdue Boilermakers (3) vs. St. Peter’s Peacocks (14) Fri. March 18, 2011 7:20 p.m. EST

Coming into the 2011 NCAA Tournament, the St. Peter’s Peacocks could be a potential Cinderella story as they are being given little chance to upset a very talented Purdue Boilermakers squad in their first game in March Madness. Along with the challenge of trying to get past Purdue in their first NCAA Tournament matchup on Friday at the United Center in Chicago, St. Peter’s would have their work cut out for them against the best of the best in the Southwest Region against the likes of the Kansas Jayhawks (1), Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2), Louisville Cardinals (4) and the Georgetown Hoyas (5).

Even though this game does have the potential to be one of the first big upsets in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, I believe the Boilermakers are just the better all around team coming into this matchup and should dominate the Peacocks from start to finish.

The Purdue Boilermakers may be coming off two consecutive  losses to the Iowa Hawkeyes (67-65) and Michigan State Spartans (74-56), but they should quickly bounce back against a St. Peter’s Peacocks team that won’t be able to contend with this team which has kicked it into desperation mode.

The key to victory in this first 2011 NCAA Tournament matchup for the Purdue Boilermakers will be the play of the team’s leading scorer JaJuan Johnson (20.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game). With a solid performance by Johnson in the paint, the Peacocks won’t stand a chance and will be going home early.