Saint Peter's surprising basketball season ends with March Madness loss to Tennessee
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Two years ago, as Saint Peter’s embarked on an NCAA Tournament run for the ages, few fans outside of the northeast had ever heard of the school as it snuck up on the giants of the sport.
Now everyone knows who the Peacocks are, and in their return to the Big Dance on Thursday, their opponent left nothing to chance.
Tennessee dominated from the tip, slashing the tires of Cinderella’s carriage and sending New Jersey’s lone March Madness entrant home with a 83-49 loss in the Round of 64.
Saint Peter’s ends a surprising campaign with a 19-14 record and a MAAC Tournament banner. The Peacocks were projected to finish near the bottom of the league in most preseason forecasts.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
1. Brother vs. Brother
In the 1992 Sweet 16 in Philadelphia, Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo famously gave freshman sub Danny Hurley a long run against powerhouse Duke so he could guard his All-America bother Bobby. The attempted psych-out did not work – Duke won without much trouble – but it was worth trying.
Fast-forward 32 years. Saint Peter’s brought freshman Armoni Zeigler off the bench against Tennessee, whose point guard is his half-brother Zakai Zeigler. They didn’t guard each other full time – Armoni is more of a two-guard, but they did encounter each other a few times on the court.
Those encounters were all business, like they were total strangers – which is what you would expect in this situation. Zakai finished with 11 points and 10 assists, while Armoni went scoreless in his 15 minutes.
2. Latrell Reid showed up
The lone holdover from the 2022 squad, senior point guard Latrell Reid, was the only Peacock to bring it during their ragged first half. Problem was, he also picked up three fouls (including a technical).
The Willingboro native and Trenton Catholic grad finished with a team-high 13 points.
3. Drame twins advanced
The 2022 Peacocks scattered into the transfer portal to mixed results at best, but Reid wasn’t the only one to return to the Dance this March.
Twin forwards Fousseyni Drame and Hassan Drame made it with Duquesne, and on Thursday afternoon Fousseyni tallied eight points and eight rebounds as the 11th-seeded Dukes took down sixth-seeded BYU 71-67, earning a second-round date with third-seeded Illinois on Saturday.
4. Peacocks fans traveled
As expected, Tennessee orange was the dominant color throughout the 19,000-seat Spectrum Center. However, a vocal contingent of a few hundred Peacocks fans made themselves heard early and often. It was a bit of a contrast with Wagner, which had very few fans for its afternoon game against North Carolina.
Saint Peter’s 2022 run converted some die-hards for life.
5. Kentucky omen?
Shortly before tip-off, as live footage from the final minutes of Kentucky’s loss to 13th-seeded Oakland aired on the hanging scoreboard, Tennessee fans throughout the arena erupted in delight. The SEC hatreds run deep; in the Big East, by contrast, programs pull for each other in the NCAA Tournament because success lifts the whole league financially and reputationally.
It was also a deju vu moment for Saint Peter’s, which two years ago launched its epic run by taking down another underachieving, poorly coached Wildcats squad.
Would it be an omen for these Peacocks?
It would not.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Saint Peter's basketball season ends with NCAA Tournament loss to Tennessee
