PHILADELPHIA -- America's favorite underdog, Saint Peter's, shouldn't feel all that bad. North Carolina has crushed lots of dreams over the decades.
The Tar Heels ended all hope of a March Madness miracle in the early going Sunday, getting 20 points and 22 rebounds from Armando Bacot in a wire-to-wire 69-49 runaway over 15th-seeded Saint Peter's.
No. 8 seed Carolina (28-9) made its record 21st Final Four, and this one will be a scene like no other. On Saturday in New Orleans, it's North Carolina vs. archrival Duke and its soon-to-be-retiring coach, Mike Krzyzewski. Three short weeks ago, the Tar Heels fractured a different sort of fairy tale - Coach K's final home game - in a 94-81 beatdown of the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"We want Duke! We want Duke! We want Duke!" the Tar Heels fans shouted as the team cut down the nets in Philly, the same city where Carolina won the East region back in 2016.
"I don't think anything can be as crazy as the leadup to that game over in Cameron," coach Hubert Davis said. "We just keep our eyes straight ahead and we ignore all the noise."
While Coach K's winding road to retirement has been a beauty to watch this March, nothing has captured more imaginations during this NCAA Tournament than the run put on by Saint Peter's.
The entire basketball budget for this scrappy group from Jersey City, New Jersey, is $1.6 million - or around $400,000 less than what Davis makes in a year. The first-year coach was sobbing as his players enveloped him after the buzzer.
"It was something that I just desperately wanted for them," Davis said. "This is probably the most nervous I was before a game, because I just really wanted them to go to the Final Four."
Two nights earlier, the Peacocks (21-12) looked like Final Four material. They beat Purdue to become the first 15 seed to advance to an Elite Eight.
Their hopes ended quickly in this one. They are hardly the first team to see grand plans undone by one of the country's top-line power programs.
"I didn't really recognize my team for the first 10 minutes of the game," Peacocks coach Shaheen Holloway said.
After Carolina's Leaky Black missed a free throw 2 1/2 minutes in, Bacot edged in for the offensive rebound and an easy putback. It gave Carolina a 7-0 lead. In its three tournament wins over Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue, Saint Peter's hadn't trailed by more than six.
The Peacocks, whose 10-game win streak ended, moved the ball well and did get some looks over the first 10 minutes. Some shots went halfway down and rimmed out. Others rattled around the iron but wouldn't fall. They trailed 21-7 after missing their first six shots, and 16 of their first 19.
Late in the first half, Daryl Banks III swooped in for what looked like a windmill jam. It got rejected - by the front of the rim. It made the Peacocks 5 for 27 on the night, and when Bacot dunked on the next possession, North Carolina led 36-15.
Fousseyni Drame led Saint Peter's with 12 points and KC Ndefo had 10.
The weekend before, North Carolina had taken a 25-point lead against Baylor only to see it all melt away before pulling the game out in overtime. The turning point there came when Brady Manek got ejected for throwing an inadvertent elbow. No such drama this time, though Manek finished this game on the sideline, too - watching garbage time from the bench after scoring 19 points.
It was an emotional evening for Davis, who replaced Roy Williams, the coach who took the Tar Heels to five Final Fours over 18 years and was cheering from the stands for this one. Now the 51-year-old Davis joins the likes of Ray Meyer, Steve Fisher and Denny Crum as one of nine coaches to reach the sport's biggest stage in his rookie year.
"It's hard to believe or understand, but it really isn't about me at all," Davis said. "I've been to the Final Four as a coach. I played at Carolina. I played in the NBA. It's not my time, it's their time."
Were it not for Saint Peter's, maybe North Carolina would be the underdog story of this tournament. Way back when, in 1985, another 8 seed shocked the world. It was Rollie Massimino's 1985 Villanova team.
Then again, these are the Tar Heels. They've been playing as well as anyone for more than a month.
When they won at Duke on March 5, it cast a cloud over what was supposed to be a celebration of Coach K's final home game. On Sunday, they wrecked another of those so-called "perfect" story lines.
But this is more than a consolation prize for college hoops: Next, UNC and Duke meet for the 258th time - and never with the stakes so high.
"It's a good question, but I can't answer it right now," Bacot said when asked to put the upcoming game in perspective. "Coach will get mad at me."
MONSTER GAME
Bacot was named the region's Most Outstanding Player. His 22 rebounds matched a career high, and also a Carolina tournament record held by Tyler Zeller against Ohio in 2012. Over the two games, he had 34 points and 37 rebounds.
HISTORY
Davis joins Dick Harp of Kansas as the only people to play for their alma mater, then lead them to the Final Four in their first year as a head coach. Harp also served on Dean Smith's staff when Davis and the Tar Heels made the Final Four in 1991.
Despite loss, Saint Peter's fans revel in magical NCAA tournament run
PHILADELPHIA -- Well, the road to the Final Four ended on Sunday for upstart Saint Peter's. The Peacocks, the 15 seed in the East Region, fell to the No. 8 North Carolina and many people will say their luck ran out, but in actuality they ran into a better team for the first time this tournament.
Saint Peter's (21-12) traveled a tough road to Philadelphia, taking down the Nos. 2, 3 and 7 seeds, but struggled to find its rhythm against North Carolina, missing 24 of 31 shots in the first half to start the game. The Tar Heels led by 19 at the break on their way to a 69-49 victory, CBS2's Otis Livingston reported.
Saint Peter's would've been a Top 25 team by now with the wins that it stacked up in the last 10 days. However, it ran into a North Carolina team that has been on a roll since the middle of February, winning 10 of its last 11 games. The Tar Heels also beat the No.1 seed and defending NCAA champion Baylor on their way to the regional final.
The Peacocks gave it the old college try, but it wasn't enough. Their road to the Final Four stalled out, but not before they captured the hearts and the imagination of the entire nation.
"Made history. They shocked the world. Got guys that's gonna be remembered for things that they can tell their kids and grandkids," Saint Peter's head coach Shaheen Holloway said. "It's the story with in the story, so I'm proud of these guys. They came in and made history, point-blank period. No one in our area done it. Last team to do it was P.J. Carlesimo and Seton Hall team. Saint Peter's did it, point-blank period and I'm gonna end it on that. Saint Peter's made it to the Elite Eight. Great story. You guys write a lot about it. Thank you so much."
The Saint Peter's fanbase has continued to grow and show its unyielding support for the team. One fan summed up Sunday by telling CBS2's Steve Overmyer peacocks can fly, just not for very long.
That summarizes the emotions fans went through this week. And on Sunday, one step away from the Final Four, the fans' cheers turned to heartache from the very start. An early deficit left Saint Peter's faithful in the upper deck yearning for that familiar big moment, but it proved elusive.
Now, this small school from Jersey City did the entire Tri-State Area proud. The Peacocks knocked off two championship contenders and lasted longer in the tournament than three top seeds It may hurt right now, but the fans expressed pure gratitude for being able to enjoy their shining moment.
The score didn't matter to those at watch parties. Hundreds of fans here were just thrilled to see their team get this far, CBS2's Kevin Rincon reported.
"It's crazy that we even made it this far because no one even thought we would win the first round," one fan said.
"So many people came out to support and it was so fun to see how happy everyone was and how far we made it," another said.
"This team put this school on the map. They're such a small school. Now everyone know who they are. Everyone is applying, it's. It's incredible," another added.
The party atmosphere at the start did take a back seat to some disappointment as the Peacocks struggled to keep up with mighty Carolina, but fans took every chance to cheer their team on, as if they were watching them play in person.
"Very proud of the effort from the boys, the young men on the basketball team, especially coach Holloway. I'd really like him to return," Saint Peter's alum Leonard Carlucci, who graduated in 1975.
There are plenty of question marks surrounding what happens now, but in the moment, the support, the community bond, the memories created during this run, are something no one here will soon forget.
"It just shows how many people like to follow and support the little guy," said Jersey City native George Riley.
And the buzz this team helped create has been appreciated throughout, even by the youngest of fans.
"They went a long way and it's okay. They'll always win in our hearts," one said.
Jersey City Mayor Fulop congratulates Peacocks
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop took to Twitter not long after Saint Peter's loss to North Carolina, thanking the team for its improbable run to the Elite Eight.
Gubernatorial support
Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted a photo of him and his wife, Tammy, headed to Philadelphia for the big game.
Countdown to game time
Tip-off is coming up live at 5 p.m. right here on CBS2!
Photos: Climb through the tournament
History in the making
Coach Holloway says COVID brought team closer
It's not often a team thrives during a disruption, but Saint Peter's did just that this year. Their turnaround may be credited in part to COVID.
Back in December, the Peacocks had to pause the season for 26 days, one of the longest pauses in the nation.
In that time, Coach Shaheen Holloway reworked the lineup, refocused the team on defense and even introduced the matchup zone defense. It invigorated the team, who found a new appreciation for playing D, but most importantly, he didn't send the players home for rest. He kept the team together, which made all the difference.
"For the last two years, I didn't let my guys go home because of COVID, because I wanted to have a season. So we were together for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. When you start spending time like that, and it's real and it's genuine, a bond happens, a connection happens. Like, we spend more time with each other than we spend with our families," Holloway said.
CBS2 rocking Peacock blue
Sweetest 16
CBS2's Steve Overmyer captured fans' reactions as the Peacocks landed their spot in the Elite Eight.
They are the first No. 15 seed to ever advance this far in the NCAA Tournament.
Campus buzzing ahead of big game
CBS2's Christina Fan reports from Jersey City, where "Go Peacocks" signs hang in almost every window around campus, and there's no shortage of honking.
Jersey City Hall was draped in Peacock blue overnight, and billboards cheering the team on to the Elite Eight are up across the state.
Sunday morning, it's the calm before the storm at McGinley Square Pub, located just steps from Saint Peters campus. The crowd went wild there Friday night while celebrating the Peacock's historic Sweet 16 win.
Now, excitement is building for the match-up tonight, when the Peacocks take on the Tar Heels.
"I am going to the game. I just got a ticket an hour ago," Saint Peter's student Tommy Fennelly told CBS2's Thalia Perez on Saturday night. "Can't wait, I'm so excited."
"I don't even watch sports, and because of this, it kind of got me into it," bartender Victoria Zelma said. "It's pretty awesome, like the whole town being together."
Saint Peter's is already starting to feel the financial impact of their fairy tail run. In just one week, merchandise sales at their campus store were double all of last semester.
Their success in this tournament couldn't have come at a better time. The university has an open house scheduled for this weekend, so all those prospective students will be able to experience the tremendous pride of this small but mighty school.
Jersey City Hall struts up
City Hall was lit up in blue Saturday night to show support for the hometown heroes.
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