Peacocks get plucked clean by Volunteers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two years ago, Saint Peter’s lived out a dream in the NCAA Tournament. Two years removed from that magical run to the Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed, Saint Peter’s lived out a nightmare Thursday night in the opening round of the NCAAs in the form of an 83-49 thrashing at the hands of No. 2 seeded Tennessee at the Spectrum Center. The Peacocks, again a No. 15 seed, were never in the game against a far superior Volunteers team that advanced to Saturday’s second round against Texas. The first half was an unimaginable disaster for Saint Peter’s, which won the MAAC Tournament title to get here. Saint Peter’s (19-14) trailed 46-20 after the first 20 minutes and shot 7 of 30 from the field, including 4 of 15 from long distance. Meanwhile, Tennessee (25-8) shot 16 of 25 from the floor and was 4 of 9 from 3-point range. The Vols outrebounded Saint Peter’s, 25-11, in the first half and finished with a 47-21 advantage on the boards. “Man, those guys are good,’’ Saint Peter’s coach Bashir Mason said at the start of his postgame press conference. “I have a ton of respect for Tennessee and how hard they played and how detailed they were taking away our strengths. “It’s one game for us, one loss, here on this stage and it sucks, but I’m confident in my guys and I feel great about us being back here soon.’’ Three Saint Peter’s starters failed to score a single point in the first 20 minutes. Leading scorer Corey Washington, who entered the game averaging 16.5 points, finished with just two points on 1 of 9 shooting. The only player who performed at all for Saint Peter’s was senior guard Latrell Reid, incidentally the only player remaining from the Elite Eight team. He scored a team-high 13 points. Saint Peter’s entered the game offensively challenged, as one of the lowest offensive production teams in the country, one that relies heavily on its tenacious defense. But this kind of anemic production was stunning. Entering the game, Mason expressed a premonition about the Tennessee defense being a problem, calling the Vols “a version of us in terms of how we defend, how we rebound, but they’ve probably got a couple of NBA players on their team.’’

“It’s like you’re playing yourself but three inches taller,’’ Reid said after the game. “Every time you make a mistake, they make you pay. We knew we couldn’t make mistakes. We did tonight, and we paid.’’

Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler, a Long Island native who scored 11 points and dished out 10 assists, said, “We kept our foot on their necks.’’

Mason was also concerned about Tennessee’s 6-foot-6 guard Dalton Knecht, who entered the game averaging 21.1 points to lead the Vols. Knecht scored 13 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 23.

Saint Peter’s had no answer for Tennessee’s 6-11 forward Jonas Aidoo, who scored 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting and had six rebounds and had his way in the paint.

Saint Peter’s entered the game having allowed just seven opponents to score 70 or more points and it was 1-6 in those games this season. Tennessee eclipsed the 70-point mark with seven minutes remaining in the game. Saint Peter’s never had a chance.

“I was asking the officials if they could keep running the clock,’’ Mason said. “It was difficult to look up at the score and know you’re not going to be able to get back into the fight.’’

The elephant in the room for Saint Peter’s entering this game was whether it could recapture the magic of the 2021-22 season in this tournament.

“As I’m walking down here quickly reflecting on the game, I was also thinking about the history of Saint Peter’s and the run they made,’’ Mason said. “I’m reflecting on who they beat to make it to the Elite Eight (Murray State, Kentucky and Purdue). Then you think about what our game was like tonight, and man that run two years ago, that was really impressive for that to happen for a small school from Jersey City.’’

This loss made Reid have even more of an appreciation for what the program did two years ago.

“To make it back here after what we did [two years ago] is amazing,’’ he said. “I’m proud of this group. This goes to show how amazing that run was and how everybody expected something like that [to happen] again. It just goes to show how crazy this tournament is.’’