Another March Full of Madness

The 82nd ever NCAA tournament is in the books, and it leaves every bracket, (including ours’) busted. But this tournament has left us with no less than any other tournament has left us. It was full of memories, cinderellas, players we love, and more. Overall, it was a great tournament to end a great season of college basketball.

Peacocks spread their wings

Can Peacocks fly? Well, sort of, and this year the Saint Peter’s Peacocks hailing from Jersey City, NJ in the Mid-American Athletic conference, certainly flew through many great teams. The 15th seeded Peacocks were expected by over 90% to have one game (to lose to 2nd seeded blue blood Kentucky) and head back home. Well, there is a reason they call this tournament Madness. The Peacocks matched the Wildcats punch for punch, and put the game away in overtime in a 85-79 victory. The Peacocks' Daryl Banks III led them with 27 points, and Doug Edert also provided 20 points. Edert has become a bit of a celebrity due to his fiery presence, and of course his mustache. But Edert and the Peacocks were just getting started. Next they were matched up with 7th seeded Murray State, another tough task. The Racers had been a perfect 21-0 in the Ohio Valley conference and won the Ohio Valley conference tournament. The Peacocks won by a score of 70-60. Forward KC Ndefo led the way with 17 points and Edert provided 13 points. The win made the team only the third 15th seed to make the Sweet 16 in March Madness history, joining Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 and Oral Roberts in 2021. Saint Peter’s had gone from just a cute Cinderella story from a small school in Jersey City to, WOW, this team is a real threat. The next test for the Peacocks was just as difficult as the first two: 3rd-seeded Purdue. The Peacocks played this game as they had the first two, trying to stay in the game and matching their opponents punch for punch. At halftime they trailed by just 4 points, and the deficit was never more than 6 for either team. With 8 seconds left Jaden Ivey of Purdue made a 3 pointer to cut the deficit to 1 point. But Edert was fouled and made both his free throws, and Ivey’s second desperation heave didn’t have the same result. The Peacocks were the first time a team seeded 13th or worse made the Elite 8. Even though they were defeated by red-hot 8 seed North Carolina, the Peacocks will be remembered forever.

Facts and firsts: Saint Peter’s

• Saint Peter’s was the first team from New Jersey to make the Sweet 16 since Seton Hall in 2000. Their coach Shaheen Halloway actually was the Point Guard on that Seton Hall team.

• Saint Peter’s was the first 15 seed to make the Elite 8, and in fact, they were the first team seeded 13th or below to do so.

• Saint Peter’s has an undergraduate population of 2,355. Compared to Kentucky’s 22,227, Murray State’s 7,735, Purdue’s 34,920, and North Carolina’s 19,399.

• Saint Peter’s is just the tenth team to beat a 2 seed as a 15 seed.

Blue Blood Final Four: Coach K’s Last Dance

Going into this college basketball season everyone knew that this would be the final ride for the legendary coach, Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K has had one of, if not the best, coaching careers in college basketball history. He has surpassed multiple legendary coaches from both the Men’s and Woman’s side of the CBB world. Heading into this season there were lots of emotions within the Duke Basketball Program. Duke finished the regular season with a 26-5 record and a not so great loss to North Carolina during Coach K’s last game in Cameron Indoor in front of all of the Duke fans. Duke entered the ACC tournament and knocked off a couple of teams but ended up losing to Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game. Following the ACC Tournament Duke entered the NCAA Tournament as a 2 seed in the West bracket. With everyone in the Duke program knowing that this would be Coach K’s last ride they knew they had to make it special. Duke started off the tournament with a win over Cal State Fullerton in a dominating fashion. Duke was on a roll and knocked off teams including the Tom Izzo led Spartans. They proceeded to beat Texas Tech and then Arkansas to punch their ticket to New Orleans. After all these seasons of North Carolina and Duke never playing each other in the tournament they were finally matched up against each other and will battle for a spot in the National Championship Game against the winner of Villinova and Kansas. Duke vs UNC, the most historic rivalry in college basketball and maybe debatable in all of sports. Can Duke send Coach K out with a title? Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t. UNC beat them by 4 and ended Coach K’s 42 year reign.

Final Four: Paths to the Final Four

Duke (2 seed)

First Round: Beat (15) California State - Fullerton 78-61

Second Round: Beat (7) Michigan State 85-76

Sweet 16: Beat (3) Texas Tech 78-73

Elite 8: Beat (4) Arkansas 78-69

Villanova (2)

First Round: Beat (15) Delaware 80-60

Second Round: Beat (7) Ohio State 71-61

Sweet 16: Beat (11) Michigan 63-55

Elite 8: Beat (5) Houston 50-44

Kansas (1)

First Round: Beat (16) Texas Southern 83-56

Second Round: Beat (9) Creighton 79-72

Sweet 16: Beat (4) Providence 66-61

Elite 8: Beat (10) Miami 76-50

North Carolina (8)

First Round: Beat (9) Creighton 95-63

Second Round: Beat (1) Baylor 93-86 (OT)

Sweet 16: Beat (4) UCLA 73-66

Elite 8: Beat (15) Saint Peter’s 69-49

First Game: Moore-less Wildcats can’t handle Jayhawks

Villanova is known for being a slow-tempo team, they slow the game down, rarely scoring above 70, but are able to handle that because of their defense. When you think of their defense, the first player you think of is Justin Moore. Moore averaged 14.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game for the Wildcats this year, but he also is known as one of the best perimeter defenders in the nation. Unfortunately for Villanova, Moore went down with a torn Achilles in the final minute of their Elite 8 win over Houston. Without Moore against Kansas, the Wildcats' small-ball defense was not as effective and Kansas won 81-65. Kansas scored 20 more points than anyone else had in the Villanova tournament. The high-paced Jayhawk offense was too much for Villanova and got at least 9 points out of every starter. Big Man David McCormack had 25 points and 9 rebounds in just 29 minutes, and First Team All-American Ochai Agbaji finished with 21 points, shooting 6-7 from 3-point range. Bob Cousy award winner (best point guard), Colin Gillespie led Villanova with 17 points in his final college game, Brandon Slater provided 16, and Caleb Daniels had 13 for the Wildcats in the loss. Kansas went on to their 12th National Championship.

Second Game: Coach K goes out in the Final Four, Tar Heels win shootout

Coach Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K, has coached in 36 NCAA tournaments in his 42 years at the helm at Duke. His historic and legendary career came to a close in the Final Four. Duke had played North Carolina 99 other times in Coach K’s career, and led that 50-49, but Coach K only coached 97 of those matchups, missing 2 of them during a 12 game stretch he missed in the 1994-95 season due to a back injury. Duke is now an even 50-50 against North Carolina. In their first matchup in the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels won on an 81-77 tilt. A back and forth game that was an instant classic, and one of the best games in Final Four history. North Carolina never led by more than 6 and the Blue Devils were never ahead by more than 7. Caleb Love led the way with 28 points for Carolina, with Armando Bacot pulling in a whopping 21 rebounds to go along with 11 points. Star Freshman and possible #1 draft pick Paolo Banchero led Duke with 20 points, Freshman Trevor Keels had 19 off the bench, and Junior wing Wendell Moore had 10 points and 8 rebounds. But when the final buzzer rang, and it was all said and done, the Tar Heels won.

National Championship: Jayhawks complete comeback, win instant classic to claim 6th title

North Carolina is 45-0 after leading at halftime in the NCAA Tournament. Or at least they were. That record is now 45-1. The Tar Heels were trailing 7-0, mainly because of how fast Kansas played, but after an 18-3 run to end the half, they found themselves up 40-25. Kansas was trailing 15 points at halftime to an 8 seed in a matchup that very well could’ve been a second round matchup and not a national championship. The Tar Heels were held to just 29 second half points, and had already given up that lead 9 minutes into the second half. Kansas started on a 31-10 run to take a lead and the final 11 minutes were back and forth, with neither team leading by more than 5 or 6. Kansas had back to back jumpers made by David McCormack in back to back possessions, and was able to overcome a turnover in the final 5 seconds. The Jayhawks had their 6th title, 72-69. Jalen Wilson and McCormack each had 15 points, Remy Martin had 14 off the bench, and Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun each had 12, with Braun pulling in 12 rebounds, and McCormack had 10 boards of his own. Agbaji was crowned final four Most Outstanding Player. Meanwhile The Tar Heels got 15 from Armando Bacot and RJ Davis, 13 from Brady Manek and Caleb Love, and 11 off the bench from Puff Johnson. But in the end, it didn’t matter that they had trailed by 15 at half, all that mattered was that they were National Champions.

Central Students Memorable Moments

“I would say the most memorable moment in the tournament was Saint Peter's run to the Elite Eight. I think it was super special considering how much more money and students the teams St. Peter’s played had, and they were still able to win. Also the UNC-Baylor game since Baylor came back from such a big deficit and was able to make the game close at the end. Even though UNC didn’t win it all they came very close and knocked off the reigning champions.” -Bobby Miller, Sophomore

“As a UNC fan, I will remember Baylor’s and Kansas’ comebacks against us, luckily we were able to win the Baylor game. Even though this was a great tournament for us, I feel like what everyone is going to remember is Saint Peter’s run, it was something that really hadn’t happened before, and was fun to watch.” - Julien Moss, Freshman

“For me the best moments of the tournament were definitely the MSU vs Duke game because it was a really close, well fought game and it was the last matchup between two historic coaches in Tom Izzo and Coach K. Also once all the big ten teams dropped out, I loved rooting for Saint Peters. There story was so awesome being that it’s such a small school and they almost made it to the Final Four. As far as a player that stood out, I would say Ochai Agbaji because he showed an all-around game by shooting over 40% from three and playing good defense. Perhaps my favorite moment was UNC’s unreal performance against Duke because it all seemed like it was going to be a storybook ending for Coach K, but their longtime rival ended his career.” - Chris Miller, Sophomore

“In my opinion this was one of the most unpredictable tournaments that I've ever watched. From the Cinderella story of St. Peter's to the upsets of Gonzaga, Baylor, etc. Some standout games for me are St.Peter's vs Kentucky, Baylor vs North Carolina, Duke vs North Carolina, and North Carolina vs Kansas. A moment that stands out most for me is the technical given to RJ Melendez that completely flipped the script and basically knocked Illinois out of the tournament. Another moment I can think of is watching Trent and DaMonte playing their final games in a Illini Jersey. The definition of "Everyday Guys'' who have been through the rebuild since the beginning. It was sad to see them go out like that” - Leo Lewis, Sophomore

“My favorite moment was when Saint Peters beat Kentucky and went on a big run and also beat Purdue in the Sweet Sixteen, they made a great run and knocked off some really good teams on their way to the Elite Eight. It was fun, because it isn’t something we’ve really seen before. Saint Peters made one of the best if not the best Cinderella run of all time and it was really fun watching them pull off all the upsets that they did” - Sammy Kang, Freshman

“As a North Carolina fan, my favorite moment from this tournament was North Carolina making the Final Four as an eight seed and matching up against our rival Duke in one of the biggest games of the year. I don't think that UNC is a Cinderella Story, they are a true contender. I knew they were gonna go far and they showed out in the tournament as I knew they would”. - Luke Swanson, Freshman

“My favorite part of the tournament was the Final Four games. I watched them with friends which just made them all the more better. Both games, especially the Duke-UNC game, were really fun. We all had strong opinions about it and it was crazy to see North Carolina in the National Championship as an 8 seed.” - Jackson Greenwold, Sophomore

“I will remember Saint Peter’s, Doug Edert’s moustache, and UNC beating Duke the most.” - Aaron Poetzel, Sophomore

“I will remember UNC blowing a 15 point lead at halftime and losing to Kansas.” - Ezra Bernhard, Sophomore