Saint Peter’s set for David vs Goliath matchup vs North Carolina, ex-Peacocks star says pressure is off

Saint Peter’s has executed the unimaginable up to now through the NCAA Males’s Basketball Event.

The No. 15-seeded Peacocks upset two powerhouse basketball colleges in Kentucky and Purdue and went wire-to-wire in its defeat of a tricky Murray State group to get to the Elite Eight. It’s the primary time a No. 15 seed as ever made the regional remaining and the furthest the Peacocks have ever gone within the match.

On Sunday, Saint Peter’s will face a brand new check in getting previous North Carolina.

The Tar Heels have been on a roll because the center of February. North Carolina has received 9 of their final 10 video games, together with victories over Marquette, Baylor and UCLA within the match. 

North Carolina’s late run within the common season propelled them into the Large Dance as a No. 8 seed they usually haven’t regarded again.

The Peacocks’ run has galvanized the Saint Peter’s group and thrust the small Jesuit college primarily based in Jersey Metropolis, N.J., into the limelight.

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Wesley Jenkins, a former Saint Peter’s guard who was on the group once they final made the match in 2011, informed Fox Information Digital in a current interview it’s been thrilling to look at this present group.

“It brings a whole lot of pleasure to me simply because the connection me and the pinnacle coach (Shaheen Holloway) have, he was my highschool coach for one yr. So, it was only a great point to see,” Jenkins stated.

Jenkins, a Newark, N.J., native, attended Bloomfield Tech Excessive Faculty – the place Holloway acquired his begin. Holloway then served beneath Kevin Willard at Seton Corridor and Iona earlier than taking the Saint Peter’s job earlier than the 2018-19 season. He was additionally an assistant beneath Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Corridor too.

St. Peter’s Faculty Wesley Jenkins (15) and Nick Leon (21) upset after shedding recreation to Purdue at United Middle, Chicago
(John Biever /Sports activities Illustrated through Getty Photographs)

Watching Saint Peter’s edge Purdue 67-64 on Saturday evening was a bit sweeter for Jenkins. His group misplaced to the Boilermakers within the first spherical of the 2011 match 65-43. Jenkins scored eight factors.

“It’s undoubtedly sweeter for me simply because we misplaced to Purdue. In my thoughts, I assumed we most likely ought to’ve received,” he informed Fox Information Digital. “However not less than this group proper right here is on a loopy run.”

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Saint Peter’s boasts about 3,000 complete college students and the campus is barely about 30 acres. However Jenkins stated it’s the “grittiness” of the New York-New Jersey metropolitan space that’s giving the group a little bit little bit of an additional push within the match.

For comparability, the College of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has greater than 30,000 college students and is 729 acres and its males’s basketball group is routinely within the NCAA Event with six nationwide championships and 129 match victories. Saint Peter’s did not have a match victory till this month.

Head coach Shaheen Holloway of the St. Peter’s Peacocks reacts on the sidelines within the first half of the sport in opposition to the Purdue Boilermakers within the Candy Sixteen spherical recreation of the 2022 NCAA Males’s Basketball Event at Wells Fargo Middle on March 25, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Patrick Smith/Getty Photographs)

Because the highlight will get hotter and the stress mounts on the Peacocks, Jenkins stated since Holloway isn’t getting shaken up the gamers received’t both. However what’s going to it take to beat a North Carolina group that seems to be simply as on fireplace in current weeks as Saint Peter’s?

“The identical factor they’ve been doing, simply enjoying,” Jenkins stated. “(Holloway) stated it yesterday, they’re simply on the market having enjoyable now. It’s simply common basketball for them. It’s nothing particular at this level.”

Jenkins performed for Saint Peter’s from 2007 to 2011. He averaged greater than 12 factors per recreation in every of these three seasons.

The final time North Carolina misplaced to a double-digit seed got here in 2006 when the Tar Heels bumped into No. 11 George Mason – who have been on their very own Cinderella run. George Mason made all of it the way in which to the Remaining 4 earlier than working into the eventual nationwide champion Florida Gators.

St. Peter’s Peacocks gamers rejoice with head coach Shaheen Holloway after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 67-64 within the Candy Sixteen spherical recreation of the 2022 NCAA Males’s Basketball Event at Wells Fargo Middle on March 25, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Patrick Smith/Getty Photographs)

Saint Peter’s and North Carolina play Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m. ET on the Wells Fargo Middle in Philadelphia.