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 on Thursday night on 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 No. 15 seed Peacocks 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.
St. Peter’s trailed 46-20, and that was only thanks to a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Roy Clarke to “shave’’ the Tennessee lead to “only’’ 26 points at the intermission.
Tennessee’s largest first-half lead was 29 points, right before that Clarke trey at the end of the period.
Saint Peter’s (19-14) shot 7-for-30 from the field (23.3 percent) in the first half and was 4 of 15 from long distance (26.7 percent).
The Peacocks couldn’t even make free throws, shooting just 2 of 7 from the line.
Meanwhile, Tennessee (25-8) shot 16 of 25 from the floor (64 percent) and was 4-for-9 from 3-point range.
