To understand why Shaheen Holloway’s stock has skyrocketed during these past few weeks of March Madness, you only need to look at what he did during a timeout early the East regional final on Sunday. With his St. Peter’s Peacocks down 7-0 to North Carolina, Holloway drew up a play intended to spark his team: a lob pass for junior guard Daryl Banks. Like many of Holloway’s calls during the tournament, this one worked to perfection. After a series of movements, Banks found himself wide open underneath the basket. He rose to receive the pass, point blank at the rim.
But Banks missed the easy shot. And St. Peter’s still hadn’t scored.
It was that kind of evening for the Peacocks in Philadelphia. North Carolina stomped out the darlings of March Madness, 69-49, on Sunday, ending a magic ride: the Peacocks became the first 15-seed to ever play in the Elite Eight of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament—one game away from the Final Four. St. Peter’s missed seven shots at the rim and another five close jumpers in the lane, though the Tar Heels defense contested many of them. The Peacocks finished the game shooting just 4-16, or 25%, from three-point range.
Despite the skill and pluckiness of Holloway’s undersized team, and the enthusiasm of the St. Peter’s partisans that made the easy trip down the Turnpike from Jersey City, at times the game had the feel of first-round blowout between a No. 1 seed and a No.16 seed. The Peacocks fell behind 27-9 and could never recover. North Carolina had too much Armando Bacot, the 6’10” junior who finished with 22 rebounds and 20 points, and Brady Manek, the 6’9″ grad transfer with the lumberjack beard; Manek shot 4-6 from 3-point range and had 19 points.
“I didn’t really recognize my team the first ten minutes of the game,” says Holloway….
Source : time
