St. Peter’s University men’s basketball team will take on Tennessee on Thursday in Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament. Students on campus held a rally on Tuesday before the team flew off to Charlotte. Students filled the quad on the Jersey City campus before the team boarded a bus to the airport.

St. Peters is a 15-seed taking on Tennessee, a two-seed, this Thursday night.

It was two years ago that St. Peter’s had a magical run through the tournament, first beating Kentucky, then Murray State and Purdue. The Peacocks made it to the Elite Eight before being beaten by North Carolina.

This time around St. Peter’s has a new coach. Bashir Mason is a Jersey City native who previously coached at Wagner.

Senior Guard Latrell Reid is still around from that 2022 squad. He says he’s aware of that history and that fact they’re taking on the team that had the best record in the Southeastern Conference this year.

“We want to continue the story and that’s the goal and the plan,” Reid says. “Obviously we will have to slow them down, limit the possessions of the game. And grind it out kind of how we’ve been doing.”

St. Peter’s won the MAAC Tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They’ll have their first shoot-around in Charlotte on Wednesday.

Thursday’s game is set to tip off around 9 p.m.