By EDDIE PELLS

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — North Carolina turns away Saint Peter’s 69-49, joins rival Duke, Villanova and Kansas in Final Four.

North Carolina crushed all hope of a March Madness miracle in the early going Sunday, getting 20 points and 22 rebounds from Armando Bacot in a wire-to-wire 69-49 runaway over 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s.

The eighth-seeded Tar Heels (28-9) made their record 21st Final Four, and next on their list is none other than archrival Duke and its soon-to-be-retiring coach, Mike Krzyzewski.

Next Saturday in New Orleans will mark the first Final Four meeting — first NCAA Tournament meeting, in fact — between the Tobacco Road archrivals whose campuses are separated by 11 miles.

While Coach K’s winding road to retirement has been a beauty to watch this March, nothing has captured more imaginations than the run put on by underdog Saint Peter’s. The entire basketball budget for this scrappy group from Jersey City, New Jersey, is $1.6 million — or around $400,000 less than what Tar Heels first-year coach Hubert Davis, who was sobbing as his players enveloped him after the buzzer, makes in a year.

Two nights earlier, the Peacocks (21-12) beat Purdue to become the first 15 seed to advance to an Elite Eight. They are hardly the first team to see grand plans undone by one of the country’s top-line power programs.

It got ugly early.

After Carolina’s Leaky Black missed a free throw 2 1/2 minutes in, Bacot edged in for the offensive rebound and an easy putback. It gave Carolina a 7-0 lead. In its three tournament wins over Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue, Saint Peter’s had never trailed by more than six.

The Peacocks, whose 10-game win streak ended, moved the ball well and got plenty of good looks over the first 10 minutes. Some shots went halfway down and rimmed out. Others bounced twice on the iron but wouldn’t fall. They trailed 21-7 after missing their first six shots, and 16 of their first 19.

Late in the first half, Daryl Banks III swooped in for what looked like a windmill jam. It got rejected — by the front of the rim. It made the Peacocks 5 for 27 on the night, and when Bacot dunked on the next possession, North Carolina led 36-15.

KC Ndefo led Saint Peter’s with 10 points.

UNC coach Hubert Davis overcome with emotion as his team celebrates a trip to the Final Four:

“I just desperately wanted this for them. I love these guys so much.” pic.twitter.com/7ueZOn0eW4

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 27, 2022

Kansas 76, Miami 50

Ochai Agbaji was all over the court. David McCormack dominated inside, and Christian Braun connected from deep.

With one dazzling finish, Kansas roared into the Final Four.

Agbaji, McCormack and Braun led the top-seeded Jayhawks to a brilliant second half in a 76-50 victory over Miami on Sunday, sending one of college basketball’s top programs to the national semifinals for the 16th time.

“That was about as well as we can play, the second half,” coach Bill Self said. “These guys earned it.”

They sure did.

After trailing by six at halftime, Kansas outscored Miami 47-15. The Jayhawks shot 59.3% (16 for 27) after the break, compared to 21.4% (6 for 28) for the Hurricanes. They also outrebounded Miami 25-11 in the final 20 minutes.

Once the Jayhawks started flashing their superior speed and athleticism, the Hurricanes couldn’t keep up.

“We started to play the score, not the game,” Miami forward Sam Waardenburg said.

Agbaji scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half. McCormack opened the half with his own 5-0 run and finished with 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Braun made Kansas’ first 3-pointer with 15:27 left to snap a 40-40 tie.

“We just needed some energy,” said Braun, who finished with 12 points. “I thought we were flat in the first half.”

Kansas (32-6), the only No. 1 seed left in the NCAA Tournament, won the Midwest Region for the 13th time with its ninth consecutive victory overall. Next up is a Final Four matchup with Villanova on Saturday in New Orleans.

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