Vermont shares the catamount mascot with one other school. That would be Western Carolina, located in Cullowhee, North Carolina. WCU has been called the Catamounts since 1932.

Vermont led 29-17 in front of the 3,213 frenzied Catamount fans in attendance at halftime, but the Knights seized a 10-point lead with just over three minutes to play and sealed the game at the line.

Barclays Center was getting loud, drowning out the strong Duke contingent. Vermont, the 13th seed, had pulled within two. An upset seemed possible. Then, Jared McCain refused to let it happen.

Vermont, a school whose arena holds 3,000 people, faced maybe the most popular men's basketball program in the USA - but the Catamounts had home-court advantage.