Raleigh, NC -It has been plenty of waiting this week at Duke, No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament East Region.
Much of this relates to the status as a beginner forward Cooper flag, which has missed Blue Devil’s last 2 1/2 matches after suffering an ankle injury under the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Then Duke (31-3) had to wait to learn who its first round of opponents would be. Turns out that Blue Devils will meet No. 16 Seed Mount St. Mary’s on Friday afternoon at Raleigh, NC
The rock climbers (23-12) defeated American 83-72 in the first four on Wednesday evening in Dayton, Ohio.
Duke wears a winning line in 11 matches and has a regional seed no. 1 for the 15th time.
“Just really grateful for this opportunity and we can’t wait to get started,” said Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer.
Buzz around Duke has been strong all season, especially because of flags. He got a precipitated ankle during the first half of the ACC quarter final Matchup with Georgia Tech on March 13 and looked from the bench as Duke continued to defeat North Carolina and Louisville to win the tournament.
Scheyer repeated Blue Devils will take a cautious attitude to bringing a flag back to action, even though he was optimistic that his young star may be on the track when the NCAA tournament begins.
“I want to get Coop back as fast as we can,” Scheyer said. “Our goal is for Friday, no question about it.”
Flag leads Duke in points (18.9 points per match), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.1), steal (1.5) and block (1.2).
There are many other important contributors for Blue Devils. Freshman Kon Knueppel, the most valuable player in the ACC tournament, gives 14.4 points and 4.0 returns per match. Guard Tyrese Proctor will be in his third NCAA tournament with the team.
In Wednesday’s victory, Jedy Cordilia and Dear Adebayo each received a 22 point for Mount St. Mary’s. The rock climbers have won five games in a row, with the score in total against American their first over 70 points in their last six matches.
“When it comes to playing Duke next, our mentality is the same, just go in and follow the playing field,” said Mount St. Mary’s Guard Dallas Hobbs. “Follow what coaches (Donny Lind) say and hopefully go out there and get a win.”
The rock climbers promise not to be intimidated. Duke is 14-0 all the time against No. 16 seeds.
“It doesn’t matter how big they are, how they are ranked,” said Adebayo. “They still have to tie their shoes just like me.”
This is the second time that the mountain climbers won a first four match, which also did it in 2017 before losing to No. 1 Frö Villanova.
This will be the first meeting between Mount St. Mary’s and Duke.
Duke has not exactly distinguished himself in the Raleighs Arena, which is now called Lenovo Center, which is home to the North Carolina State Team. Blue Devils is 12-9 in the building, including a 2-1 mark in the NCAA tournament-with the loss a first round shocker for Mercer 2014.
-Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
