RALEIGH, N.C. — There has been plenty of waiting this week for Duke, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region.
Waiting was worth it for the Blue Devils, who confirmed Thursday morning that freshman forward Cooper Flagg would be available Friday in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament.
There was doubt regarding Flagg’s status after he missed the Blue Devils’ last 2 1/2 games after suffering a left ankle injury during the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Duke (31-3) had to wait to learn who its first-round opponent would be. Turns out the Blue Devils will face No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s on Friday afternoon at Raleigh, N.C.
The Mountaineers (23-12) defeated American 83-72 in the First Four on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio.
Duke carries an 11-game winning streak and holds a No. 1 regional seed for the 15th time.
“Just really grateful for this opportunity and we can’t wait to get started,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said.
The buzz around Duke has been strong all season, particularly because of Flagg. He suffered a sprained ankle in the first half of the ACC quarterfinal matchup with Georgia Tech on March 13, watching from the bench as Duke went on to defeat North Carolina and Louisville to win the tournament.
Scheyer said earlier in the week he was optimistic that his young star can be on the court when the NCAA Tournament begins, but his playing time could still be curbed to preserve the All-American for challenges ahead.
“I want to get Coop back as quick as we can,” Scheyer said.
Flagg leads Duke in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.1), steals (1.5) and blocks (1.2).
There are plenty of other key contributors for the Blue Devils. Freshman Kon Knueppel, the Most Valuable Player of the ACC tourney, provides 14.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Guard Tyrese Proctor will be in his third NCAA Tournament with the team.
In Wednesday’s victory, Jedy Cordilia and Dola Adebayo each scored 22 points for Mount St. Mary’s. The Mountaineers have won five games in a row, with the point total against American their first above 70 points in their last six games.
“As far as playing Duke next, our mentality is the same thing, just going in and following the game plan,” Mount St. Mary’s guard Dallas Hobbs said. “Follow what Coach (Donny Lind) says, and hopefully go out there and get a win.”
The Mountaineers vow to not be intimidated. Duke is 14-0 all-time vs. No. 16 seeds.
“It doesn’t matter how big they are, how they’re ranked,” Adebayo said. “They’ve still got to tie their shoes just like me.”
It’s the second time that the Mountaineers won a First Four game, also doing so in 2017 before losing to No. 1 seed Villanova.
This will be the first meeting between Mount St. Mary’s and Duke.
Duke hasn’t exactly excelled in Raleigh’s arena that’s now called Lenovo Center, which is home to North Carolina State’s team. The Blue Devils are 12-9 in the building, including a 2-1 mark in NCAA Tournament play — with the loss a first-round shocker to Mercer in 2014.
–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
