After winning the Patriot League title, the American University men’s basketball team is headed to Dayton, Ohio to face off against the Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers on Wednesday, March 19 at 6:40 p.m. in the First Four round of the NCAA tournament.
The winner of this game will take on the No. 1 ranked Duke Blue Devils on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Eagles, who finished first place in the Patriot League with a 22-12 record, dethroned the Colgate Raiders for the league crown for the first time in four years.
American is the No. 50 best team in NCAA Division I men’s basketball at minimizing opponent points per game. The team is known for its suffocating defense with the duo of senior guard Elijah Stephens and sophomore forward Greg Jones and their floor spacing. The team has had hot 3-point shooting, in particular from graduate student forward Matt Rogers.
The Eagles have a low scoring margin of only 1.4 points with a lot of close games under their belt this season. Shooting the ball efficiently will be a key factor in the matchup; American connected on 34.7 percent of their 3-pointers this season, and continuing that trend will be crucial for them.
As the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions, the Mountaineers went into the MAAC tournament as a No. 6 seed, battling against higher seeded teams all the way through. They beat Iona on March 15, 63-49, in a second half blowout. Redshirt junior forward Dola Adebayo and sophomore guard Dallas Hobbs led the Mountaineers to average 70.1 points per game as a team.
Though the Eagles like to pull in offensive rebounds and get second chance points on the board, the Mountaineers do a good job at cleaning the glass, and they out rebound their opponents by a margin of 4.4, making them good for No. 59 in the NCAA.
In the NCAA net rankings, the Eagles have a slight edge on the Mountaineers, who are ranked 226 and 236, respectively.
These teams are no strangers to each other. Since their first matchup in 2005, the Eagles have made a record of 10-7 and have won their last four games against the Mountaineers. Their most recent game was last season on Nov. 22, 2023. The Eagles won 68-65.
If American beats Mount St. Mary’s, the Eagles will travel south to face Duke. Blue Devils freshman forward phenomenon Cooper Flagg left the game against Georgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals in a wheelchair with an ankle injury; however, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer announced that Flagg will play in the tournament.
If the Eagles defeat Mount Saint Mary’s and Duke, they will cement themselves in history and become the third ever No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the tournament. No. 1 seeds have a record of 154-2 against No. 16 seeds.
The Mountaineers last appeared in the tournament in 2021. This is the Eagles’ first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 11 years. In their most recent appearance in 2014, No. 15 American lost to No. 2 Wisconsin in the first round, 75-35.
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Penelope Jennings and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Olivia Citarella.
