Lehigh fans hilariously chant ‘we want Duke’ after winning conference tournament
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Wednesday night, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks beat the Boston Terriers 74-60 to win the Patriot League Tournament. The victory earned Lehigh its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2012. Now that the Mountain Hawks are dancing again, they know who they want their partner to be.
As the clock ran down on their Patriot League title, Lehigh fans chanted “We want Duke!” The Mountain Hawks famously defeated the No. 2 seed Blue Devils as a No. 15 seed in 2012. Now, nearly a decade-and-a-half later, they want a second crack at the college basketball blue blood.
Lehigh’s 2012 match-up with Duke was its fifth-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Mountain Hawks were led by CJ McCollum, who dropped 30 points in the win. Lehigh held Duke to 23% shooting from three-point range and hit 9 more free throws (25-37) than the Blue Devils (16-23).
If there’s a McCollum on this Mountain Hawk roster, it’d be guard Nasir Whitlock. The junior guard led the Patriot League in scoring (21.0 PPG) and cracked the 30-point mark 8 times this season. He has also already shown a penchant for the March moment, hitting a buzzer beater against Holy Cross to send Lehigh to the Patriot League semifinals last week.
Bracketologists, including ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, project Lehigh to be a No. 16 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Duke, even if it loses its first game of the ACC Tournament, will be a No. 1 seed. We’ll see if the NCAA selection committee can pass up on the opportunity to give the world a rematch when the bracket is unveiled on Sunday evening (6:00 p.m. E.T., CBS).
Here’s the latest odds to make the Sweet 16 for college basketball’s top teams on Kalshi:
