Mount St. Mary's Coach Donny Lind Gives Bold Statement Ahead Of Duke Matchup

Mount St. Mary's head coach Donny Lind knows his team is going to give its best shot against No. 1 seed Duke on Friday afternoon in Raleigh, North Carolina

Dec 21, 2024; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers head coach Donny Lind looks on from the sideline against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half at Watsco Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers earned their way into a matchup with No. 1 seed Duke by taking care of business in their First Four game against American University.

The Mountaineers won, 83-72, thanks to an uncharacteristic offensive explosion. They had won the Metro Athletic Conference tourney without ever scoring more than 63 points. In fact, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN points out that Mount St. Mary's only scored 80-plus points twice this season.

Senior forward Jedy Cordilia scored 22 with seven rebound while junior forward Dola Adebayo pitched in 22 of his own. Sophomore guard Dallas Hobbs scored 17 while adding three rebounds, two assists and three steals.

"I love offense. I would prefer to play this way," head coach Donny Lind said after the game, per Rittenberg. "I would rather win 83-73 than 53-43."

Again, the Mountaineers' reward for beating American is a matchup with Duke. The Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 Poll and they're one of the favorites to win it all this year. Lind and his team won't be bothered by the enormity of the matchup. However, he did admit to getting a bit overwhelmed when he realized his team had a shot to move into the tournament thanks to the First Four opportunity

“Today when we walked out there for the national anthem, it was a little bit of a holy cow moment for me,” Lind said after the win, according to ESPN. “Now to get to move on with this group and let them keep playing and to go down to Raleigh and play Duke is awesome. We’ve got to get ready and give them everything we’ve got.”