After losing in their first game of the ACC Tournament for the second straight season, the Duke men’s basketball team dropped to a two seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Hopefully they do not go out again in their first game like last season versus Lehigh.

This year, Duke heads to Philadelphia, where they usually play very well, as the two seed in Louisville’s bracket (in the Midwest Region).

The Blue Devils will begin their quest for a national championship on Friday at 12:15 pm ET, as they play 15 seeded Albany. Albany came out of the America East Conference, the first four seed to win the conference tournament. The Great Danes (yup that’s their nickname) bench was huge in their championship win over Vermont with 27 points. Overall, they won 24 games this season, most in the team’s history.

Guard Mike Black leads the Great Danes in scoring with 14.9 points per game. He also hauls in 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Sam Rowley, a 6’6 forward, hauls in 6.3 rebounds per game and scores nine points per game.

Duke will need to tighten up their defense or they will be heading back to Durham with a bad taste in their mouth. Hopefully, the three starting seniors can keep their collegiate playing careers going into April.