The Patriot League has been dominated by one team throughout the regular season over the last few years. Usually, the team that dominates the regular season has won the conference championship and subsequently qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Navy dominated the regular season in the Patriot League this year, but it lost in the semifinals to Boston University. That loss opened the door for the Lehigh Mountain Hawks to win the Patriot League Championship.
Lehigh and head coach Brett Reed have not been to the NCAA Tournament since the 2012 season, when a guard named CJ McCollum led the Mountain Hawks to a win over Duke in the first round. It will be hard for Lehigh to top that win, but they may be able to notch another NCAA Tournament win on the ledger. The Mountain Hawks will likely be a 16 seed heading to Dayton, where they will have a fantastic chance to advance into the round of 64.
Stay Hot
On February 7th, fresh off a loss to Holy Cross, Lehigh was sitting at 10-15 and searching for answers on the season. The Mountain Hawks could have had their season go one of two ways. Either they could pack it in and say better luck next year or they could do exactly what they did. Lehigh went on to win 8 of their last 9 games and secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Mountain Hawks come into the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country. They are doing everything right, and it is leading to wins. Lehigh is coming in with a lot of confidence, and the First Four is going to be the perfect spot for them to get their second win in program history, and this time, they won’t need an NBA All-Star to do so. They won’t beat a one seed, but they can absolutely get a win if they play in the First Four.
Threes, Threes, and Threes!
Lehigh doesn’t shoot a ton of threes, but the ones they do take are usually within the system of the offense. Coach Reed doesn't like to play fast; the Mountain Hawks do play slow, but they also take smart shots within the offense. The extra pass usually leads to wide-open corner threes. Over the last 9 games, which have led to 8 Mountain Hawk wins, the threes have been flying, and most of them have been going in.
Nasir Whitlock, Joshua Ingram, and Peter Kramer are the ones who take the threes, and all of them can get white hot from deep just like they did in the Patriot League championship. Even if they don’t take many threes, the Mountain Hawks are still dangerous from deep because their offensive philosophy makes sure they get wide-open looks. If Lehigh continues shooting as they have lately, they will keep a lot of games closer than they should be.
Nasir Whitlock
With a quick raise of your hands, how many people have heard of Whitlock before the NCAA Tournament? Or, to take this a step further, how many people still have not heard of him? Many of you may not have heard of him or watched him play. The junior guard is one of the league's premier scorers, and players who can score like Whitlock usually do big things in their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Whitlock isn’t just the leading scorer in the Patriot League but is one of the leading scorers in the NCAA at 21 points per game. He shoots 45% from deep on a little over 5 attempts per night. He will get to the rim and also averages 4 assists per night. Whitlock can really score, and if teams are not careful, he can go for 40 and drive Lehigh to a win all by himself. Maybe he will be the next NBA All-Star to come out of Lehigh.