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The Duke Blue Devils avoided being on the wrong side of March Madness history.
The No. 1 seed rallied late to avoid an upset by the No. 16 Siena Saints with a 71-65 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Only twice in tournament history has a 16th-seeded team taken down a top seed in the first round — UMBC over Virginia in 2018 and Fairleigh Dickinson over Purdue in 2023.
Siena was in the driver’s seat to join that rare group, shocking Duke with a 43-32 lead at halftime. But it was unable to keep that lead, and the Blue Devils took over in the second half to avoid a mind-boggling finish in the first round.
Duke outscored Siena, 39-22, in the second half as the Saints surprisingly used just its five starters through the game’s entire 40 minutes. That strategy may have come back to hurt them in the end because players looked gassed midway through the second half.
The effort from the Saints, though, never faltered as they continued to stave off Duke’s comeback attempt. However, with 4:25 left to play in the second half, Isaiah Evans’ layup gave Duke its first lead since early in the first half, 63-61.
HIGH POINT STUNS WISCONSIN IN THE FIRST UPSET OF MARCH MADNESS WITH THRILLING FINISH
From there, the Blue Devils did what it took on the defensive end to maintain their lead. Siena got things to a four-point deficit, but Gavin Doty’s missed 3-pointer with 28 seconds left was the dagger in a hard-fought loss.
Doty was the team’s leading scorer with 21 points, though he went 3 of 12 from 3-point range. He also had four rebounds and two assists.
Francis Folefac (18 points, seven rebounds and two assists) also played a huge role in Siena’s scare of Duke, and Brendan Coyle had 12 points on 4 of 9 shooting for the Saints.
Siena was shooting 55% when the first half came to a close, including 45% from 3-point territory. Meanwhile, Duke was reeling from distance, making only two of its 15 3-point attempts.
While Duke couldn’t get the three-ball going in the second half, better shot selection around the rim worked in its favor. The Boozer brothers, Cam and Cayden, led the way as they have all season for the Blue Devils. The sons of Duke and NBA great Carlos Boozer set the tone, especially Cam with his 22 points to lead the Blue Devils to victory.
Cam Boozer was also 13-for-14 from the charity stripe, hitting clutch shots at the end of the game. He finished with a double-double after hauling in a team-high 13 rebounds.
Cayden Boozer finished with 19 points on 9 of 16 shooting, while Evans had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds for Duke.
The Blue Devils will now face No. 9 TCU, which defeated No. 8 Ohio State earlier Thursday, in the second round Saturday.
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