March Madness: Duke rallies to avoid an upset at No. 16 Siena in the first round
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The Duke Blue Devils avoided being on the wrong side of March Madness history, as the No. 1 rallied late to avoid a major upset at 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 halftime lead. But they couldn’t hold on to that lead, as the Blue Devils took control in the second half to avoid a dramatic finish in the first round.
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Dame Sarr of the Duke Blue Devils reacts in the second half against the Siena Saints in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026, in Greenville, South Carolina. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Duke outscored Siena, 39-22, in the second half, as the Saints surprisingly used just five players for 40 minutes. It is possible that that strategy came back to hurt them in the end, the players seemed to be out of breath in the middle of the second half.
The effort from the Saints, however, never wavered as they continued to thwart Duke’s comeback attempt. However, with 4:25 left in the second half, Isaiah Evans’ layup gave Duke its first halftime lead, 63-61.
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From there, the Blue Devils did what they had to avoid to maintain their lead as the clock ticked down to zero. Siena made it a four-point deficit, but Gavin Doty missed a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to play his part in the upset.
Doty led the team in scoring with 21 points, although he wanted some of his shots to come back from beyond the arc, going 3-of-12 from that distance in the end. He had four rebounds and two assists as well.
Francis Folefac (18 points, seven rebounds and two assists) also played a big role in Siena’s upset of Duke, while Brendan Coyle also had 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting for the Saints.
Cameron Boozer of the Duke Blue Devils battles Riley Mulvey of the Siena Saints for the ball during the second half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026, in Greenville, South Carolina. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Siena was shooting 55% by the end of the first half, including 45% from three-point range. Meanwhile, Duke struggled from long range, making just two of 15 three-point attempts.
But even though they couldn’t get three-balls in the second half, it was better to pick balls around the rim that worked for them. It was the Boozer brothers, Cam and Cayden, leading the way as they have all season for the Blue Devils. Duke’s sons and NBA legend Carlos Boozer set the tone, especially Cam with his 22 points to lead the Blue Devils to victory.
Cam Boozer was also 13-of-14 from the line, hitting two clutch shots late in the game. He finished with a double-double after pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds.
Justice Shoats of the Siena Saints shoots the ball against Nikolas Khamenia of the Duke Blue Devils during the second period in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026, in Greenville, South Carolina. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
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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 continue to face No. 9 TCU, which defeated No. 8 Ohio State earlier Thursday, in the second round on Saturday.
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