Duke Blue Devils rally past Siena Saints 71-65 in NCAA Tournament first-round win
The Duke Blue Devils, the No. 1 seed from the ACC, rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat the No. 16 Siena Saints 71-65 in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on March 19, 2026, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
Siena led 43-32 at halftime after shooting 55% from the field and 45% from three-point range. Duke made just 2 of 15 three-pointers in the first half but outscored the Saints 39-22 after the break, taking the lead for good on Isaiah Evans' layup that made it 63-61 with 4:25 remaining.
Gavin Doty led Siena with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists, despite going 3 for 12 from three-point range. Francis Folefac added 18 points and seven rebounds, while Brendan Coyle scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting. Siena used only its five starters for the full 40 minutes.
Cam Boozer paced Duke with 22 points and 13 rebounds, going 13 for 14 from the free-throw line. His brother, Cayden Boozer, added 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Evans recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The victory preserved Duke's unblemished record against No. 16 seeds in tournament history. Only twice has a No. 16 seed defeated a No. 1: UMBC over Virginia 74-54 in 2018 and Fairleigh Dickinson over Purdue 63-58 in 2023.[1][2]
Duke advanced to face No. 9 seed TCU, which defeated No. 8 Ohio State earlier on March 19, in the second round on March 21 at the same venue.
Sources
- NCAA, "No. 16 vs. No. 1: Every NCAA tournament matchup, results," March 20, 2024, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2024-03-20/no-16-vs-no-1-every-ncaa-tournament-matchup-results
- ESPN, "March Madness: Every No. 16 vs. No. 1 game," March 21, 2023, https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/36014552/march-madness-16-vs-1-history-every-game-results
