The Duke basketball team faced an uncharacteristically close game against Siena to open March Madness. The Blue Devils entered the NCAA Tournament as the top seed, but struggled in their first game against Siena, which they won 71-65. It was a game that exposed some of Duke's flaws in the tournament, especially their depth issues stemming from the injuries they are dealing with.
After Duke escaped Siena with a win, ESPN released a stat that might spell bad luck for the Blue Devils in the tournament moving forward. It read: “Duke is the 8th 1-seed in NCAA Tournament history to win by 6 or fewer points against a 16-seed.” Three of the previous seven LOST their next game, and only one of them went on to reach the Final Four (Illinois in 1989).”
The Blue Devils looked completely outcoached and unprepared against Siena. The credit goes to Siena head coach Gerry McNamara, who played a better game than Duke's Jon Scheyer, even though neither team went to the bench once.
“He outcoached me, he outcoached us,” Scheyer said. “That's one of the hardest moments for me in sport, period, to not have your best stuff.”
It was also evident that the Blue Devils did not take the game seriously, as Maliq Brown said as much after halftime. Brown said, “We thought it was going to be a cakewalk going into this game, so now we know what it is, so we just have to respond.”
It was a revealing quote about Duke's mindset coming into the game and how differently they prepared compared to Siena.
“That game was ours to take,” said Duke's Cameron Boozer, who finished with a game-high 22 points along with 13 rebounds. “The first half, we put ourselves in that position. We knew we would be able to come out of it. We just had to come together, do what we do.”
It is worth noting that McNamara is considered a prime candidate for the vacant Syracuse job; his alma mater and his performance leading the top team in the country to the wire have certainly made him a name to watch in college basketball.
