The No. 1-seed Duke Blue Devils advanced to the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, defeating the Siena Saints 71-65. But it did not come easily against the 16th-seeded school from upstate New York.
Siena made March Madness history, taking an 11-point lead into halftime. It is the largest halftime deficit any No.1 seed has ever faced vs. a No. 16 seed.
The Blue Devils turned the tide in the second half, holding off the Saints to advance. Afterwards, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer gave props where they were due, at his own expense.
High praise on the March Madness stage 🏀@DukeMBB Head Coach Jon Scheyer speaks on the way @SienaMBB came prepared and competed ⬇️#MAACHoops pic.twitter.com/m3T9yglxVg
— MAAC Hoops (@MAACHoops) March 19, 2026
“I've known Gerry [McNamara] for a long time, G-Mac. [He] had his guys way more ready to play than I did,” Scheyer said.
“He outcoached me, he outcoached us. That's one of the hardest moments for me in sport. Period. To not have your best stuff, they played at such a high level. I'm really proud… credit to Siena for their readiness and the way that those guys played. They really did a great job.”
McNamara is a Syracuse basketball legend. He famously drained six triples in the 2003 NCAA Championship Game, helping the Orange defeat Kansas for the title. He would continue to play at Syracuse through the 2006 season, which was Scheyer's first playing at Duke.
To Scheyer's point, Siena came out white-hot. They seemingly could not miss a shot in the first half, knocking down 55 percent from the field. They made it look easily against the top-ranked Blue Devils. Meanwhile, Duke looked sluggish and lethargic.
Duke's Maliq Brown even admitted the team expected the game to be a cake walk. It was anything but.
But as they say, survive and advance. That is what the Blue Devils did.
Now they will face TCU in the Round of 32 on Saturday.
