The overall No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils began their first-round game against No. 16 Siena with an alley-oop jam. It looked like they were going to send a message to the rest of the NCAA Tournament field. As it turned out, it was Siena who was the one sending a message.
The Saints hold a 43-32 lead at halftime. Duke is the first 1-seed to ever trail by double digits at the break, per NCAA Basketball Insider Jeff Borzello.
Maybe even more remarkable, Siena did not make a single substitution in the first half. All five starters played all 20 minutes, signifying their unexpected dominance.
This is far from what the Cameron Crazies expected to begin their March Madness run. Duke was looking to get back to the Final Four after losing in the tournament semifinal last season.
Duke is being outclassed in almost every facet of basketball.
Sienna is shooting 55% to Duke's 39. The Blue Devils are being out-rebounded 18-13. The Saints have been far more lethal from the outside, hitting five triples to just two for Duke. But that is not a shock.
The fact that Siena has outscored Duke 22-16 points in the paint is.
If Duke coach Jon Scheyer cannot get his team to start playing some defense, they may be staring at the most embarrassing loss in NCAA Tournament history.
