The Duke Blue Devils defeated the Siena Saints 71-65 on March 19, 2026, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, avoiding an upset in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[1] The No. 1 seed trailed 43-32 at halftime before outscoring Siena 39-22 in the second half.
Siena led late into the second half but could not hold on. Isaiah Evans' layup with 4:25 remaining gave Duke its first lead since early in the first half at 63-61. Gavin Doty's missed 3-pointer with 28 seconds left sealed the win for Duke.
The Saints used only their five starters for the entire game and shot 55% from the field and 45% from three-point range in the first half, while Duke made 2 of 15 three-point attempts.
Siena's top performers included Gavin Doty with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists on 3-for-12 three-point shooting; Francis Folefac with 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists; and Brendan Coyle with 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.
Duke was led by Cameron Boozer with 22 points and 13 rebounds, going 13-for-14 from the free-throw line for a double-double. His brother Cayden Boozer added 19 points on 9-for-16 shooting, while Evans recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds.[2] The Boozer brothers are sons of former Duke player and NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer.
Only twice before has a No. 16 seed defeated a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament first round: UMBC over Virginia 74-54 in 2018 and Fairleigh Dickinson over Purdue 63-58 in 2023.[3][4]
Duke, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference with five NCAA titles, advances to face No. 9 seed TCU, which beat No. 8 Ohio State earlier on March 19, in the second round on March 21.[5] Siena represents Siena College of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Bon Secours Wellness Arena has a basketball seating capacity of approximately 10,000 and has hosted NCAA Tournament games in prior years.[1]
Sources
- Bon Secours Wellness Arena. "Bon Secours Wellness Arena". Accessed October 2024. https://www.bonsecoursarenagreenville.com/
- ESPN. "Cameron Boozer Men's Basketball Recruiting". Accessed October 2024. https://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/4919684/cameron-boozer
- NCAA. "UMBC makes March Madness history as first No. 16 to upset a No. 1". March 16, 2018. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/2018/03/16/umbc-virginia-first-no-16-beat-no-1-march-madness
- NCAA. "Fairleigh Dickinson makes history, beating Purdue in March Madness". March 17, 2023. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-17/fairleigh-dickinson-makes-history-beating-purdue-march-madness
- Wikipedia. "Duke Blue Devils men's basketball". Accessed October 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Blue_Devils_men%27s_basketball
