GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Duke barely avoided a shocking upset to open the NCAA tournament, with the No. 1 overall seed having to rally from 13 points down and going ahead for good in the final five minutes to beat 16th-seeded Siena 71-65 on Thursday.
Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the East Region's headliner, which hit its first four shots yet need a comeback against a fearless upstart playing just five players right up to the final seconds.
And yet, the Saints took it to the Blue Devils (33-2) at every turn.
The No. 1 seeds entered the week with a 158-2 record against 16-seeds in the tournament, the outliers being Virginia's loss to UMBC in 2018 and Purdue's loss to Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023.
And Duke -- a blueblood with five NCAA titles -- spent much of Thursday in serious danger of being added to that list before finally wrestling away control of the game in the last eight minutes.
Gavin Doty scored 21 points to lead the Saints (23-12), with his third 3 giving them a 61-56 lead with 7:53 left. But Duke ran off 11 unanswered points to finally push ahead for good, securing a date against TCU in the second round.
"Just in general, [Gerry McNamara] outcoached me," Duke coach Jon Scheyer told CBS after the game. "They were more ready to play. The readiness and toughness of our guys, just to weather that storm in the second half, I'm proud of them."
As Doty and Brendan Coyle hit big 3s -- followed by confident arms-raised celebrations as they backpedaled downcourt -- the crowd grew more energized with every passing minute in the first half, including fans wearing Ohio State red and the lighter blue of Duke rival North Carolina eager to start jumping on the ride.
And the Saints kept increasing their advantage, jarringly taking a 43-32 lead at the half as the Blue Devils looked discombobulated and uncomfortable in their tournament opener. Duke, which closed as a 28.5-point favorite, became the first No. 1 seed to trail by double digits at the break against a 16-seed. A team that had dominated inside to reach the top of the AP Top 25 even found itself being outrebounded and outscored in the paint by halftime, a testament to how McNamara's Siena squad was ready for the fight in its first March Madness appearance since 2010.
Ultimately, though, the rousing shots started to slow for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion. Siena missed eight straight shots and went scoreless for nearly seven minutes during the decisive run, part of an 8-for-34 showing (23.5%) after halftime.
Duke, meanwhile, finally grabbed its first lead since the opening four minutes on Isaiah Evans' driving score at 63-61, and Evans and Boozer each hit four free throws in the final 20 seconds to help Duke finally put away Siena.
Cayden Boozer added 19 points for Duke, which shot 40.7% for the game and made just 5 of 26 3-pointers. Francis Folefac had 18 points and seven boards for Siena.
The Blue Devils played their fifth straight game without starting big man Patrick Ngongba II due to soreness in his right foot.
"It's great to get this win," Scheyer said. "I think there's a lot that we can learn moving forward."
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in the report.
