No. 1 seed Duke defeated No. 16 seed Siena 71-65 on March 19, 2026, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, in the first round of the men's NCAA Tournament.[1]
The victory spared Duke from becoming the third top seed to lose to a 16th seed in tournament history. The only prior such upsets were No. 16 UMBC's 74-54 win over No. 1 Virginia in 2018[2] and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson's 63-58 victory over No. 1 Purdue in 2023.[3]
Siena led 43-32 at halftime, shooting 55% from the field and 45% from three-point range (9-for-20). Duke made 2 of 15 three-point attempts in the first half.[1]
Duke outscored Siena 39-22 in the second half. Siena played only its five starters for the full 40 minutes.[1] Isaiah Evans' layup with 4:25 remaining gave Duke its first lead since early in the first half, 63-61.[1]
Siena narrowed the gap to four points late, but Gavin Doty missed a three-pointer with 28 seconds left, preserving Duke's lead.[1]
For Siena, Doty scored 21 points (3-for-12 from three), with four rebounds and two assists. Francis Folefac added 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Brendan Coyle had 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.[1]
Cam Boozer led Duke with 22 points and 13 rebounds, going 13-for-14 at the free-throw line. Cayden Boozer scored 19 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Evans finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.[1]
The Blue Devils, from the Atlantic Coast Conference and coached by Jon Scheyer[4], advance to face No. 9 seed TCU, which beat No. 8 Ohio State earlier on March 19, in the second round on March 21.[1]
Siena Saints represent the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.[5] Bon Secours Wellness Arena has hosted previous NCAA Tournament games.[6]
Sources
- Fox News Digital, "The Duke Blue Devils avoided being on the wrong side of March Madness history," March 20, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/sports
- NCAA.com, "UMBC makes history by beating Virginia, first No. 16 over No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament," March 16, 2018, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2018-03-16/umbc-makes-history-beats-virginia-first-no-16-over-no-1-seed-ncaa-tournament
- NCAA.com, "Fairleigh Dickinson makes history by beating Purdue, become 2nd No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1," March 17, 2023, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-17/fairleigh-dickinson-makes-history-beats-purdue-become-2nd-no-16-seed-beat-no-1
- Duke University Athletics, "Men's Basketball Coaches," accessed October 2024, https://goduke.com/sports/mens-basketball/coaches
- Siena College Athletics, "Siena Saints," accessed October 2024, https://sienasaints.com
- Wikipedia, "Bon Secours Wellness Arena," accessed October 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Secours_Wellness_Arena