GREENVILLE, S.C. – Every team that makes a deep run into the NCAA Tournament has a moment. That moment of truth. The one in which it faces adversity and somehow finds a way to persevere, survive and advance.
For top-seeded Duke, that moment came early in the second half against Siena on Thursday.
Down by 13 and in serious danger of becoming only the third team ever to suffer an opening round loss to a No. 16 seed, the Blue Devils adjusted, dug deep and rallied to escape with a 71-65 win at Bon Secours Wellness Center.
The victory earns Jon Scheyer’s team a second-round date with TCU on Saturday. But it remains to be seen whether its struggle was a wakeup call or an ominous sign that the close call against the Saints was just a temporary stay of execution.
“It’s not concerning from the standpoint that, unfortunately, this is the nature of the tournament,” Scheyer said. “Look, I wish it could just be smooth sailing. You can face a team like Siena. They’re incredibly ready to play. We made some mistakes early that they made us pay for. All of a sudden, you want to win very badly, so you start making plays to try to get back in the game that are probably uncharacteristic of who we’ve been. These guys, the character they showed … the toughness down the stretch, I just think that’s what this tournament is all about.”
While the Blue Devils’ grit, especially on the defensive end of the court after Scheyer switched from his trademark man-to-man to a zone, was a big reason why they were able to claw their way back from a 13-point deficit early in the second half, the reason they got so far behind in the first place is a potential red flag as their tournament progresses.
“We thought it was going to be a cakewalk going into this game,” senior forward Maliq Brown admitted to CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson in a halftime interview. Star freshman Cameron Boozer offered a similar assessment after the game. “I think we really didn’t come out ready to play today,” he said. “We’ve got to be a lot better moving forward.”
The most glaring signs of Duke’s early malaise came on defense, where the nation’s most efficient team, according to KenPom.com, allowed the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions to shoot 54.8 percent from the floor.
Not only were the Saints hot from the perimeter, making five of their first 11 three-point attempts, they also had their way around the rim in outscoring the Blue Devils 22-16 in the paint and outrebounding them 18-13. And for a few possessions, it appeared as though the trend might continue into the second half.
Leading 47-34, Siena had three point-blank looks to increase its lead to 15 with 17:10 remaining. But it missed them all. The third, aided by a Boozer block of Riley Mulvey’s dunk attempt, led to a fastbreak dunk at the other end by Isaish Evans. The Duke guard added another dunk on the next possession to spark an 11-0 run that finally shifted the momentum in the Blue Devils’ favor.
“We had to do something to get some energy going,” said Boozer, who finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds despite going just 4-of-11 from the floor and committing 5 turnovers. “The first half, we came out flat. Not much energy, not much defensive presence. Whether we’re missing dunks or blocking shots, whatever it is, we had to do something to get the energy going. I think (Evans’) dunks back to back really helped us get it going for sure.”
It was the defense, however, that finally put Duke over the top. Still trailing 53-49, Scheyer sent his team back onto the floor following the under-12 timeout in a zone and it immediately paid dividends. Sienas made only three more baskets over the next 11 minutes, opening the door for the Blue Devils to complete their comeback.
“In the second half when they switched to zone and slowed us down a little bit,” Siena coach Gerry McNamara said. “I went back and watched this week, game by game, and there are stretches where they don’t give up points. That’s who they are. It kind of bit us in the second half when we weren’t able to score or make a shot late and that kind of pushed the lead out.”
As stingy as Duke’s defense was in the second half, holding its opponent to just 23.5-percent shooting (8 of 34), fatigue may also have aided the effort. All five of Siena’s starters played the full 40 minutes, with the only substitution coming with 9.1 seconds remaining.
The Blue Devils weren’t much deeper with only seven players in their rotation. Although they’re hoping to get starting center Patrick Ngongba back from a foot injury for Saturday’s game against TCU, Scheyer stressed that it’s going to take more than just that valuable addition for his team to keep advancing.
“A tournament’s all about your competitive readiness,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you win by or how pretty or any of that stuff. It’s about getting it done, finding a way, and then learning and growing from it.”
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