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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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The Duke Blue Devils nearly became the shocking first No. 1 upset in the Big Dance, and way earlier than many people might have anticipated in their brackets.
Thursday's March Madness opened with several games in the afternoon, including the overall top seed taking the court in the East Region. They took on the Siena Saints, coached by former Syracuse National Champion Gerry McNamara, who made an early statement on the Blue Devils.
They took over a double-digit lead in the first half and kept that until halftime, leading 43-32 to put Duke on early upset watch. However, the Blue Devils rallied back in the second half, receiving 22 points and 13 rebounds from their star player, Cameron Boozer, to take a lead with five minutes remaining and secure the opening-round win.
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It likely has Jon Scheyer scrambling to figure out how to address his team's issues going forward, as they'll face higher seeds than Siena in the upcoming rounds.
Read more: Seth Greenberg Reveals March Madness Prediction for Top Seed to Lose First
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Siena received a 21-point performance from Gavin Doty, who had the Saints ahead by seven with under eight minutes left in the game. However, Duke, playing without two starters, went on an 11-point run to seize the lead and the game, crushing the Saints' hopes of scoring the biggest upset of this tournament on its first day.
Following the game, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer offered his thoughts about having to come back to defeat No. 16 seed Siena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
"I think that's one of the hardest positions to be in, just in general," Scheyer said in his postgame statements. "GMac. He out-coached me. They were more ready to play, and the readiness and toughness by our guys just to weather the storm, I'm proud of them."
Gerry McNamara hasn't been coaching for long at Siena, but he took the Saints to a 23-12 record and the tournament in just his second season at the helm. That has him in consideration for another high-profile job coaching his alma mater, Syracuse.
The team fired Adrian "Red" Autry after a third consecutive season as coach failed to result in an appearance in the Big Dance. With that, multiple names have been linked to the opening, and McNamara's stands out due to his impressive early coaching resume with Siena.
Today's performance by the Saints in nearly knocking off a heavyweight like Duke speaks volumes and could be what secured that job for McNamara.
Read more: Hawaii Sends Message on Arkansas Star Darius Acuff in March Madness
For more about the Duke Blue Devils and basketball, visit Newsweek Sports.
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