No. 1 overall seed Duke got past a massive scare Thursday, storming back from an 11-point halftime deficit for a nail-biting 71-65 victory over No. 16 Siena.
Duke trailed 43-32 at the midway point, becoming the first-ever 1-seed to trail a 16-seed by double digits at halftime in NCAA Tournament history, per ESPN Research.
Senior forward Maliq Brown admitted the Blue Devils had underestimated Siena.
"We thought it was going to be a cakewalk going into this game, so now we know what it is, and we just gotta respond back the way we usually do," Brown told CBS Sports' Tracy Wolfson at halftime.
The Blue Devils took over down the stretch, fueled by Wooden Award front-runner Cameron Boozer, who finished with 22 points and 13 boards.
Boozer's brother, Cayden, also had a solid showing in his NCAA Tournament debut, tallying 19 points, five assists, and two boards.
Duke shot 41% from the field and 18-of-21 from the charity stripe.
Gavin Doty led the Saints with 21 points, four boards, and two assists in a losing cause.
All five Siena starters played most of the contest. Christian Jones was the only substitute to play after checking in for 10 seconds to deliver an intentional foul late in the second half.
The Saints scored 30 points in the paint to keep themselves within striking distance for most of the game.
Duke finally went up for good on an Isaiah Evans layup with 4:25 to go.
Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer gave Siena's lead man, Gerry McNamara, full props postgame.
"GMac. He outcoached me. They were more ready to play," Scheyer told reporters, according to Mike Waters of Syracuse.com.
Duke will take on TCU in the Round of 32 after the Horned Frogs defeated Ohio State earlier Tuesday.
