Despite surviving a scare from No. 16 Siena in the opening round, No. 1 Duke is still on upset alert heading into the weekend.
The Saints jumped out to a 43-32 halftime lead over the Blue Devils, but Cameron and Cayden Boozer combined for 41 points to lead their squad to a comeback win. Once the game went final, Cameron revealed that Duke's locker room entered the first round of the NCAA Tournament with an incredibly foolish mindset.
“We came out here with the mentality that it was going to be handed to us, and obviously that’s not what happened,” Boozer said. “We got punched in the mouth.”
© Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
The good news for the Blue Devils is they're still alive in the NCAA Tournament. The bad news, however, is that history isn't on their side. ESPN released a statistic that should have Duke fans awfully worried about the Round of 32.
"Duke is the 8th 1-seed in NCAA Tournament history to win by 6 or fewer points against a 16-seed," ESPN Insights wrote. "Three of the previous seven LOST their next game and only one of them went on to reach the Final Four (Illinois in 1989)."
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report shared another stat that'll make Duke fans nervous.
"The last national champion to win its opener by fewer than 15 points was UConn in 2014," Miller said. "And that 7 seed was the exception to basically every rule ever."
Duke can't overlook TCU.
No. 9 TCU secured a spot in the second round of the NCAA Tournament due to a balanced scoring attack from its starting lineup. Xavier Edmonds, David Punch and Micah Robinson each scored at least 16 points.
If TCU is going to upset Duke, it's imperative that Jamie Dixon's squad attacks the offensive glass and creates second-chance opportunities. The Horned Frogs will also need to shoot the ball well from beyond the arc.
Tipoff for the TCU-Duke game is set for 5:15 p.m. ET on CBS.
