GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — The East Region's top-seeded Duke Blue Devils are hoping they've learned a lesson after surviving a first-round scare from Siena in the NCAA Tournament: be aggressive from the start.
Siena grabbed an early lead against Duke on Thursday and led for the majority of the game before the Blue Devils began to wear down a Saints team that played just five players for 39 minutes and escaped with a 71-65 win. It allowed the Blue Devils to avoid
becoming the third No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to fall to a 16 seed.
“Our competitive spirit was not there where it needed to be,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Friday before practice. "You have to go into this thing as the aggressors. That’s why we’ve been really good and we’ve had the year that we’ve had.
“For us, it’s all about getting back to ourselves, nothing other than doing what we’ve done, defending, rebounding, the whole thing. Our talk and energy, I can tell you it will be back (Saturday). I know these guys, and it will be back the way it needs to be.”
Help could be on the way for Duke (33-2).
Scheyer said he is “hopeful” that 6-foot-11 sophomore Patrick Ngongba will return after missing the Siena game with right foot soreness.
Ngonga potentially could help open up a Duke offense that struggled to find its rhythm against the Saints. Scheyer called Ngongba one of the most impactful big men in college basketball.
Regardless of whether he plays or not, the Blue Devils want to hit the floor with a different mentality.
“We have to be more aware of just we can’t start the game the way we did against Siena,” Duke forward Maliq Brown said. “Obviously every team is in the tournament for a reason. Everybody can compete with anybody who goes on that court. We’ve got to play the full 40 minutes.”
Don't expect TCU (23-11) to be intimidated.
The Horned Frogs have already played the other three No. 1 seeds in the tournament, knocking off defending national champion Florida 84-80 and losing to Michigan 67-63 and to Arizona 87-73 during the regular season.
“You see everything in the Big 12,” TCU's Jayden Pierre said. “A lot of projected lottery picks and a lot of great teams, a lot of top-10 teams, top-25 teams. I feel like we were very battle-tested. The Big 12 is the best league in the country. I feel like it’s really prepared us for this moment.”
TCU needed a layup from Xavier Edmonds with 4.3 seconds left to beat No. 8 seed Ohio State 66-64 in Round 1 after surrendering a 15-point halftime lead.
The Horned Frogs will be trying to reach the tournament's Round of 16 for the first time.
“We know that we have a chance to kind of do something special,” TCU guard Micah Robinson said. “We know that we’re kind of one game away from making TCU history. I’m not going to say that that’s like something that’s driving us, but I just feel like that’s something else that we could add to the list of good things that we’ve been able to accomplish this year.”
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AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York, contributed to this report.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
