Blue Devil fans can take a deep breath; Duke survived a near debacle after going down by double digits to the Siena Saints in the first half of their first NCAA Tournament.
It looked like Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils forgot to show up to the First-Round game as the Saints outpaced, outshot, and rebounded Duke through the first 20 minutes. However, the Blue Devils fought back, outscoring Siena by 17 points in the second half to secure the win.
Despite the impressive second half and the comeback victory, oddsmakers in Las Vegas are backing off their stance that the Blue Devils were the favorites to win the National Championship.
Duke Blue Devil's natty odds take yet another hit
Last night, less than 24 hours before Siena and Duke tipped off, the Blue Devils were the odds favorite to win the National Championship at +370.
By halftime of Duke's first-round matchup, those odds were plummeting. By the end of the game, those odds had fallen to +500, well behind the likes of the Arizona Wildcats (+360) and the Michigan Wolverines (+380).
In the matchup, stars like Cameron Boozer, Dame Sarr, and Isaiah Evans didn't even look like themselves in the first half, a fair explanation for why the departure from Duke as the favorite for the National Championship happened so quickly.
By the end of the game, Boozer had only shot 36.3 percent from the field and just 20 percent from beyond the arc. Evans, an even more reliable shooter from deep, made just two of his eight three-point attempts.
Also read: Maliq Brown admits Duke thought Siena would be a 'cake walk' in NCAA Tournament
Duke looked far from the No. 1 team in the nation, especially as they took on one of the No. 16 seeds, and the latest odds for who will win the National Championship simply reflect that.