Maliq Brown admits Duke thought Siena would be a 'cake walk' in NCAA Tournament

The first half of Duke's tournament-opener against the Siena Saints was a complete nightmare. The No. 1 Duke Blue Devils were knocked off their feet and trailed the No. 16-seed Saints by 11 points.

Yes, Duke was missing Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba II, but this was unacceptable for Jon Scheyer and his squad.

Coming out of halftime, Duke's senior center Maliq Brown explained exactly how and why the Blue Devils looked so shell-shocked in the first half.

"We aren't playing our basketball," Brown said. "Just like I said, we thought it was gonna be cake walk."

Maliq Brown steps in it as Duke tries to rally in 2nd half

What a terrible thing for Brown to admit.

He is the most veteran player on Duke's roster and was supposed to bring the poise and experience that the Blue Devils drastically lacked, especially with Foster stuck on the sidelines.

Brown opened his halftime remarks, sharing that the Blue Devils were playing poorly because it was their first game of the tournament, but just a few days ago, Duke came off an extended rest and won three straight games to secure a second consecutive ACC Tournament.

"Just first game, I feel like a lot of us were kinda nervous," Brown said. "We've just gotta respond back in the second half and be ready."

Simply put, Brown said exactly what any head coach would tell him not to share with the rest of the world, and the Blue Devils needed to rely on the fact that he, and the rest of the Duke roster, would get back into the right headspace in the final 20 minutes.

At halftime, Siena held an earth-shattering 43-32 lead over Duke, shooting nearly 60 percent from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils needed to get back to playing their brand of basketball in the second half, or their season could be over weeks before anyone expected it to be.