Why Siena only used five players vs. Duke: Gerry McNamara's head-scratching lineup decision costs historic 16-1 upset

Why Siena only used five players vs. Duke: Gerry McNamara's head-scratching lineup decision costs historic 16-1 upset originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Part of basketball is mental, both on the players' and the coaches' side. Coaches have to decide how to use their lineup and manage their players' minutes. 

Rarely do we see one player on the court the entire game because not only does it require high athleticism, but players will naturally get tired as the game goes on, which could impact their performance. 

Siena entered the 2026 NCAA Tournament as a 16-seed and was given the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, Duke, in the first round. A 16-seed has beaten a No. 1 seed twice in NCAA Tournament history. Siena was up 11 points at halftime. The Blue Devils battled back into the game, but Siena didn't let them pull away, staying in it until the end. 

The Saints looked visibly gassed by the end of the game, and the box score makes it clear why. Not one, not two, but all five starters played the entire game. Siena head coach Gerry McNamara decided to play his starters the entire game, making one sub with 11 seconds left, then taking that bench player back out in favor of the starter just three seconds later. 

Despite Siena hanging tough with Duke, McNamara's decision about his lineup is being rightfully scrutinized, with many believing the head coach squandered a rare chance for a 16-seed to upset the 1-seed. 

Here is more on McNamara opting to use only five players for the majority of their first-round game against Duke, and how it contributed to the loss. 

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Why Siena only used five players against Duke

Siena's starting lineup against Duke consisted of the following players: 

• Francis Folefac
• Brendan Coyle
• Riley Mulvey
• Gavin Doty
• Justice Shoats

Fans watching the game between Siena and Duke became very familiar with the Siena starters because they played the entire game. All five of the players are listed as having 40 minutes played on the box score. The only time that McNamara opted to sub was to sub in Christian Jones with 11 seconds left in the game. He came in for Brendan Coyle.

Jones was in the game for a Duke inbound play, theoretically to try to foul the ball handler. The pass came in to Cameron Boozer, and the foul was committed by Riley Mulvey. As the teams walked to the free throw line, Siena subbed again, this time Jones leaving the floor in favor of Coyle, who got to sit for a few seconds before going back in and finishing the game. 

Siena had a history this season of having a very shallow bench. The Saints would typically bring off the bench only two or three players who saw any real minutes. Over the course of their 34-game regular season, Doty averaged 36.7 minutes per game. He was followed by Shoats (35.4 minutes) and Coyle (30.3 minutes). 

Earlier in the season, McNamara was asked about his bench usage, and he said he didn't like where his bench was, that he was counting on guys to capitalize on their opportunities, and that those who did would play. McNamara didn't have much faith in his bench early in their year, and it is clear from their game plan against Duke that he had no faith in their bench in the matchup and thought that Siena's best chance to win against Duke rested solely with their five starters. 

When looking at the Siena roster against Duke, McNamara's hands were mainly tied. As Kevin Sweeney pointed out, Siena had seven scholarship players. The two that weren't in the starting five were both freshmen who shot 35% of worse from the field during the regular season. McNamara would have had to decide how much of a break he could afford to give his starters, and while many would argue for any sort of break, at the end of the day, Sweeney believes that McNamara actually did the best he could with his roster. 

HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:
16 vs. 1 | 15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5