Duke 84 – MSU 79

Once again Kyrie Irving has another coming out party at the expense of a top ten team. The freshman guard for Duke scored a career high 31 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Irving also went 13 for 16 from the free throw line which in and of itself is not a mind boggling stat until you realize that the entire Michigan State team shot 15. Irving continued to show why he is not only a candidate for freshman of the year but player of the year. He provided Duke with a go to option when shots were not falling for Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, and his defense along with Nolan and Andrew Dawkins   was stellar. Duke milked it’s best option (Kyrie to the bucket) which opened up better shots for Smith and Singler in the second half. Duke definitely has to shore up the turnovers but managed to win that battle 15 to 20.

Much like Kansas State, Michigan State seemed to be disorganized, and while the game never seemed to be in jeopardy, MSU kept the game close with big shots from Korie Lucious and Draymond Green. You can definitely see signs of things to come from this team and this is a different ballgame if it happens in February.

Not to say Duke is playing at an optimal level, 15 turnovers is too many, and most of them unforced. Kyle is clearly not shooting the ball as well as he’d like to in the last few games but with Singler you know it’s a matter of time, he seemed to not be able to find his rhythm most of the game but did hit 2 big threes to stretch Dukes lead.

Nolan had some shaky moments with the ball to the tune of 4 turnovers but he also had 5 assists and scored 18 points on 4-7 shooting. I get the sense that Nolan is still in an adjustment period, obviously this is a different style that Duke is playing and Nolan will find his niche, he is just struggling a bit currently. Coach K seems to be getting him some minutes at the point which should hopefully pay off later on and in ACC play, Kyrie will need to be spelled at some point and Duke, while loaded at the guard spot, really has no other options at the point. Tyler Thorton hopefully becomes that second pure point but it will take a while for him to be big game ready. The stats show Seth Curry only playing about 7 minutes in this game, which some find odd but size and strength wise it made sense, at least to me, to play Dawkins. Dawkins is a legit 6’4 190lbs, Curry 6’1 175. I’m not sure Curry would be able to D up the guards that MSU threw at Duke. This game wasn’t really suited for Currys skill set. Dawkins, however, played great defense against the MSU guards and hit a couple of shots, one from behind the arc and one off of a Irving assist.

The one player I wanted to see have a breakout game was Miles Plumlee, unfortunately it was not to be. Saddled with foul trouble for most of the game, he was only able to get 8 minutes of action. After a strong offensive move early in the game I was hopeful that he would make some noise in this game, however it was not to be. Look for that breakout game soon. Miles possesses all the skill necessary to have big games, and we all want that for him and the team.

Mason had another good game and shows signs of being a consistent scorer inside, still needs to be stronger with the ball in the paint, especially rebounding. He is still a bit robotic in the paint but gets to the line with regularity where he is a bit suspect as well. I was happy with him shooting 50% but obviously that number needs to get to around 60 or so. It was nice to see Mase hit 2 free throws in a row and celebrate it a bit. You hope that its a good omen going forward for him. 10 and 10 a night is something that Coach K will gladly take from his sophomore forward. He and Miles will have some big games once the ACC seasons starts.

Duke super-frosh Irving already worthy of superstar status
Irving at wheel of Duke joyride
Irving’s impact on Duke is huge
Hardin: Devils, Irving are head of the class
Duke freshman Kyrie Irving lives up to hype against Michigan State
Spartans hang out with Duke fans before game
Michigan State-Duke draws ‘phenomenal’ crowd
Irving Fantastic as Blue Devils Handle Spartans
Turnovers doom Spartans vs. No. 1 Duke
Spartans walk away from loss at Duke frustrated but not broke
No. 1 Duke Wins Showdown With No. 6 Michigan State, 84-79
AP Photos: Duke 84, Michigan State 79
Photos: Duke 84, Michigan State 79
Quotes: Duke 84, Michigan State 79
Boxscore: Duke 84, Michigan State 79
Notes: Duke 84, Michigan State 79King Photos: Duke 84, Michigan State 79
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