In the course of competing for a championship, you are going to have to win in different ways, and you aren’t always going to have your best stuff, or some team is going to focus on taking away your best stuff. Playing at Michigan State, the way the Spartans have played this season, Duke was walking into an environment that would be electric and not in a good way for the visitors. Could Duke play the spoiler?
It was a physical matchup that began with Duke going up by as much as 6 points before Michigan State wrestled away the lead to put the Spartans up by 3 at the half. The Blue Devils, early in this game, fell prey to some of the same issues that plagued them against Florida in their last outing, turning the ball over 6 times leading to 7 points for Michigan State. Jaxon Kohler lit the Blue Devils up with 12 points in the first half, hitting 4 threes as Duke struggled to guard in the pick & roll. Duke’s Nik Khamenia, with his second start, led the Blue Devils at the half with 9 points, hitting 3 from beyond the arc with 4 rebounds.
The Blue Devils wasted no time erasing a 5 point lead in the early moments of the second half. Neither team could take control of the game, with the largest lead for either team being just 6 and the lead changing 12 times. Cam Boozer led the Blue Devils, putting up 16 of his 18 points in the second half, and grabbing 8 of his 15 boards. The Blue Devils were able to limit Jaxon Kohler in the second half, the senior forward managed just 2 points on 1-3 shooting in the last stanza. Duke also limited MSU guard Jeremy Fears, who despite having 13 assists didn’t have a basket in the game, going 0-10. Isaiah Evans again had a tough shooting night for Duke, but both he and Caleb Foster hit dagger 3’s in the waning moments. Evans’ 3 came at the 3:59 mark to put Duke up by 2 points, Foster’s came at the 15-second mark to help salt the game, giving the Blue Devils a 63-57 lead. Two clutch free throws by Foster put the game out of reach of the Spartans, who lost by 6, their first loss of the season.
Cam Boozer despite having a slow first half led the Blue Devils with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists, he led Duke in all 3 categories. Caleb Foster added 12 points on 4-9 shooting and freshman Nik Khamenia added 10 points, 9 rebounds in his second straight start.
What We Learned
There are plenty of flaws for this Duke team, free throw shooting (65% vs MSU), turnovers (6 in the first half) but what they have done is find ways to win. MSU wanted to make this game gritty, Duke was up to the challenge, jumping head first into the mud with the Spartans. We also learned that not only does Jon Scheyer trust his group, but this group trusts each other. Trailing in their last 2 games against ranked opponents, there was no panic and guys stepped up who hadn’t played well for the entirety of the game. That sort of trust and trust building is what separates good from great teams.