Preview: #9 Duke Blue Devils (1-1) vs. #18 Michigan State (1-1)

Overall Duke leads, 14-4
In Durham, NC 3-1
at Cameron Indoor Stadium 3-1
In East Lansing, MI 2-0
at Breslin Center 2-0
Neutral Sites 9-3
Last Meeting Duke, 85-76 (March 20, 2022)
Last 10 Games in Series Duke leads, 8-2

Stream /TV ESPN
Play-by-Play Dan Shulman
Analyst Jay Bilas
Sideline Holly Rowe
Watch Link Watch Live

Radio Blue Devil Sports Net
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 84

The Spartans, No. 18 in the Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the Coaches poll, opened the season splitting a pair of games at home. MSU lost in the season opener last Monday to James Madison, 79-76, in overtime, with graduate guard Tyson Walker scoring 35 points, a Michigan State career high and one point shy of tying his personal best. On Thursday night, Walker scored 14 points to lead four players in double figures as the Spartans bounced back to beat Southern Indiana, 74-51.

Michigan State returns four starters and 11 letter winners and welcome in a recruiting class that has been rated among the top-five in the country to a team that went 21-13 last year and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Spartans return 74.9 percent of the team’s scoring (1,805 of 2,411 points), 66.9 percent of the team’s rebounds (606 of 906), 85.1 percent of the team’s assists (423 of 497) and 75.9 percent of the team’s minutes played (5,234 of 6,900).

The Spartans’ expected starting lineup – guards Walker, A.J. Hoggard and Jaden Akins and forwards Malik Hall and Mady Sissoko – have combined to start 499 games (258 starts) in their college careers. Walker leads the way with 122 games played (112 starts), while Hall has played in 120 games. Walker and Hoggard were selected to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Walker, who was named to the Watch List for Division I Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, led the team in scoring (14.8 ppg), ranked No. 11 in the Big Ten in scoring and field goal percentage (45.9%) and 10th in minutes played (34.0). Hoggard was third on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg) and led the team, ranked third in the Big Ten and No. 9 nationally, with 5.9 assists per game. Junior Jaden Akins was fourth on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) while adding 4.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and shooting 42.2 percent from 3-point land. Graduate forward Malik Hall returns for his fifth year at MSU and was fifth on the team last year with 8.9 ppg and third on the team with 4.3 rpg despite missing 11 games with an injury. Senior forward Mady Sissoko moved into the starting lineup last year and responded with 5.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg while blocking 28 shots … He had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday against Southern Indiana.

Duke has won four of its last six in the Champions Classic and the Blue Devils’ 7-5 mark is tied with Kansas for the best record amongst the four teams that annually compete in the event. The Blue Devils and Spartans play for the 19th total time and fifth time in the event — Duke is 3-1 against Michigan State when playing in the Champions Classic. Duke leads the series, 14-4, and picked up the win in the last matchup — 85-76 in the 2022 NCAA Tournament Second Round.

Tuesday is the 14th meeting to feature both teams inside the top-25 — Duke has been ranked inside the top-10 in 18 of the 19 total matchups. Duke is a combined 94-34 (.734) all-time in 13 current NBA venues. Tuesday night marks the Blue Devils’ ninth game at the United Center, where they currently hold an 8-2 (.800) record. Duke is a perfect 9-0 when playing on Nov. 14, last playing on this date during the 2018-19 season, defeating Eastern Michigan, 84-46, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke and Michigan State have clashed once before on Nov. 14, a top-2 matchup that ended with an 88-81 win for the top-ranked Blue Devils in the 2017 Champions Classic.

The Blue Devils return a huge chunk of last year’s production in sophomores Kyle Filipowski, Tyrese Proctor and Mark Mitchell. All 3 were starters last season. Duke also returned seniors Jeremy Roach and Ryan Young who were significant pieces to last year’s run to the ACC Tournament title. Duke also adds a heralded freshman class that includes guards Caleb Foster and Jared McCain and forwards TJ Power and Sean Stewart.

The Blue Devils enter Tuesday at 1-1 on the season and are coming off of a 78-73 loss to Arizona at home. Sophomore Kyle Filipowski has logged back-to-back 25-point games to open the season, connecting on 10 shots from the field in both contests — including a 3-for-5 (.600) effort from deep against No. 12 Arizona on Friday night. The preseason ACC Preseason Player of the Year, Filipowski’s 25 points per game is second best amongst all power conference players.

G Jeremy Roach 6’2, 180lbs SR
G Tyrese Proctor 6’5, 183lbs SO
G Jared McCain 6’3, 197lbs FR
F Mark Mitchell  6’9, 232lbs SO
C Kyle Filipowski 7’0, 248lbs SO

G Tyson Walker 6’1, 185lbs GSR
G A.J. Hoggard 6’4, 210lbs SR
G Jaden Akins 6’4, 190lbs JR
F Malik Hall 6’8, 220lbs GSR
C Made Sissoko 6’9, 250lbs SR

While the Spartans are currently shooting the 3 ball very poorly in their first 2 games (6.5%) the Blue Devils cannot depend on that trend continuing. Last year’s MSU team shot nearly 40% from beyond the arc and they return 2 starters that both shot over 41% from behind the arc last season. Duke will need to be solid in their defensive principles and defend without fouling as Michigan State has shown that they are a team with a propensity for drawing fouls and getting to the line. Duke they cannot afford and sort of issues with fouls as Duke has some depth but it is depth that has yet to be tested and as we saw against Arizona it leads to suboptimal lineups.

The Spartans defense has held their opponents to 28.6% from 3 so far, Duke will have to run good offense and or have a plan for Michigan State running them off of the 3-point line but by the same token, falling in love with the 3 can also be a problem. Duke had several instances in their loss to Arizona where they either took ill-advised shots or had possessions where they did not pass the basketball. I’d love to see the Blue Devils get into their actions a lot quicker rather than waiting so long into the shot clock by dribbling around the perimeter. There’s a stark difference between dribbling around for 15 seconds and passing the ball to make the defense make quick decisions, Duke will need to utilize the latter. The Blue Devils also did not do a very good job of cutting and moving without the basketball – movement on offense is paramount

Rebounding is another area where the Blue Devils struggled. Regardless of what Michigan State has done in their previous 2 games the Blue Devils will have to either win the rebounding battle or keep it close. Tom Izzo is always going to put a physical team on the floor and Duke will have to not only contend with that but raise their level of competitiveness to match.

Duke will once again be facing a battle tested team with significant experience. Empty possessions, mental mistakes and a lack of hustle will spell a loss as we saw against Arizona.