In a blue-blooded battle between the two top-10 teams, No. 8 Michigan State claimed the most impressive win of the youth college basketball season on Tuesday, taking No. 6 Duke 75-69 inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Spartans (3-0) made a slow start but successfully pulled themselves out of the first half deficit of 10-points at half-time, and never pulled back in the second half. Duke (1-1) scored late in the final minute to cut a two-owned lead before Michigan State’s quick failure.
It was a balanced attack across the board from Sparty as five players finished in double figures and Julius Marble II, Malik Hall and Joy Hodger – who scored 12, 10 and 11 points respectively – added important contributions to the bench. Sofmore sensation Rocket Watts made his way to the team with a high 20 points.
Duke received a top spot on the team from his own returning sophomore stud, Matthew Hurt, who scored 21 points and finished his career with 13 of the top boards. But the Blue Devils struggled aggressively after a quick start, earning 20-of-62 from the floor at night and a 5-of-23 from the 3-point range, all but deciding with three results from the coming nda bomb coming into the final minutes of the game. MSU wasn’t much better off making 20 more outside shots, but it was rewarding by making seven more shots from the floor and finding a way to go on a more efficient tour after a sluggish start.
The win marks the third over at Tom Izzo’s fellow Hall of Fame coach Mike Kriezuski’s 15 attempts (and) at Michigan State’s first Cameron Indoor Stadium and moves him to 1-3 all-time inside the historic building. Moreover, it marks the first time that Dis. 2, since 1995, when it dropped 75-65 from Illinois to more than two points in the Duke, non-conference home game.
Here are three key takeovers from the game.
The Spartans get a rhythm, and a killer 1-2 punches
It turns out, the answer to the question of who will rotate between Michigan State Aaron Henry and Watts as a go-to scoring replacement for the replacement of Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman … is both. Watts and Henry had clear top options in offense in the first real Test of the Spartan season, as they took a combined 37 shots between them. Watts was a bit more effective, going 7 for 16 for 20 points, 4 for 1 from the 3-point range and 5 for 5 from the free-throw line. But Henry also had some huge plays under the stretch. It was encouraging to see him become aggressive by attacking with a dribble. When he plays with confidence he is a different player who can elevate this team to a new level.
The Duke’s offense remains in progress
It initially felt like the Duke could just knock on the door with it and blow it. It opened with a 13-3 lead within six minutes of the game, and from midrange to the post – working on offense for the Blue Devils. However, it was part of the rest of the night. The team finished 5-of-23 from the 3-point range (and it was worse when you racked up time), and 20-of-62 from the floor. The saving grace for Duke in this was that he reached the line 30 times and converted 24 of those attempts into points. Duke has some options as he tries to replace sophomore sensation point guard Trey Jones but no one on the team had more than two assists, and the lack of sh-creation was a huge weakness.
The depth of the bench is an impressive strength for both teams
Duke received 11 points and four rebounds from Jaman Breakfield and 10 points and five boards from Jordan Goldwire, both of whom came off the bench. But the big story was that Michigan State had an unexpected wave of production from its reserve unit. Malik Hall Hall, Julius Marble II and Foster Loire added 27 points and 17 boards from the pine, each with their own unique contribution to the impact – marble with its size and internal scoring, Hall Hall with its length and rebounding, and Lower with its pesky style. And .Rja. Neither Michigan State nor Duke have as much top-end talent as last season, but both days have a depth that gives them the flexibility to experiment with different lineups if their teams freeze. As the season progresses, the rotation gets stronger and the stars will inevitably emerge, but having a quality start and an egg bench is a true luxury to celebrate in a year where depth depth and softness will be required.
