Duke defeats Michigan State 74-65 in Champions Classic
Blue Devils dominate final 25 minutes to get back to winning ways.
Well, that’s more like it.
Duke used a ferocious defense to jump to a 31-20 halftime lead over Michigan State and held off every second-half comeback attempt to defeat the Spartans 74-65 Tuesday night in the Champions Classic in Chicago.
Best of all Duke positively answered any lingering questions about their toughness, mental and physical, after last week’s last-second loss to Arizona.
The teams began the game like both lids had baskets on them.
Well, after each team’s first possession ended with MSU up 3-2.
It was still 3-2 almost five minutes later. It wasn’t just missed shots. There were some charges and travels and such mixed in.
In fact Duke went almost six minutes without a point. The Blue Devils had five turnovers when they still had two points.
But their defense kept the Spartans from getting any separation. Michigan State led 9-6 eight minutes into the game before a Jeremy Roach triple tied the game.
It took Duke around 12 minutes to take its first lead, 13-12 on a Ryan Young foul shot.
But for the first half Duke had turned Michigan State into a jump-shooting team. A 3-pointer by Tyrese Proctor put Duke up 22-18, then a 3-point play by Mark Mitchell made it 25-18.
Duke went into halftime up 31-20, holding Michigan State to two points over the final 5:12.
Michigan State never caught up in the second half but their marvelous senior guard Tyson Walker kept them in the hunt. Walker scored 18 of his game-high 22 points after intermission.
“Walker, he hit some tough shots, man,” Jon Scheyer said. “I mean, he hit some tough shots. Hands in his face and his ability to shoot off the bounce, to shoot contested shots.”
On the other end of the floor freshman Caleb Foster recovered from a dismal game against Arizona and a shaky first-half in Chicago to give Duke 16 second-half points, the biggest perhaps a 3-pointer than put Duke up 38-31 after Michigan State had cut the lead to four.
Michigan State subsequently cut the Duke lead to three at 51-48 on a Walker 3, 53-50 on a Walker jumper and 55-52 on a Malik Hall jumper. But Duke answered every time, Mark Mitchell on a lay-up, Mitchell two from the line, Kyle Filipowski on a 3-point play. Foster hit two more 3-pointers, then four Proctor foul shots in the final 40 seconds closed it out.
Foster led Duke with 18 points, making 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Filipowski had 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
“I thought Flip did a great job tonight of when there's one-on-one attacking and then when he got double-teamed,” Scheyer said. “Like, one of the biggest plays was him hitting Caleb for that three. So we need to continue to learn how to play with the group that we have in and really be forceful driving the ball.”
Mitchell 13 points (9-9 from the line), Proctor 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.
And two thumbs up for Young who gave Duke eight points, seven rebounds and two assists and a much-needed physical presence after a shaky outing against Arizona.
Duke got the turnovers under control--13 total after that early rash—out-rebounded Michigan State 35-33 and converted 24 of 30 from the line.
Scheyer went out of his way to praise Foster, not only for his production but also for the way he responded to his Arizona game.
“I'm going to talk about No. 1 over here, Caleb Foster, and Caleb, he's as hard as any worker we have on the team, first of all, and he's coming off a game on Friday. He didn't like the way it went and whether he's pissed at me, pissed at how he played or the game. Like, going to play at Duke or going to play anywhere there's going to be ups and downs, there's going to be moments where you get knocked back, but the program that I know Duke to be, it's all about how you respond.
“For us as a team coming off of Friday, but especially individually -- like, what Caleb did tonight, he won us the game. I mean, these guys did too. Are you guys feeling bad? You guys did some okay things too. But yeah, we win together, lose together, except tonight, Caleb, you know, really. But I just think it says a lot about him, as a freshman, being in this environment, in this moment, and not just the points, you know, 7-8, 18 points is great, his defense, his rebounding, his passing. I just thought it was a big-time response, and I can't say enough about his attitude.”
Some less-pressurized games coming up and Scheyer said Duke still has things to work on. But he likes the trend lines.
“I just thought for our team, like, for our guys, we stepped up in a big way. We want to play this schedule. You play Arizona, Michigan State, two of your first three games. Let's see where we're at. I've learned more about this team in the first three games than maybe any team I've been with, as an assistant coach, as a head coach, obviously in the one year, and to respond that quickly in a couple days, I think says a lot about their character.”
Two blessings - Foster bouncing back, and not playing in the late game slot of this event.
With the 7 pm tip, I was able to watch the game. Caleb Foster was superb as was Ryan Young. It was nice to see both bounce back after the Arizona game.