Michigan State-Duke Wrap-Up

Although last night’s final result speaks volumes about the MSU men’s team’s competitive streak in battling to an 84-79 loss to Duke last night, the overall product appears less-than-stellar at this point in the season for coach Tom Izzo’s squad.

Given, going up against the No.1 team in the country is a tough task for any team, much less a Spartan squad that hasn’t realized its full potential yet. However, several troublesome stats tell the tale in this contest.  MSU once again struggled to control possessions on offense, and ended the night with 22 giveaways, 12 of which came in the first half. Off of those 12 turnovers, Duke tallied 22 points, which contributed in part to their 36-34 intermission lead.

On top of turnovers, the Spartans also struggled to contain Blue Devil guard Kyrie Irving, who put in 18 of Duke’s first period-points.  That’s two games in just over one week in which MSU has failed to shut down their opponent’s best scoring threat (they gave up 30 to UConn’s Kemba Walker in similar fashion). The Spartans can’t expect to win if this continues-hopefully, someone will rise from the pile to deliver the shutdown defense they so desperately need.

In spite of digging themselves into a first-half deficit and then allowing Duke to open the second period on a 14-4 run, Michigan State did show resiliency in closing the gap to as little as a point, before falling behind later on.  While a barrage of 3’s closed the gap to five in the game’s waning seconds, it was simply too little, too late. This loss, while a tough early-season blow, does provide a great learning experience for several of the younger players, including Keith Appling and Adreian Payne.  They’ve gone up against a championship-caliber team in the Duke Blue Devils, and they’ll leave Durham with an understanding of what they need to do to win close ballgames.

In order to do that, it’s crucial that the Spartans eliminate turnovers, especially in the game’s early portions, and shut down their opponent’s top scoring options. They’ll also need better performances from their top guns-through nearly 26 minutes of play last night, their “big three” (Lucas, Durrell Summers, and Draymond Green), had combined for only 15 points total. But, in the immediate future, MSU needs to re-focus, gear up, and prepare for a bounce-back win over Bowling Green on Saturday. For more on Spartan basketball and the NBA, look back to Beau Knows later this week.

--Beau