Seth Curry had a huge night from behind the arc as the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils beat the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans, 71-61, on Friday night to advance to the Sweet 16.
NCAA bracket results 2013, Duke vs. Michigan State: Curry leads Duke to Elite 8, 71-61
Seth Curry had a big game, and the Duke Blue Devils used brutal defense in the second half to push past the Michigan State Spartans on Friday night.
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Curry led all scorers in the game with 29 points, much of which came from the three-point line, where he went 6-for-9.
Michigan State was able to cut Duke’s lead at halftime to one point as the Blue Devils finished the half without a field goal in close to six minutes. But Duke came out in the second half with a renewed defensive focus, holding the Spartans to just one field goal in 14 minutes at one point as the team extended its lead to double digits.
Keith Appling led the Spartans with 16 points, but also had four turnovers as Duke's suffocating defense forced more turnovers than Spartan field goals in the second half. The Spartans finished with six field goals and seven turnovers in the second half.
It was the first time the two teams have met in March since 2005. Since then, Izzo hasn’t had much success against the Blue Devils, only winning one game against them in his coaching career with Michigan State.
With the win, the Blue Devils will advance to play the Louisville Cardinals in the Sweet 16. The two teams met earlier in the year on the "Battle For Atlantis," with Duke winning, 76-71. It will be the first time Coach K has coached against RIck Pitino in the NCAA Tournament since way back in 1992, in a game made famous by Christian Laettner.
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