The Duke Blue Devils defeated the Michigan State Spartans, 71-61, on Friday night, sending the Blue Devils through to the Elite Eight and the Spartans crashing out of the tournament.
Duke vs. Michigan State: Lack of offense leads to Spartans’ demise
The Spartans were done in by cold shooting and good defense from the Blue Devils.
Streeter Lecka
SB Nation’s Michigan State blog, The Only Colors, puts the blame for the loss squarely on the MSU offense, or lack thereof:
MSU trailed by one at halftime, which was great, given foul trouble. With about 15 minutes to play, MSU trailed 41-38. The Spartans were keeping it around five points, but the offense went dry. After a Payne dunk with 18:12 to go, MSU went nearly 15 minutes scoring one bucket. There were free throws in there, but the offense became a complete mess with missed shots and turnovers. Duke didn’t play great to pull away, but they played well enough.
The Spartans shot 40 percent from the field and a dismal 25% from three-point range. Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix were both 3-10 from the field, and Gary Harris went just 2-11. Had Michigan State been able to make shots against Duke's suffocating help defense, the outcome may have been different.
Duke moves on into the Elite Eight, where they will face the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament in Louisville.
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