Duke Blue Devils and Michigan States Spartans square off in a clash of the Titans
The two best teams in college basketball will face each other on Wednesday 1 December. The surging Blue Devils will host the Michigan State Spartans. With Duke and Michigan ranked number one and two respectively. Duke will attempt to maintain their perfect
record (currently 6-0) while Michigan will be looking to improve on their 5-1 start.
After being knocked out of the Maui invitational last Tuesday by Kemba Walker and the University of Connecticut Huskies (who went on to win the Maui invitational), the Spartans appear to be back on their feet. They beat the Washington Huskies 76-71 for third
place in the tournament. The Spartans then followed that win by trouncing the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 73-55 Sunday 28 November 2010.
Duke has had a much more convincing season thus far however, hitting little to no speed bumps along the way. The Blue Devils have made short work of nearly every opponent they’ve faced in the season, with their narrowest victory being an 82-77 win over the
Marquette Golden Eagles. Their widest victory was a 110-58 victory over the Colgate Raiders on 11 November 2010.
Dukes’ latest victims were the Oregon Ducks, who fell to the Blue Devils by a score of 98-71. The biggest story of that game was the meeting of Duke’s Kyle Singler and his younger brother E.J., a forward for the Ducks. “It was definitely fun,” said E.J.,
the younger Singler. “One of the funnest games I’ve played in.”
It was also a big night for Kyle Singler on the court. The senior forward was good for 30 points in the game. “I’m very proud of Kyle. Today was a special day for him,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski of hi star player. “He’s truly one of the special kids
I’ve had the opportunity to coach at any level."
While Duke has been flying high, the Spartans have also been winning games, but in much less convincing fashion. Even Spartan’s coach Tom Izzo is painfully aware of this. “I’m going to go to sleep tonight thinking about turnovers,” said Izzo in a press conference
after the Spartans’ win over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. “The turnovers and the missed free throws are concerning—very disappointed in our guard play early.”
The Spartans had 17 turnovers that game and went only nine for 16 in free throws.
Izzo also added the team’s aversion to rebounds to his list of problems. “I don’t think this team respects that,” Izzo said in regards to rebounds. “Hopefully we’re going to be able to watch some film and show them what it’s costing us, but that’s why this
is a good game Wednesday, because if we do learn to respect it, we’ll play well. If we don’t learn to respect it, we’ll get embarrassed.”
If the Spartans are to defeat the Blue Devils, they’ll have to tighten their overall game significantly, especially in the areas Izzo outlined in his press conference. The team defence will have to be on top of its game as well, as Duke sits at 4th overall
in scoring, as they average 91.3 points per game. They’re also just outside the top 10 for assists per game (18.7 per, good for 11th overall) and field goal percentage (.504, 12th overall.)
The Spartans will look to Draymond Green and his 14.0 point-per-game average and 9.5 rebound-per-game average to lead his squad. Red-hot Kyle Singler should be the Blue Devils main offensive player coming off his 30-point night against the Ducks. Singler
also had five rebounds that game.
This should be Duke’s most difficult game of this young season. The Spartans are a good team, but the domination on behalf of the Blue Devils could just be too much for Michigan State. Expect the Blue Devils to take this one and stay perfect, but it will
likely be by the slimmest margin to date.
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