Duke Drops MSU to Move to Sweet Sixteen

GREENVILLE, SC —— The Duke Blue Devils (29-6, 16-4 ACC) squared up against the Michigan State Spartans (23-13, 11-9 Big Ten) in round two of the NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils got their long-awaited revenge, 85-76.

This victory gave Coach K his 1,200 wins and his last dance keeps on marching. With this win, Krzyzewski will finish his career with a record of 13-3 against Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

Yet the Spartans came ready to fight. They looked unfazed by the intimidation of the Blue Devils.

Michigan State came into this game as one of the nation’s best 3 point shooting teams, with a 37.4% percentage.

The number two seed Blue Devils put together a 15-4, that consisted of eight straight points, to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament West Region.

Duke freshman wing, AJ Griffin, checked out the game at 8:32 with an apparent ankle injury. While he was sidelined, Jeremy Roach chipped in 13 of his 15 second-half points to help Duke survive and advance.

Dule outscored the Spartans, 20-6, over the final 4:55.

Five Duke players reached double figures, led by the potential lottery pick, Paolo Banchero.

Banchero had a team-high with 19 points, 4 assists, and grabbed seven rebounds.

Junior forward, Wendell Moore, came up with a clutch steal at the end then made two free-throws.

The man in the middle, Mark Williams, finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and 5 blocks. He is one of the finalists for Defensive Player of the Year.

Krzyzewski told Tracy Wolfson during his postgame interview on CBS “ “So proud of my guys. For a young group, they showed incredible guts.”

Duke will play the winner of Texas Tech and Notre Dame in their awaited sweet 16 matchups.