Duke gunning for another statement win, revenge against Michigan State

Taking on the Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday night, the Duke Basketball team will be looking for another statement win and a bit of revenge from last season.

Just a few weeks ago, the monumental showdown between the Duke Blue Devils and Michigan State Spartans appeared to be a Top-5 showdown.

As the two teams get set to meet on December 3, it’ll be a battle between the No. 10 Blue Devils and the No. 11 Spartans.

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Both teams previously held the No. 1 ranking this season, but an opening night loss for Michigan State coupled with a loss a few weeks later to unranked Virginia Tech dropped the Spartans down ten spots in the poll.

As for Duke, the Blue Devils reached No. 1 two weeks ago and were the first team this season to keep the top spot for more than one week, but in its first game as the top team in its second week, Duke lost at home to Stephen F. Austin, which led Mike Krzyzewski‘s team to fall nine spots.

The two teams meet looking to get its mojo and swagger back on Tuesday night, showing the country that it was worthy of the No. 1 ranking both teams held this season.

Michigan State will be looking for its second win over a ranked team this season, the Spartans lost to then No. 2 Kentucky in the Champions Classic on opening night and then a loss in the first round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational ruined a potential meeting with No. 3 Kansas in the Championship Game. However, a win over then No. 12 Seton Hall was a big boost for Sparty.

On the first night of the season, Duke was able to defeat then-No. 3 Kansas but after its championship in the 2K Empire Classic, the Blue Devils have looked anything but impressive.

Duke and Michigan State are dealing with injuries entering the game, although the Spartans have been dealing with injuries for a while now in senior Josh Langford, who could be out for the season with a foot injury.

The Blue Devils will play its first game without freshman Cassius Stanley who suffered a hamstring injury in the second half of Duke’s win over Winthrop on Friday night.

Mike Krzyzewski is hopeful that Stanley will be able to return to the court after Christmas.

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These two teams met not too long ago in the Elite Eight of the 2019 NCAA Tournament as the Spartans edged the Blue Devils, 68-67 to advance to the Final Four.

Both teams look a little different as out of the seven players Tom Izzo used in the victory, four of them are still on the roster for Tuesday nights game and for Coach K, he returns five of the nine players used.

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Returning for the Spartans are Cassius Winston, Xavier Tillman, Aaron Henry, and Gabe Brown while the Blue Devils bring back Tre Jones, Javin DeLaurier, Alex O’Connell, Jack White, and Jordan Goldwire.

Gabe Brown only played three minutes for the Spartans back in March while Alex O’Connell, Jack, White, and Jordan Goldwire played a combined six minutes for Duke.

Both teams are extremely different than last season and also look different from less than a month ago when taking the floor at Madison Square Garden at the Champions Classic.

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Whichever team is able to get back to playing their style of basketball, dictating the tempo of the game, and limiting mistakes will be victorious on Tuesday night.

Duke and Michigan State will tipoff at 9:30pm EST from the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as apart of the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge that will be broadcasted on ESPN.

PREDICTION: Michigan State 76, Duke 71

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