Duke makes statement in East Lansing, rolling Michigan State with ease
486. Final. 87. 434. 75
The Duke Basketball team made a statement on Tuesday night in East Lansing, rolling the Michigan State Spartans in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge.
It was a 12-point game in East Lansing when the buzzer sounded and most people would have expected that at the beginning of the game, but the team who came out on top was surprising to some.
No. 10 Duke rolled into the Breslin Center and dominated No. 11 Michigan State, winning 87-75 and the 12-point margin didn’t indicate how lopsided the game was.
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Duke trailed twice in the game, at 2-0 and 5-4, as the Blue Devils led by as many as 21 points.
The Blue Devils were led by Vernon Carey Jr. who posted his seventh double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds with one assist and three blocks on the night and left the game for a few minutes due to cramping.
Point guard Tre Jones was out for revenge after the Elite Eight loss to Michigan State last season and revenge is what he got.
The sophomore posted a double-double with 20 points and 12 assists with two rebounds, three steals, and a block.
In fact, all those who were on the 2018-19 Duke Blue Devils got their revenge on Tuesday night.
Javin DeLaurier played his best game this season and perhaps in his Duke career with 10 points and six rebounds on 5-of-5 shooting with one assist, two steals, and a block.
Jack White was inserted in the starting lineup to replace Cassius Stanley and the senior captain went for seven points, six rebounds, one assist, three steals, and two blocks, and Jordan Goldwire was tenacious on defense posting three points, three rebounds, three assists, a block, and a steal.
Last but certainly not least, Joey Baker was his confident self, coming off the bench with 11 points, one rebound and one assist on 5-of-6 shooting.
Alex O’Connell was the lone upperclassman on Duke that struggled, playing limited minutes and going scoreless, missing the lone shot he attempted.
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Freshman Matthew Hurt, who has struggled this season, battled foul trouble on Tuesday night but managed to contribute ten points on 2-of-3 shooting from 3-point range with two rebounds, two assists, and three blocks.
The Duke defense got back to its old self, holding Michigan State star Cassius Winston to just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
While the win is great, the week is not over for these Blue Devils who will hit the road for their first ACC game of the season against the Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg, a city and arena that has been a House of Horrors in recent years for Duke.
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The win moves the Duke basketball team to 8-1 on the season, and tipoff between the Blue Devils and Hokies is at 7:00pm EST and the game can be seen on the ACC Network.