Three factors that led to Duke basketball’s loss against Michigan State

Factor No. 1 in Duke basketball loss to MSU: Lack of movement on offense

Perhaps the most troubling statistic of the night was the nine assists the Blue Devils had as a team. It is going to be hard to win games against high-level teams when you have just nine assists compared to 12 turnovers.

Similar to the Coppin State game, guys were trying to force it offensively instead of moving the ball around. It is much easier to score when the ball has been passed around, which gets the defense off balance and in scramble mode. Too often, Duke tried to attack against a set defense, which typically led to turnovers or highly contested shots.

Duke played far too much isolation ball on Tuesday night. The Blue Devils simply do not have the personnel to be an isolation team. Wendell Moore and Jalen Johnson are both good players, but they both at times tried to do too much by themselves.

The squad also needs much better off-ball movement. When Duke was on offense, there was a lot of standing around and watching whoever had the basketball. This makes the defense’s job much easier. The Blue Devils have to get more off-ball screens, back door cuts, and drive and kicks…