Duke basketball loss to Michigan State being taken out of context

The Duke basketball loss to Michigan State is being blown out of proportion given the circumstances.

Yes, the Duke basketball loss on Tuesday night was an uninspired, ugly loss inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on the floor. But off the floor, the defeat is being taken out of context.

Michigan State walked into an empty Cameron Indoor Stadium and beat a young, inexperienced Blue Devils squad, something that no team has ever done before.

Tom Izzo said in his postgame press conference that he will not be putting an asterisk next to this game, nor should he.

But everyone else should.

Izzo, who has never defeated Duke in the regular season, nor has he ever won in Cameron Indoor Stadium, did not so the same thing Mike Jarvis did with St. John’s in the 1999-2000 season or Kyle Keller did in the 2019-20 season with Stephen F. Austin.

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The Red Storm and the Lumberjacks were able to defeat a Top-2 Duke squad with its biggest asset right next to it, the Cameron Crazies.

St. John’s, Stephen F. Austin, and Michigan State are the only three non-conference opponents to defeat Duke inside Cameron since 2000.

Whether Tom Izzo likes it or not, there will be an asterisk next to Michigan State’s name when someone lists those three teams, as there will be if any other non-conference team defeats the Blue Devils in Durham this season.

Duke basketball team obviously cannot worry about these statistics

After its performance on Tuesday night, the Blue Devils cannot worry about these petty milestones that bother fans.

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Duke has its own work cut out for itself on the court, and following a matchup with Bellarmine on Friday night, another powerhouse team in the Big Ten will come to Cameron Indoor Stadium with the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Time to prevent another team from joining the exclusive club St. John’s, Stephen F. Austin, and Michigan State* find themselves in.