Well, that was unpleasant.
Duke had its first test of the young season on Tuesday night in Chicago against Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic, and the Blue Devils failed miserably.
You ever have that dream that you are back in school and you have a big test, but you forgot your pencil? Duke lived that dream for 40 minutes at the United Center.
Michigan State punked Duke from the opening tip, exposing some serious flaws for the Blue Devils. Duke lost 79-73 and never led. It was a wire-to-wire win for Tom Izzo's squad.
Jon Scheyer and company have a lot of work to do.
Here are our observations from Duke's disappointing loss.
1. Duke's halfcourt offense was a total mess
If Duke wasn't getting out in transition, it wasn't generating much offense. Everything in the halfcourt was a chore. It was an ugly, ugly performance.
Credit to Michigan State. They were excellent on that end of the floor. But Duke rarely put them in much conflict. The guards struggled to win off the dribble, the ball stagnated way too much, and it became a one-on-one game, and Duke coughed it up too many times.
Duke shot 33% from the floor, 23% from three, and missed 11 free throws. It was a total failure on that end of the floor, and Scheyer has some serious work to do with this squad if they want to be a serious contender.
2. A less than 100% Patrick Ngongba was hard to overcome
Shortly before tip-off, it was rumored that junior big man Patrick Ngongba might miss the game with an illness. He played, but he was clearly a shell of the player we saw during the exhibition slate and the first two regular-season games.
Perhaps it wouldn't have mattered. Michigan State was the better team tonight, but Ngongba being compromised was tough to overcome for Duke. He was a step slow on both ends of the court.
Credit to him for gutting it out, but Duke needs him at full strength going forward. He's too pivotal to what Scheyer wants to do on both ends of the floor.
3. Duke needs more from John Blackwell and the rest of the backcourt
Blackwell hit some shots down the stretch to get up to 17 points on the night, but he was quiet for far too much of the game. And Duke's backcourt was outclassed by Jeremy Fears and the Spartans.
Cayden Boozer had gotten off to a strong start to the season and put up a double-double against Coastal Carolina. He was practically invisible in Chicago, scoring just six points with two assists.
Off the bench, Caleb Foster continued to struggle with his shot. He was 2-of-10 from the floor.
Freshman Deron Rippey Jr. provided a bit of a spark, and he's certainly the best at beating his man off the dribble, but it's clear right now that Scheyer doesn't really trust him. He only played 12 minutes, half of what Foster played.
The backcourt was thought to be a major strength of this team, and arguably one of the best in the entire country. They looked nowhere close to that on Tuesday night.
4. Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje is the future, but Drew Scharnowski is better right now
There's little doubt that before long Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje will be one of the best players in the entire country. Right now, though, the 17-year-old freshman has a lot of work to do.
He had just five points and four rebounds in 21 minutes against Michigan State.
Belmont transfer Drew Scharnowski provided a real spark off the bench, and he might be a better option right now. He's still working his way into game shape after missing significant time in the preseason, but he put up eight points and six rebounds in just 15 minutes.
None of that is meant to be a knock on JBB. But in these games with razor-thin margins, Scharnowski might have to be the guy down the stretch of games instead. At least for now.
5. Duke's defense wasn't good enough
Every time the offense would make a mini surge and it felt like Duke was a defensive stop away from getting back into the game, they couldn't get it done. They would give up an open three, or an easy drive to the rim, or commit a foul.
They couldn't stack stops down the stretch like they needed to. Duke hangs its hat on the defensive end of the floor, but they had some problems against Michigan State.
Fears is the best guard in the country, and he makes that Spartans offense hum. Duke had few answers for him, even with Dame Sarr defending him.
This was a humbling loss for the Blue Devils. But that's okay. You play these games to get exposed early to see what you need to work on. And Duke has a whole lot of stuff to work on before facing Illinois next Tuesday in Cameron Indoor.
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