Duke drops Michigan State to advance to Sweet 16
Duke rallied in the final five minutes to knockoff Michigan State and advance to the Sweet 16.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The ride continues for Duke, as Mike Krzyzewski’s team knocked off Michigan State, 85-76, to advance to the Sweet 16 in San Francisco later this week.
The Blue Devils and Spartans went toe-to-toe for the entire 40 minutes of basketball, trading baskets consistently throughout. There were countless moments worth discussing that took place in the first 35 minutes of the game, but it’s the final five that defined the outcome.
They are also the minutes that Duke could potentially look back to as a turning point in their postseason run.
It was a growing up of sorts — and it happened in a truly impressive fashion.
In his opening statement following the game, Krzyzewski turned to the five players joining him in the press conference — Mark Williams, Paolo Banchero, Trevor Keels, Jeremy Roach and Wendell Moore Jr. — and addressed them directly.
“I’m incredibly proud of my guys,” he said before directing his words to his players. “You guys were terrific, man. I’m really proud to be your coach.
“It had nothing to do with coaching in those last four to five minutes. It all had to do with heart and togetherness.”
Let that last sentence sink in for a moment.
Heart and togetherness. Just over two short weeks ago many were questioning the team’s fight, focus and heart after the loss to North Carolina to closeout the regular season.
Today, the conversation centers on how the Blue Devils bonded late and refused to lose, despite AJ Griffin going down with an injury and the momentum squarely in Michigan State’s favor.
At the 6:09 mark of the second half, and after leading for the entire period of play, Duke began to slowly lose momentum. A.J. Hoggard connected on two free throws and tied the game up at 65, marking the first time the teams were even on the scoreboard since the clock read 1:02 in the first half.
Unlike that moment in time, it felt like control of the game was shifting to the Spartans. And, in fact, it was. Michigan State quickly took a five point lead over the next minute, capping a 17-6 run from the 11:10 media timeout to the 5:10 mark when the Spartans led 75-70.
There was a sense in the building that Duke’s season might be over. The Blue Devils had other plans, though.
“I thought when we got down, we were young for a while there and I was wondering if we were going to stay young,” Krzyzewski said. “My guys were so tough in those last six minutes of the game. And in the last four or five minutes, the defense was incredible.”
They were indeed tough. And it started with Banchero attacking the basket and finishing with a layup in traffic with the clock reading 4:55. Then fewer than 30 seconds later, Duke’s defense forced a tough 3-point attempt from Tyson Walker that missed. Williams grabbed one of his eight rebounds which led to a Roach drive and score just eight seconds later.
Just like that, Duke had cut the Michigan State lead to 70-69.
The momentum was shifting, but the Spartans were still very active. Soon after Roach’s layup, Joey Hauser drew a foul on Banchero, taking the game into the final media timeout.
During that break, Moore helped rally the team.
“I think at that time we had a turnover, or fouled them back there, so my thing was the game was far from over. It was probably about three or four minutes left. There was still so much time left on the clock. I knew we had a chance.”
Hauser connected on both free throw attempts out of the timeout to push Michigan State’s lead back to three, but Keels tied the game up soon after with his first and only made 3-pointer of the game. It was a huge shot.
To that point, Keels had struggled to a degree with his shot — though he finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. The Spartans responded 33 seconds later with another big shot, regaining the lead.
Keels once again showed confidence and attacked the basket, ultimately drawing a foul. He made just one of two, but there was a new feeling taking over the building. Duke was suddenly extremely confident yet again.
Though Michigan State still led by one point, it was the last time they would hold an advantage.
For the next 2:44, Duke dominated the game. That was a culmination of Duke’s improved play that began with 4:55 remaining — the point in which the run started referenced earlier. That Banchero bucket was part of five straight made field goals to end the game. In fact, Duke’s last missed field goal came with 6:16 to go when Roach missed a floater.
That final 2:44, though, saw Duke play like a veteran team.
With 2:16 left in the game, and Duke trailing by one, Williams got the last of his game-high five blocks, when he swatted Hoggard’s attempt to finish at the basket. He recovered the ball, got it to his teammates and the Devils were off and running. Moments later, Banchero finished at the rim with a layup giving Duke the lead for good.
“A.J. Hoggard drove to the rim,” Williams said. “I just try to do my best to protect the rim every time somebody drives. I got the block, got the rebound and just tried to stay inbounds. Obviously I kicked it out and got another possession for us. I’m not thinking too much about I want to get a block here, it’s just more of like, I wanna win. If that’s the winning play then I’ll do it.”
The winning plays didn’t stop there, though.
Michigan State called a timeout with the hopes of slowing Duke’s edge. It didn’t work.
On Michigan State’s very next possession after the timeout, Banchero blocked Hauser’s layup, with Moore securing the rebound. Duke settled in on offense, which led to a play that sealed the game and broke Michigan State’s will.
“The clock was running down,” Moore said as he described the play. “Knowing that situation, we call ‘Green’ which first means we’ve got to get a good shot up. I was looking at the matchups and I thought Jeremy had a good matchup. I so I took my one dribble, gave it to him and from there he made it happen.”
Roach took it from there.
“The last media (timeout), the four minute media, I was just thinking to myself, ‘if I get an open three, I’m knocking it down.’ I think it was like a minute 30 left or something like that, the shot clock was winding down, and I knew I had to make a play. Just making confident plays out there was the biggest thing.”
The 3-pointer put Duke ahead 78-74.
It was the final field goal the Blue Devils made. From there, they relied on their defense and free throw shooting.
Duke was 7-of-8 from the free throw line in that final 1:16, while also recording one steal and holding Michigan State to just 1-of-4 from the field to finish things off.
Moore was 4-of-4 from the line during that stretch, while finishing the game 9-of-10. He posted 15 points and four assists in the game.
The win was particularly satisfying thanks to how the Blue Devils responded late. Michigan State made it interesting all game long, as they could not miss from 3-point range. The Spartans finished 11-of-22 for the game from 3, but had drilled 7-of-10 in the first half alone.
Duke was a little better at preventing wide open looks from deep in the second half, most notably with Gabe Brown, who made 4-of-4 in the first half, but missed both tries in the second.
In the end, Duke was able to overcome some defensive woes and come up strong in the end.
“We went to a little bit different coverage in the full court, like a soft, soft press, just so they didn’t get a run because they can really run,” Krzyzewski said. “Then we started — we were going to switch one through five. Mark has improved so much during the year in his lateral movement that he can stay in front, and that’s what he did.”
Banchero had stretches where he controlled the game, ultimately posting a game-high 19 points. He also pulled down seven rebounds. Williams had 15 points, eight boards and five blocks. AJ Griffin posted seven points before going down with an injury late in the second half.
In the end, however, it was Roach who gave Duke the lift it needed.
The sophomore guard scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. After missing all three of this field attempts in the first 20 minutes, he made 6-of-7 in the final 20.
Roach controlled the offense with aggressive drives to the hoop, while adding solid pressure on the ball defensively, which helped allow Duke to fend off the Spartans.
“Jeremy hit a huge three for us, and his drives, he willed that ball in,” Krzyzewski said. “They were some of the best drives I’ve seen as the Duke coach. Really. Especially in a pressure situation.
“His scoring, though, has been — really, he made some big time baskets today. It wasn’t just that three. Those drives to the basket were huge. And everybody got energy from them.”