EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Historically speaking, losing in the finals of the Great Alaska Shootout may be the best thing that can happen to the men's basketball team. After the Blue Devils tore down the nets in Anchorage in 1995, Duke went on to lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament, becoming the last Mike Krzyzewski-led college basketball team not to win at least 20 games. After the Blue Devils fell to Cincinnati by two points in the 1998 Shootout, Duke won 32 consecutive games.
In line with this trend, the 2003-04 Blue Devils responded to their second-place finish in the weak 2003 tournament with a dominating 72-50 win over No. 5 Michigan State.
Before Duke shook-up the Spartans, Krzyzewski shook-up his starting lineup, replacing J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing with sophomores Shavlik Randolph and Sean Dockery to insert more energy into a squad that looked lethargic at times in the nation's largest state.
The new lineup proved to be successful from the get-go, as the Blue Devils--led by Dockery's fiery defensive quickness--forced the Spartans into 17 turnovers off 13 Duke steals by halftime.
"Our a defense made it difficult for them to get open looks," Krzyzewski said. "We knew that their strength was that [Michigan State] had a bunch of perimeter guys. So we wanted to start off the game with defense. Sean helped us in that regard."
The Blue Devils were at their defensive best after Michigan State timeouts. On well-coached basketball teams, a timeout greatly increases a squad's chances at scoring on its next offensive possession. Duke gave up only one basket after a timeout against Tom Izzo's squad Wednesday, further frustrating the already struggling Spartans.
"We usually know after a timeout they're going to setup a special play for one of their main guys," senior guard Chris Duhon said. "That's the time where we need to bear down even more and get a good stop. We feel like that can deflate a team. So every time they had a timeout, we got together and were like, 'We've got to win this possession.' For the most part, we won most of them."
In addition to the lineup changes, Duke also somewhat adapted its offensive strategy. After shooting just 41.9 percent on the season--compared to their mediocre opponents' 43 percent--the Blue Devils decided to pound the ball in the post, with Randolph and Shelden Williams playing off one another in the high-low post setup. In an impressive performance, Randolph and Williams never relented on the Spartans even as their lead reached the mid-20s in the second half. Williams finished the game 16 points, eight rebounds and five blocks on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, and Randolph added 11 points and seven rebound on 5-for-7 shooting in only 23 minutes play.
"Our big guys played like big guys tonight," Krzyzewski said. "Our big guys came through."
The dominating inside play also relaxed Michigan State's defense against sharp shooters Redick and Ewing. After missing his first two three-point attempts and sitting on the bench for the first five minutes of the game, Redick--who was shooting a wretched 22.7 percent from the three-point line coming into the game--nailed 3-of-7 attempts from behind the arc as the Spartans keyed on the inside players. Ewing also showed his soft shooting touch, knocking down three of his five attempts from the field, including a three-pointer that took away Michigan State's 10-9 lead--the Spartans only scoring advantage in the game--with 9:54 remaining in first half.
"If we can establish our inside guys early in the game, teams will start doubling down and they can kick it out to us for some easy threes," Ewing said.
With all components of the well-oiled Duke machine rolling, it was Duhon's savvy that never gave Michigan State a chance at a comeback. After the Blue Devils gradually built their lead up to the low 20s in the second half, Duke spread the court in a quasi-stall, milking the shot clock down to its final seconds on nearly every possession.
The slow-down was mildly reminiscent of Duke's loss to Stanford in December of 1998 when the team blew a 15-point lead with five minutes remaining in the game because the Blue Devils lost all understanding of their offensive rhythm within the slow-down strategy.
But Duke was arguably at its best Tuesday night while purposely ticking seconds off the clock, with Duhon finding a way for a Duke basket on nearly every possession.
With 13:57 left in the contest and the shot clock about to expire, Duhon blasted down the lane, pretzling himself between two Michigan State players before scoring on a feathery, left-handed lay-up to give the Blue Devils a 46-28 lead.
Moments later, Duhon found himself with the ball and nowhere to go as the Blue Devils once again teased the shot clock. In what appeared to be a guaranteed turnover, Duhon faded into the lane and banked in two of his 10 points just before the shot-clock horn blared, giving Duke a 20-point lead with 12:39 to go in the game.
Duhon then gave the Blue Devils their biggest lead of the ACC/Big 10 Challenge contest, when he attracted a double-team only to dish the ball to a wide-open Williams to give the visitors a 25-point advantage with 6:14 remaining in the blow out.
"For us, Duhon was spectacular in his leadership," Krzyzewski said. "He's grown up."
When a team has so many options working at once against a top-five opponent, there is only one man that deserves praise above all else.
"Coach made a great game plan for us," Duhon said. "It was a great team effort."
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