AUSTIN, Texas - Michigan State had five days to prepare for Duke, to come up with a strategy to take down the top-seeded Blue Devils. The plan was to pressure the ball, limit Duke's 'Big Three' and keep the game close. And it is safe to say that the Spartans were successful, forcing Duke to turn over the ball 22 times and topping the Blue Devils 78-68 in Frank Erwin Center Friday night.
Although Duke (27-6) trailed for most of the second half, defeat was far from certain for the Blue Devils until the closing minutes. Daniel Ewing stole the ball from Michigan State and sank a long ball to bring the Blue Devils to within three points with 3:01 remaining. The Spartans (25-6), however, answered Ewing's steal and three-pointer with a three-point play of its own, keeping Duke from gaining any momentum.
'Right there, we had a real chance, and we could've gotten a stop that would have stretched the game out,' Ewing said. 'But we didn't, and that really put a dent in the game.'
The senior finished his last collegiate game with 18 points and five steals, but committed a team-high six turnovers as well. Michigan State's defense played a full-court press throughout the game, which gave the Blue Devils trouble setting up their offense. By the end of the first half, Duke had handed over the ball 12 times.
'Their full court pressure and their half-court defense really hurt us because we are a team where out offense feeds off our defense,' Lee Melchionni said. 'To turn the ball over like that, it just doesn't give you a chance to play our defense and really gave them a chance to win the game.'
Alan Anderson hit Michigan State's first three-pointer of the night two minutes into the second half. Davis grabbed a missed layup attempt by Maurice Ager and dished the ball to Drew Neitzel, who found Anderson open near the top of the key. His basket brought the Spartans to within one and sparked a Michigan State 10-0 run.
DeMarcus Nelson turned the ball over on the subsequent possession, and Brown sank a three-pointer that gave Michigan State the lead, which it kept for the rest of the game.
'It was a little bit of both,' Redick said when asked whether turnovers were due to the Spartans' pressure or Duke's errors. 'We needed to be stronger with the ball, but them putting full-court pressure on us made us speed up, and when we got inside the half court, we just made some turnovers.'
Despite all of Duke's sloppy play in the opening half, the game was tied at the break, largely because Michigan State's shots were not falling. The Spartans went 13-for-36 in the first period and 0-for-6 from behind the arc. Attempting 14 more shots than Duke, Michigan State commanded the glass and dominated the paint for most of the game, putting in twice as many lay ups as the Blue Devils and scoring 44 points in the paint. Concentrating on offensive rebounds for second-chance points, Michigan State's Paul Davis alone pulled down seven boards off of the Spartans' side. The junior had a game-high 12 rebounds and 20 points.
Davis was pitted against Duke's strongest and sometimes only presence down low, Shelden Williams, who led his team with 19 points and eight rebounds. Although Williams, with the help of Ewing, carried the Blue Devils for most of the first half, he was quieted after getting into foul trouble in the second half. On the possession after Ewing's three-pointer, Williams committed his fifth foul when Davis pump-faked under the basket. Davis went to the line and sank the extra point, bringing the Spartans' lead to six points again.
'They have a big force in the middle in Shelden Williams but we felt like we had a big force in the middle, too,' Spartan senior Alan Anderson said.
The contribution from the bench in the waning minutes of the game kept Duke in the game until the end. Reggie Love intercepted a Spartan pass and called a timeout as he fell out of bounds. The next possession brought the Blue Devils within four points with less than two minutes on the clock. Likewise, Nelson manned the offensive glass for the Blue Devils and scored the last field goal of the game when he stretched out and tipped in a three-point attempt by Ewing.
'I told the kids after the game it'd be a mistake for us to dwell on this game and a loss,' Krzyzewski said. 'The season has been absolutely beautiful and sensational. Our kids never gave up.'
With 14 seconds left on the clock, head coach Mike Krzyzewski took Ewing's hand, looked him in the eyes and exchanged words before hugging him. Biting his lower lip, an emotional Ewing took a seat and watched the final seconds of his collegiate career with the arms of his teammates around him.
'I'm just really sad that it's over,' Ewing said. 'Not being able to put on this Duke uniform, not being able to step out on the court again, that's the biggest emotional part I'm going through right now, despite the loss. Just knowing that there are no more chances for me to play in this tournament, reality is sinking in that it's my time to move on.'
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.