After a slow start to the game, the Blue Devils have struggled to find their footing in a tightly-contested first half.
No. 5 Duke and Michigan State are tied at 35 heading into halftime of the teams’ matchup in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Blue Devils missed their first seven shots from the floor but remain tied despite shooting just 2-of-11 from 3-point range in a sloppy first half for both teams.
The Spartan defense placed an emphasis on preventing Duke from getting open looks from beyond the arc and it has worked with Grayson Allen the only Blue Devil hitting from long range.
In response, Duke’s guards have looked to take their defenders into the post with the majority of sophomore Luke Kennard's looks coming near the basket. The guard has eight points on 4-of-7 shooting so far.
With Allen struggling with his shot once again, the Blue Devils looked to post up graduate student Amile Jefferson at various times in the first half against Spartan defenders. Despite picking up a pair of fouls, Jefferson finished the first half with 11 points and seven rebounds.
On the other side of the floor, Duke has played man-to-man defense for most of the first 20 minutes with senior Matt Jones and Jefferson covering highly-touted freshman Miles Bridges. The Blue Devils have been able to limit Bridges to just six points on 2-of-7 shooting in the first half, and the 6-foot-7 forward missed a couple of highlight-reel dunk attempts toward the end of the period.
The key for Duke in the final 20 minutes will be to find more of a rhythm on offense, as Jones is scoreless and Jackson was limited to just two shot attempts in his 12 minutes.
Here are some observations from the first half:
- Bridges and head coach Tom Izzo have not been on the same page for much of the first half. Izzo has gotten on his star freshman for not moving enough on offense.
- Jackson made a few plays during his time on the court with a nifty drive and a nice pocket pass to Jefferson that ended with a missed layup. But the freshman had to sit for eight minutes after picking up his second foul.
- The catch and shoot for Kennard off an elbow screen has continued to be one of Duke’s most successful plays on offense. The guard has created separation off the screen to get off his jumper on multiple occasions.
- Allen uncharacteristically missed a pair of free throws from the line during his trip to the charity stripe with around three minutes remaining in the first half.
- Head coach Mike Krzyzewski tore into Jones after Michigan State's Cassius Winston finished with an easy layup with 15 seconds remaining in the first half.
- The Blue Devils have only used six players in the hotly-contested battle so far.
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