CHICAGO—After playing just two games of college basketball, Duke’s highly-touted freshmen overcame early jitters at the Champions Classic against No. 2 Michigan State at the United Center until Marvin Bagley III’s injury stalled the Blue Devils.
No. 1 Duke leads the Spartans 38-34 through 20 minutes after leading by as many as 10 points. Grayson Allen led the way with 14 first-half points and made a deep triple at the buzzer to give the Blue Devils a two-possession cushion. Bagley dominated the glass with six rebounds before he left for the locker room midway through the first half when Javin DeLaurier inadvertently poked him in the eye, forcing him to exit the game. His status for the rest of the game is uncertain.
Duke started out discombobulated, making just two of its first 15 shots and getting owned by the Spartans in transition at the United Center. Michigan State scored 10 of its first 12 points in the paint, but the Blue Devils hung around by taking an early 15-2 edge on the offensive glass and getting to the free throw line, making six of their first seven attempts, though they went cold and are now just 11-of-18.
Once Duke found its shot, it surged ahead of the Spartans with an 13-0 run to take a 21-12 lead midway through the half—a scoring drought of nearly six minutes for Michigan State.
After Bagley retreated to the locker room, Michigan State forced Duke into a nearly five-minute scoring drought that brought it back, when the Spartans went on an 11-0 run in 1:44 to regain the lead.
The Blue Devils used a 2-3 zone to largely shut down preseason national player of the year favorite Miles Bridges, who scored just three points. Trevon Duval has struggled mightily from the field for Duke, hitting just 2-of-9 field goal attempts, and Gary Trent Jr. is just 2-of-10. Michigan State has repeatedly turned the Blue Devils away in the paint with eight blocks.
Here are a few observations from the first half:
- Even before Bagley's injury, head coach Mike Krzyzewski has used a deep rotation, with 10 players seeing time—DeLaurier, Jordan Goldwire, Antonio Vrankovic, Marques Bolden and Alex O'Connell have all come off the bench.
- The Blue Devils have been unable to do anything to stop freshman forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who has 10 points and five rebounds.
- Goldwire scored his first points at Duke with a 3-pointer with 10:58 left in the first half.
- DeLaurier picked up his third foul late in the half, which could prove critical if Bagley cannot return.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.