Michigan State vs. Duke: No. 5 Spartans Never Trail in a 79-73 Win Over No. 2 Blue Devils
Duke never led at the United Center. Jeremy Fears Jr. had 18 points and 11 assists, Jordan Scott blocked six shots, and No. 5 Michigan State won the Champions Classic opener 79-73.
Photo: Michigan State Athletics. Jeremy Fears Jr., official roster photo. Card design: The Dyme.
FINAL, State Farm Champions Classic, United Center, Chicago: No. 5 Michigan State 79, No. 2 Duke 73.
Duke never led. The game was tied once, at 2-2, before Michigan State scored nine straight to go up 11-2 inside the first three minutes, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. The Spartans led 34-25 at halftime and pushed the lead to 14 in the second half.
Fears had 18 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds, and he made 12 of 17 free throws. Yahoo Sports counted it as the 14th points-assists double-double of his career. Cam Ward scored 14 off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting, Jasiah Jervis added 10, and Jordan Scott had 9 rebounds and 6 blocks.
Where the six points came from
The teams made the same number of threes, 7 each, so that was a wash. Duke won the free-throw line 26-22 on 37 attempts to Michigan State's 28. The whole margin came on twos. Michigan State made 18 two-point shots to Duke's 13, a 10-point edge, by our count from the box score. That edge minus Duke's four extra free-throw points is the final six.
The Blue Devils shot 20 of 60 (33 percent) and 7 of 29 from three. In the first half they made 7 of 27 shots and missed their first eight threes, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. Duke grabbed 18 offensive rebounds to Michigan State's 9.
John Blackwell led Duke with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting, including 4 of 11 from three. Patrick Ngongba II had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks, but he made 7 of 13 free throws.
Late push
Michigan State led 73-60 with 4:59 left. Duke scored the next 8 points to get within 73-68 with 2:03 to go, by our count. Scott answered with a driving layup at 1:50, and Fears made 4 of 6 free throws in the last 39 seconds to close it.
What it means
Michigan State is 3-0 after earlier wins over Quinnipiac and Toledo, per Yahoo Sports. The win ended a three-game losing streak against Duke, Michigan State's first win over the Blue Devils since Dec. 1, 2020, per Spartans On SI. Duke falls to 2-1. When these teams met in the Champions Classic in Chicago on Nov. 14, 2023, Duke won 74-65, per the News & Observer.
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