It will be a strange day at Duke University.
One will pass the cobblestone crosswalk across Towerview Road and bear witness to a sight normally seen in the middle of spring. Hoards of Cameron Crazies acting, for the lack of a better word, crazy: Barbecuing, drinking and relaxing in the middle of the day. In the middle of the week. In the middle of an academic semester. With final examinations merely two weeks away.
Usually the anticipation of the Duke-Maryland or Duke-North Carolina game is required to generate this much student interest and outright disregard for homework. However, tonight’s game is different from the typical fall-semester, non-ACC contest. Tonight at 9:30 p.m., the No. 1 Blue Devils will find themselves facing off against themselves, but with a different team logo—the green Spartan helmet of No. 6 Michigan State.
The similarities between these two teams are hard to dismiss. Both are among college basketball’s most storied programs. Both are led by legendary coaches, and both are represented by top recruits, NBA hopefuls, and former McDonald’s All-Americans on the court.
Nobody will disagree—it’ll be a good game.
“I’m really excited. They’re a really good team, and whenever you play a really good team, the competition is going to be high, and the energy is going to be great,” senior forward Kyle Singler said. “I’m looking forward to playing them.”
For the Blue Devils, it will be their second top-ten matchup of the season. The first could not have gone any better for Duke, which soundly defeated then-No.4 Kansas State in a game that settled any qualms that the Blue Devils were not the best team in the nation. Even Wildcat head coach Frank Martin admitted that, “[Duke] knocked the living piss out of us.”
Though biologically impossible, Martin’s statement sent a clear message: The Blue Devils are the team to beat this year.
Going into this game, Duke fans may look favorably at their chances to win. Seniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler have led their team to an undefeated 6-0 record thus far, but potentially the best part of this year’s Blue Devil squad relies on its diversification of talents. If Singler or Smith is having difficulties, then head coach Mike Krzyzewski can rely on Kyrie Irving, who has six straight double-figure games, to pick up the slack. If Irving can’t handle it, then Mason Plumlee, who showed signs of greatness in a 25-point performance against Marquette earlier this season, is well equipped to lead the Blue Devils. If not Plumlee, then Kelly, who has blossomed as a starter and has shown a knack for long-range shots, hitting 71 percent from downtown.
However, Duke will need more than one star to shine against Michigan State, even at home. It’ll be a much differently paced game than those against Princeton or Colgate. Rather, they will need all of the talent, and luck, that they can get.
In quite possibly their toughest matchup of the regular season, the Blue Devils will be tested by a tough Spartan team that also made it to last year’s Final Four and which returns four of their five starters from last year’s squad.
Particularly worrisome for the Blue Devils is junior forward Draymond Green, who has been an incredible presence under the basket for Michigan State, averaging 14.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Combined with junior Delvon Roe, sophomore Garrick Sherman and freshman Adreian Payne, Green leads one the best frontcourts in the nation, consistently outrebounding its opponents.
The troubles don’t end there for Duke. This talented Spartan frontcourt is complimented by an even better backcourt, including Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, and Korie Lucious. Lucas leads the offense, scoring 17.5 points and dishing out 3.3 assists per game. He has been a prolific scorer and the Spartans’ go-to guy in tough contests, such as an earlier game against then-No.11 Washington, when he scored 29 points.
“Everybody talks about our perimeter, but their perimeter is also their strength. It’s going to be a very good matchup,” Smith said. “We feel like we have the best perimeter in the nation, and tonight we get to prove it. It will be a big test for us.”
He will likely be matched up against Duke’s Irving, who has experience defending elite guards this season. In Duke’s matchup against Kansas State, Irving contained preseason All-American Jacob Pullen to a mere four points on 1-of-12 shooting. How Irving and Lucas perform against one another will be perhaps the most interesting aspect of tonight’s game.
But no matter what happens, things will return back to normal tomorrow for those camped-out Duke students, who will go back to studying for final exams. Not even a victory over Michigan State can take that away.
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