Top five Duke basketball performances of the year: Seth Curry vs. Michigan State

This week, The Blue Zone will be counting down the top five Duke basketball individual performances of the year. Following Mason Plumlee's performance against Ohio State, Seth Curry's 29 points in the Sweet 16 against Michigan State checks in third in our countdown.

The game: Duke 71, Michigan State 61 on March 29

The player: Seth Curry

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The statline: 29 points on 8-of-17 shooting, 6-of-9 3-pointers, 7-of-7 free throws, 3

rebounds

Although defense was the story of the game—Duke held Michigan State to just seven field goals in the second half, including a 15-minute stretch during which the Spartans made just one shot from the floor—it was Curry who carried the Blue Devil offense.

During one 10-minute stretch covering halftime, Curry scored 15 of the Blue Devils’ 19 points, including Duke’s first nine points of the second half on three consecutive three pointers.

Those three shots were particularly important, because each of them gave the Blue Devils the lead. The last of those three kicked off a 9-0 run—which Curry finished with a two-point jumper—from which Michigan State would never recover.

Although Curry struggled against Louisville’s stingy perimeter defense on short rest in Duke’s final game, the Blue Devils only got a chance to compete against the Cardinals because of Curry’s heroics.

The quote: "Seth was at a different level than anybody on the court offensively,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “To get 29 points in a game like this against an outstanding team is just an incredible performance."

Previously:

No. 5: Rasheed Sulaimon vs. Creighton 

No. 4: Mason Plumlee vs. Ohio State