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| Detroit News
Too often over the years, a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium has generally been synonymous with misery for the state of Michigan. And too many times in the Champions Classic, Michigan State facing Duke meant a loss for the Spartans.
That all changed on Tuesday night as the No.8 Michigan State overcame a bad start to come back against No.6 Duke, 75-69. It was Michigan State’s first victory in the Legendary Arena and it was the Spartans’ first victory over the Blue Devils in the annual event which also includes Kansas and Kentucky.
BOXED SCORE: No.8 Michigan State 75, No.6 Duke 69
Rocket Watts scored 20 to lead the Spartans (3-0) while Aaron Henry scored 14, had five rebounds and five assists. Julius Marble scored a career-high 12 points as Joey Hauser had a double-double, scoring 11 and lowering 10 rebounds while Malik Hall had 10 points and 10 rebounds for his own double-double.
Matthew Hurt scored 21 for Duke (1-1). Jalen Johnson scored 11 points while Jordan Goldwire added 10 points for the Blue Devils.
The first 10 minutes couldn’t have been much worse for Michigan State as he only made one of his first 10 shots and ended up down 10 early on as he returned. the balloon has an alarming clip while fouling far too often.
But after Duke took an 18-9 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the half, the Spartans began to chip away thanks to a spark from Marble, who scored four straight points as the Michigan state defense was beginning to gain momentum.
Hauser hit his first 3 points of the season before Watts hit two straight jumpers. After Henry hit a runner and DJ Steward hit a pair of free throws for the Blue Devils, the Spartans started a 13-2 run that finished them in the lead, 37-31, with 39 seconds left. in the half.
Marble and Hall each scored four points in the race while Foster Loyer had a triple. Duke’s Hurt hit a baseline jumper and Henry’s three buzzing longs missed to give Michigan State a 37-33 halftime lead.
The Spartans kept the momentum going to open the second half, pushing their lead to 48-36 after Watts’ six straight points, forcing a quick time out from the Blue Devils with just over 17 minutes left in the game. Out of the timeout, Hauser clocked a 3-point corner to give Michigan State their biggest lead at this point at 51-36.
That lead eventually grew to 54-38 after Hall and Hauser made three of four free throws, but Jordan Goldwire responded with a 3 pointer for the Blue Devils to shoot 54-41.
Duke started to move away from that point, forcing a few more turnovers and shooting 60-51 on a pair of Goldwire layups. But Watts hit another jumper to reduce the lead to 62-51 as Michigan State held a double-digit lead for most of the ride until the last minute when the Blue Devils hit a triple and that MSU missed a few free throws.
Duke had under five points with just 20 seconds left, but Hall and Watts each hit a pair of free throws to put the game aside.
Twitter: @mattcharboneau
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