Michigan State edged Duke last night, 78-68. At the 3:12 mark in the 2nd half, Daniel Ewing hit a 3 to bring Duke within 3 at 66-63, but that's the closest they would get. Sheldon Williams fouled out at 2:47 and effectively Duke's season was over. Shavlik Randolph came up small again, getting as many turnovers (2) as rebounds, and did not score. Give credit to MSU - they were faster, bigger and more aggressive when it counted. They shut down J.J. Redick (13 points, or 16 fewer than when the 2 teams played November 30th). They shut down the middle. And did I forget to mention that Duke had as many turnovers (22) as field goals? Ugh.
In retrospect, Duke went deeper into the tourney than was expected at the start of the season. Given their lack of depth, Coach K held this squad together with duct tape, and more often than not in the 2nd half of their season, they resembled Wisconsin and Princeton much more than North Carolina or Wake Forest. They were a squad happy to keep the score in the 60s. Unfortunately for Duke last night, Michigan State was in the 70s.
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