Michigan State basketball 'embarrassed' by subpar effort in home loss to Duke

EAST LANSING — Xavier Tillman wanted to beat Duke “badly,” probably as much Tom Izzo wanted Vernon Carey to become a Spartan.

Neither happened. And Michigan State did something that rarely happens to an Izzo-coached team.

“We got embarrassed at home,” Tillman said after Tuesday’s 87-65 loss to the Blue Devils in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. “That’s something that, in my whole career of playing basketball, I’ve never gotten embarrassed playing. And this is one of the times I could feel it.”

Or, as Cassius Winston put it:

“They punched us in our mouth, and we didn’t respond,” the senior All-American said. “That’s what you need in these games.”

No. 8 Duke took advantage of the No. 12 Spartans' miscues early. Their  giveaways turned into breakaway points the other way, their struggles at the free-throw line costing them easy points.

Then Carey, the Blue Devils' freshman big man, took over in the second half, exploiting MSU’s thin interior for 26 points and 11 rebounds and exposing its limitations.

More:Why Michigan State's Tom Izzo calls Xavier Tillman 'my new Draymond Green'

It was a dominating performance by the Blue Devils (8-1). They blocked 11 shots, got 10 steals and unfettered dunks throughout the first half. Tre Jones added 20 points and 12 assists while owning the highly anticipated battle of point guards against Winston, who scored 12 points but made just 4 of 14 shots, with seven assists.

“We just played so hard,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “And we needed to to beat them.”

The Spartans (5-3) didn’t help themselves, either. They went just 15 of 23 at the free-throw line and gave the ball away 14 times, including eight in the first half that led to 12 points. The Blue Devils also had an 11-1 first-half edge in transition thanks to those giveaways, and finished with a 17-4 advantage on the break.

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“Outcoached, outplayed, outworked” is how Izzo opened his postgame news conference.

Duke has played at Michigan State twice; the other visit was Dec. 2, 2003, when the Blue Devils won, 72-50. 

“Let’s get something straight, there is no mystique,” said Izzo, now 2-12 all time against Krzyzewski. “They’ve beaten our ass. We found a way to win a game or two here or there. … Different players, same coach. So the coach has gotta take responsibility for that.”

The Spartans, who were preseason No. 1 in both the AP and coaches polls, continue to struggle to find a rotation and consistency beyond Winston and Tillman, the junior forward who led them with 20 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Marcus Bingham started again at forward and finished with 13 points. Freshman Malik Hall came off the bench and added nine points and eight rebounds.

But when Tillman got in foul trouble with a little less than 14 minutes left in the first half, the backups struggled defensively. Duke scored 10 points off seven turnovers and had nine points in transition in the first 12-plus minutes.

Swingman Aaron Henry was benched to start the second half after not taking a shot in the first 20 minutes. The sophomore’s only basket in two attempts was a dunk in the waning seconds, and he had just two rebounds in nearly 21 minutes. Freshman guard Rocket Watts went 1 for 7 from the field, getting a pair of layups blocked.

“There’s no reason you don’t play hard. I’m just telling you, that falls on me. So those who want to rip, you should rip,” Izzo said. “Yeah, we’ve been through more hell than I think I’ve ever been through in my career here as far as some things that happened that kind of set you back. But at the same time, that has no basis for why you don’t play hard.

“I just thought we looked like the moment was too big.”

Trailing 45-29 at halftime, the Spartans opened on a 9-1 run to pull within eight. Winston’s 3-pointer forced Krzyzewski to call a timeout just 2:30 in, and the Breslin Center crowd reaching its most deafening point of the night.

But all it took was three trips for the Blue Devils to quash MSU’s momentum.

With the Spartans trailing 59-46, Izzo got whistled for a technical foul for arguing a loose ball possession call. Jones hit the two free throws, then a driving, up-and-under scoop shot for a four-point trip. The Blue Devils went up 22 midway through the second half. Breslin’s crowd died down again.

By the time a media timeout arrived with 6:14 to play, shortly after Winston was blocked on a layup attempt, it was clear who was in control. Duke’s players bopped back to the bench. The Spartans, hands on hips, were completely gassed. Izzo had his head in his hands.

Back to the drawing board. And fast. The Spartans host Rutgers on Sunday (7 p.m., BTN) as Big Ten play opens.

“It sucks. You want to win these games. But can’t do nothing about it now but learn from it and get better,” Winston said. “It’s still early in the year. We hope to be our best team at the end of the year. And we get a chance to get back in there and start the Big Ten off with a bang and hopefully win another Big Ten championship.”

Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.