Methodical Duke pushes aside Michigan State
INDIANAPOLIS — So this was the game plan: It would have to run good offense and not give away possessions and defend the dribble and not foul and hope the other guys played poorly.
It would have to happen for 40 minutes and not for just a stretch or two.
And if none of it happened, Michigan State’s basketball team had as much chance to beat Duke in the Final Four as you would scoring a ringside ticket to Mayweather-Pacquiao for free.
Suggestion: Think pay per view.
The Spartans weren’t very good on college basketball’s grandest stage Saturday, and the Blue Devils were, clearly proven in Duke’s 81-61 national semifinal victory before 72,238 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
It means the Blue Devils advance Monday to a ninth national championship game under coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will be seeking a fifth title. It also means that for the first time since 2008, two No. 1 seeds will meet to decide which one cuts down the nets.
The other participant will be Wisconsin, which denied Kentucky the chance at finishing 40-0 by beating the Wildcats 71-64 in the second semifinal.
Weird. Most talk the past few days in Indianapolis was about efficiency, about how Wisconsin has the best offense nationally and Kentucky the best defense, about how the Badgers this season have been historically good at scoring and the Wildcats at stopping it.
There wasn’t much talk about this: Duke is really, really good.
So good that it now has beaten five tournament opponents by an average of almost 18 points.
So good that the Blue Devils scored 81 on Saturday while making only two 3-pointers. They shot 52 percent and had only eight turnovers. They outrebounded Michigan State and scored 42 points in the paint.
Those are winning numbers.
Every. Last. One.
“I wish they gave us a week to get ready for (Monday),” Krzyzewski said. “I think we would improve. Look, we’ve gotten better. We keep getting better. It’s because our guys are paying attention, they want to learn. This is the best we have played in the tournament, and we have played really well in the tournament.”
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is 1-9 against Krzyzewski, and you can point to players who can drive and either create scores or contact (or both) as to why this one went so bad for the Spartans.
Izzo’s team didn’t have those guys. Duke had a lot of them.
The Blue Devils shot 37 free throws (making 27), and most of that had to do with the fact Michigan State couldn’t guard most anyone all night. Justise Winslow. Quinn Cook. Grayson Allen. Pick a Duke player and he probably got to the line by driving the ball at some point. Winslow had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the onslaught.
“I don’t blame the officials,” Izzo said. “I blame me. We had some fouls we deserved. I don’t want to complain about the fouls. We got our butts beat. I still say most of it was our fault. The (officials) didn’t turn the ball over. They didn’t take bad shots. That was us. We did. As proud as I am of my team, I’m disappointed about that. That’s just the way it is.
“I guess I need to recruit more guys who can drive the ball.”
This also was a bit curious: Jahlil Okafor is the most skilled big man in college, a 6-foot-11-inch freshman who will play for a championship Monday and then likely become one of the top selections in the NBA Draft. A popular defensive strategy all season was to either double-team him on the catch or foul the you-know-what out of a kid who shoots 51 percent from the line and make him beat you there.
The Spartans chose not to double him and instead seemed more intent on fouling Marshall Plumlee, brother to NBAers Mason and Miles and absolutely not the most skilled big in college.
At one point, they fouled Plumlee 90 feet from the basket.
Okafor made them pay, finishing with 18 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes. He also made 4 of 7 free throws. That sort of night for Duke.
Michigan State was very good for about four minutes, making its first four 3-point attempts and racing to a 14-6 lead. It wasn’t so good after that, but Duke’s defense was. The Spartans became a jump-shooting team, mostly because the Blue Devils began taking them out of all their sets.
Quick shots. Missed layups. Not converting on breaks. Fourteen turnovers.
It went from bad to worse to eliminated for the No. 7 seed.
“I don’t think we started the game out with the intensity that we needed,” Cook said. “A couple times, I know myself, I tried to cheat a ball screen and (Michigan State) made us pay. We got down early, (Krzyzewski) got on us.
“But the last 36 minutes, I mean, we played one of our better games.”
And the Spartans didn’t.
Forget that free ticket.
Pay per view is your only chance.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 100.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.