Duke basketball is off to its best start under coach Jon Scheyer, taking down Michigan State, 66-60, on the road at the Breslin Center on Saturday, Dec. 6.
No. 4 Duke trailed 34-31 at halftime ― its first halftime deficit since its season opener vs. Texas on Nov. 4 ― but outscored the No. 8/7 Spartans 35-26 in the second half to move to 10-0 on the season. It’s their fifth win ― and third straight ― over a ranked opponent as well.
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Duke trailed some in the second half, too, but used a 15-7 run across the last five minutes and clutch free throws to hold on for the win.
The Blue Devils finished the day 38.2% from the field and 31% from 3, while Michigan State was 31.8% from the field and 36.4% from 3.
Duke now looks ahead to its final two nonconference games before it opens ACC play on Dec. 31. The Blue Devils host Lipscomb on Dec. 16 and play Texas Tech in a neutral site matchup at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20.
Here are three observations from Duke basketball’s road win at Michigan State.
Cameron Boozer strong second half for Duke basketball
Similar to Duke’s season-opener vs. Texas when Cameron Boozer was held scoreless, the freshman was held to just two points in the first half vs. the Spartans. His lone basket came at the 3-minute mark on a putback layup as he was 1-of-4 from the field across the first 20 minutes. Boozer then came out of the break and was 5-for-5 from the field, finishing the day with 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds on 53.8% shooting. It marks Boozer’s fifth double-double of the season.
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Boozer did end up fouling out for the first time on the year with 11 seconds left as the Blue Devils’ bigs got into foul trouble late. Maliq Brown finished with four fouls and Patrick Ngongba II three.
Timely Duke free throws late
It was a tied game at 55-all with 1:59 to go after Jeremy Fears Jr. knocked down a pair of free throws for the Spartans. Duke then used free throws of its own to take a lead it would not relinquish.
Boozer was fouled with 1:35 to go, knocking down both of his attempts. The Blue Devils came up with a defensive stop, and on its next possession, it ran the same play it did in the final seconds vs. Florida, with the Isaiah Evans ghost screen and Boozer finding him. Evans was fouled on his shot attempt and missed, nailing all three of his free throws as Duke took the 60-55 lead with 55 seconds remaining.
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Michigan State made it a one-possession game with 11 seconds left behind a Curtis Cooper and-1, but Caleb Foster nailed a pair of free throws of his own with 10 seconds left as Duke again made it a two-possession game. Patrick Ngongba II also added a late free throw with four seconds remaining.
The Blue Devils finished the day 15-of-23 (65.2%) from the charity stripe.
Caleb Foster continues to make big plays down stretch, Nik Khamenia plays career-high minutes
Along with his clutch free throws late, Caleb Foster hit a late trey off a Boozer pass to extend Duke’s lead to 63-57 with 15 seconds left. It was his first 3 of the day after a 0-for-3 start from deep and his third game on the season coming with key plays down the stretch for Duke, as he made a late 3 against Arkansas and came up with the late steal against Florida. Foster ended the day with 12 points, second to Boozer, on 4-of-9 shooting with four rebounds and two assists.
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Nikolas Khamenia, who started his second career game, was third on the team with 10 points, going 3-for-4 from 3, and nearly logged a double-double with nine boards for a career-high. Second to Boozer, Khamenia played 34 minutes, the most he has logged this season.
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@usatodayco.com or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke basketball takeaways from road win at Michigan State
