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Duke at Michigan State: Gameday Live Thread

Blue Devils take on Spartans in ACC/B1G Challenge

The No. 10 Duke Blue Devils have cleared arena security and will be taking on Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at approximately 9:30 on Tuesday.

Duke has the best record in the history of the challenge, at 18-2, and has won its last seven ACC/B1G Challenge contests. Duke is 5-0 against Michigan State in the Challenge, including 1-0 at the Breslin Center, home for tonight's game.

Both teams are coming off of tough weeks. Duke lost to Stephen F. Austin a week ago, snapping its 19 year home winning streak in non-conference games. In the following game, the Blue Devils lost freshman Cassius Stanley, who will be out until Christmas with a hamstring issue.

The loss had Duke's confidence shattered, and Coach K said he didn't think the Blue Devils were a top five, or possibly even a top 25 team, at this point.

Michigan State is also reeling, having fallen from preseason No. 1 down to 11 in the latest poll, following a surprising loss to Virginia Tech in Maui.

MSU point guard Cassius Winston lost his brother last month, which has impacted the entire team, many of whom were close to him. Coach Tom Izzo said that the team is "fragile" right now.

In case you're not keeping up with your Challenge history, the ACC is 12-5-3 all-time. The two power conferences split last year's challenge, following two straight ACC wins. They split last night's two games, and the Big Ten is leading in two of the three early games on Tuesday.

For those of you who partake in that sort of thing, Duke is a six to six and a half-point betting underdog. It's just the seventh time this decade Duke has been that big a dog. Blue Devils are 3-3, 3-1-2 against the spread in those games.

Tre Jones, Matthew Hurt, Vernon Carey, Wendell Moore and Jack White will start. White's second start of the season. 

Tre Jones did some things on that fast break that Loyer will need to work on in therapy.

Duke with three steals early.

Some ill-advised early threes for Duke. Carey and Jones both pulled the trigger from deeper than necessary before the offense got set.

At the under 16, Duke is up 11-7.

Not usually a fan of mixing and matching colors on uniforms, but the black uniforms with blue lettering Duke is wearing are an interesting look. For some reason, it seems to make everyone look bigger.

Xavier Tillman goes to the bench with two fouls. His first foul kept Henry from getting two early fouls. MSU up to six turnovers now.

Nothing settled in the second four minutes. At the under 12, Duke still up four, 15-11.

A Bingham dunk (and one pending) sends us to the under eight. Duke up 25-17. MSU struggling with ball control. Seven turnovers tonight. Duke has five steals.

Three Blue Devils: White, Baker and Moore, have two fouls already. And Moore picks up his third on a bad decision under the basket.

Duke goes up by double digits and Tre Jones hits a dagger of a three. Time out MSU with Duke up 32-18.

White picks up his third foul on an illegal screen on the inbounds.

Duke scoring at the rim over and over. Up 22-12 in the paint. Carey has 10 points. Duke up 36-22 at the under four.

MSU hitting the boards hard since the timeout. Cut Duke's lead to 39-27 on two putbacks. Duke calls time out.

Duke with blocks on back-to-back possessions. The Blue Devils have seven in the first half.

Halftime. Duke is up 45-29. Carey has 15 points, 8 rebounds. Jones has 11 with 7 assists. DeLaurier is 4-for-4 with 8 points.

Different MSU team comes out of the locker room. Izzo must have laid into him. Spartans cut it to 46-38 and Duke gets a time out. 17:32 to go.

Just no way for MSU to stop Carey inside. He's getting the ball at the rim and dunking. It's as simple as it sounds. 21 points, 8 boards and he's been to the line nine times. Duke up 51-38 at the under 16.

Duke up 65-51 at the under 12. Blue Devils have withstood MSU's early run.

Duke has broken this one open. 11-2 run puts the score at 74-53. Joey Baker is 5-for-5 with 11 points.

79-61 at the under 8. Vernon Carey has  been getting attention on the bench. Looks like it might be cramps. He's standing in the time out huddles.

ESPN reporting that it's just cramps. Also reports that Cassius Stanley may be back sooner than expected. At the under-four, it's 81-63 Duke.

MSU with a late run to make it a little more respectable. Duke moves to 19-2 in the Challenge with an 87-75 win.