Irving Is the Real Deal

A game after Duke senior Kyle Singler put up 30 points against Oregon in Portland, freshman Kyrie Irving stole his thunder.  Irving scored 31 points, setting his career high in the first half with 18, in a 84-79 win over a very talented and six ranked Michigan State Spartans.  Irving has been the best player on the court against both of Duke's biggest opponents, Kansas State and Michigan State.  The freshman had 17 points and six assists along with a stellar defensive effort on Jacob Pullen in Duke's 14-point win over Kansas State last week.  In addition to his 31 points Wednesday, Irving also recorded six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, and converted 13 of 16 free throw attempts.  For only an 18 year old freshman, Irving is playing like a senior leading Duke and is the point guard they have been lacking to give them a complete team in recent years.  Irving, a two-time ACC freshman of the week, became just the third freshman in Duke history to score at least 30 points in one game.

Heading into the locker room and down 38-34, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo told ESPN's Doris Burke that he liked the way his team was playing but that they couldn't afford to be committing silly turnovers.  The Spartans had committed 12 turnovers by halftime and tallied 20 for the game. Duke is forcing opponents into an average of 19.1 turnovers per game and capitalizing on those turnovers scoring 30 points off turnovers in the Michigan State game.

Michigan State cut its deficit to two points five minutes into the second half. After that point, however, Duke went on a 12-2 run with the help of four turnovers and two missed shots by Michigan State and an intentional foul which led to two Kyle Singler three-pointers in three possessions.  Duke was 2-9 from behind the three-point line in the first half, but hit five of its first six threes in the second half.  Duke's lead was cut to five points twice in final minute of the game, but prevailed to improve to 7-0 on the season.

Nolan Smith scored 17 points, Kyle Singler added 15 and Mason Plumlee posted 10 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.  

Michigan State out-shot Duke from the field and from behind the three-point arc. But the difference in the game was Duke's ability to get to the free throw line. The Spartans committed 25 fouls in the game, which led to 38 free attempts-making 38-for Duke compared to just 15 for Michigan State.

Duke plays Butler at 3:15 p.m. ET Saturday at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. The Blue Devils topped the Bulldogs in the 2010 National Championship Game when Gordon Hayward’s half court prayer clanked off the rim.  Michigan State falls to 5-2 on the season and hosts Bowling Green on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET