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2015 NCAA Tournament: Duke-Michigan State Tale of the Tape

By Daniel Tran

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The 2015 NCAA Tournament is down to four remaining teams vying for the National Championship. Here is a look at the matchup between the Michigan State Spartans and Duke Blue Devils.

Duke Blue Devils

Starting Five:
Tyus “Does He Have a Pulse?” Jones, Guard
Quinn “Ballin’ Buckwheat” Cook, Guard
Matt “Who?”Jones, Guard
Justise “Is Served” Winslow, Forward
Jahlil “Tank Target” Okafor, Center

Key Reserves:
Amile “The Forgotten” Jefferson, Forward
Marshall “Seriously, I’m the Last” Plumlee, Center
Grayson “I was a Five-star Recruit, Too!” Allen, Guard

Head Coach: Mike “Ugh, Another Final Four” Krzyzewski

Michigan State Spartans

Starting Five:
Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn, Jr., Guard
Travis “Not Once, Not Twice, But” Trice, Guard
Denzel “Will You be My” Valentine, Guard
Branden “Bulldozer” Dawson, Guard-Forward
Gavin “Two Pence, and a” Schilling, Forward

Key Reserves:
Bryn “Am I Out of the Doghouse?” Forbes, Guard
Matt “Not Elvis” Costello, Forward
Marvin “In Your Face, Oregon” Clark, Forward
Alvin “Not the Chipmunk” Ellis III, Forward

Head Coach: Tom “God of March” Izzo

The Buildup: It isn’t March unless Tom Izzo says it is. If you want further evidence of that, just look at his record in the NCAA Tournament. During his 20-year tenure at Michigan State, Tom Izzo has guided the Spartans to a 46-16 record in college basketball’s most prized tournament. His consistent excellence in the NCAA Tournament has even invoked the creation of perhaps one of the best college basketball shirts of all-time.

Amazing apparel aside, Izzo continued his trend of early season losses that eventually built a tournament powerhouse this season with a roster that finished third in the Big Ten Conference with a record of 27-11 and an average team height of 6’4”.

Placed in the wide open East Region in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Michigan State went through a grinder of a schedule, first defeating Georgia by seven points, knocking off Virginia for the second year in a row, beating a talented Oklahoma team by four points, and fighting off a much larger Louisville team playing their best basketball of the season to win the region and enter into the national semifinal round.

Duke took a different path to the Final Four. Given the benefit of the No. 1 seed in the South Region, Duke’s first two games in the NCAA Tournament weren’t exactly tests. They defeated Robert Morris by 29 points, and then destroyed an offensively challenged San Diego State team by 19 points.

They then faced deep teams in Utah and Gonzaga that could counter their production at guard and had forwards and centers that could compete against Okafor, and still they were able to persevere and advance to the Final Four relatively comfortably.

With Duke in the Final Four, this marks the 12th time head coach Mike Krzyzewski has reached the national semifinal, giving him the most Final Four appearances all-time along with the great John Wooden. With the amount of talent that Duke has had in the past and the monsters that they have this season, it’s just another March for the Blue Devils.

The Matchup: Let’s first address the 7’0 elephant in the room. Scratch that; make it two 7’0 elephants in the room. Jahlil Okafor and Marshall Plumlee represent two of biggest opponents that Michigan State has faced this tournament so far.

Against a similarly sized Louisville team, the Spartans allowed four offensive rebounds to Montrezl Harrell and three offensive rebounds to 6’10 center Mangok Mathiang who isn’t exactly swift of foot. They will have a hard time stopping Okafor, the active Plumlee, and even Amile Jefferson or Justise Winslow who has been hitting the boards hard as well.

Michigan State has actually allowed an average of 13.3 offensive rebounds per game during the tournament. Against Duke’s group of rebounders, it may be the aspect of the game that dooms them in the end.

However, what Michigan State lacks in size, they make up for with toughness and tenacity. Defensively, they have been incredible during the NCAA Tournament. In four games, they have held opponents to 33.9 percent from the field, and 23.7 percent from the three-point line.

Still, Duke presents an interesting challenge that the Spartans have not faced in the 2015 NCAA Tournament: an elite offensive team. The Blue Devils rank fifth in the nation in scoring at 79.5 points per game. They are also averaging 14.8 assists on 26.3 made field goals a game. The team is sharing the ball, which has resulted in tournament success.

The Verdict: Michigan State has had a nice run through the tournament and Tom Izzo has done an amazing job at maximizing the ability of every player on his roster, but Duke has too much fire power and size for the Spartans to overcome. It will be a close affair at least. Duke: 68, Michigan State: 64

Next: 3 Matchups to Watch for Wisconsin-Kentucky

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