Michigan State Basketball: Elite Eight Q&A with Duke basketball expert

Michigan State basketball is gearing up to face a tough Duke team for a trip to the Final Four on Sunday. We got the enemy’s perspective of the matchup.

Gearing up for the biggest game of the season, Michigan State will get a crack at taking down big, bad Duke. The Blue Devils have been the national title favorites all season and even after a couple of close rounds, that remains the same.

Sunday’s Elite Eight battle will be one of the most intriguing of the tourney and this Michigan State team is more than ready for the matchup.

We caught up with Ball Durham site expert Kevin Connelly ahead of Sunday’s matchup for an informative Q&A behind enemy lines.

Q: We all know about Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish and RJ Barrett, but Duke obviously has other horses. Who else should the Spartans be worried about?

A: The biggest question going into Sunday’s game is the status of Cam Reddish. It was a major surprise to everyone that he did not play on Friday night against Virginia Tech due to knee issues. in his place Duke turned to Alex O’Connell who is a very good 3-point shooter, but has some major troubles defensively. However, on Friday it was reversed because O’Connell’s shot wasn’t falling but he was excellent in terms of rebounding, leading the team, and he played some excellent defense in the final seconds.

But Michigan State has to watch out for Tre Jones and Marques Bolden. Jones is coming off his best game of the season where he went for 22 points and made a career high five 3-pointers. Bolden is still recovering from a knee sprain suffered in the regular season finale, but despite foul issues against Virginia Tech, he looked like he was moving around much better than he did last weekend. 

Q: Does Zion Williamson have any weaknesses or is he actually as unguardable like he looks?

A: The worst part of Zion Williamson’s game is at the free throw line. His 3-point shot has improved dramatically and he is a monster among men in the paint, but he’s only a 64.6% free throw shooter. Obviously Michigan State will try and stay out of foul trouble, but fouling Zion and forcing him to knock down his free throws wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. 

Q: What would you say is Duke’s biggest weakness?

A: As a team, Duke’s biggest weakness is settling for 3-pointers when they have players like Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett who can get into the paint anytime they want. The Blue Devils shoot 30.2 percent from beyond the arc and sometimes this team gets lazy in the half court and settles for outside jumpers.

Duke is also a poor free throw shooting team at 69 percent from the charity stripe. I really don’t know how, but free throw shooting hasn’t comeback to haunt Duke yet, but games keep getting closer and closer and Duke has to find some way to knock down free throws late in the game. 

Q: Two games, two close calls. How worried is the Duke fan base after the last two last-second averted disasters against UCF and Virginia Tech and what needs to be fixed in order to make sure this doesn’t happen a third time?

A: I’ll be honest, I have no idea how Duke is in this game. Aubrey Dawkins had a put back layup that he probably finishes 99 times out of 100. Then Ahmed Hill has a lob that he probably finishes 99 times out of 100 on Friday night.

However, Duke wouldn’t have been in that position on Friday if Tre Jones hits the front end of a one-and-one that would have put Duke up by three, with the potential to go up four. Every single possession is so important at this part of the season and Duke has to be able to execute in close games down the stretch to avoid these close calls. 

Q: What worries you most about this Michigan State matchup?

A: Honestly there are a lot of things that worry me about this matchup with Michigan State.

First, I’ll start with Cassius Winston. Winston is a player that can absolutely take over a game and Duke has had issues guarding dynamic guards who can score in a hurry.

Next, I’ll move over to how the Spartans can light it up from 3-point range. As a 38.3 percent 3-point shooting team, I don’t feel like that number does it justice for how dominant this team can be shooting the ball. Just look at the Sweet 16 game against LSU, making 13-of-32 from 3-point range.

Lastly, its Coach K’s dominance over Tom Izzo. K is 11-1 all time over Izzo and you just feel like Izzo is due to get one against K and Duke and some point and I’m nervous that it will come on Sunday. Duke fans don’t have to look that far in the past to see someone who has struggled in the Elite 8 get to the Final Four when Bill Self and Kansas were able to down the Blue Devils last season in the Elite 8.

Q: Prediction?

A: I haven’t picked against Duke all year. You want me to start now? No chance. I think Duke has the advantage over Michigan State, especially if Cam Reddish is able to play. However, I think this game will be very close and to the common fan its a complete toss up, but I’ll go with Duke in a 5-7 point game, hopefully.

A big thanks to Kevin for taking the time to answer these questions and you can see our Michigan State version on their site.