Michigan State Basketball: Tom Izzo recorded important first against Duke

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo has been waiting for this. He’s had his fair share of games at Cameron Indoor but has not won until Tuesday.

Michigan State has had its fair share of games against Duke in the Tom Izzo era. He, however, has struggled to get the best of Coach K and the Blue Devils.

Since Izzo became the head coach in 1995, these two have squared off 15 times in all sorts of locations. Each team has traveled to each other’s arena to face off. They have met a few times in the NCAA tournament and every so often they meet up at a neutral site to play in the Champions Classic.

Whenever they meet, Izzo always has a chip on his shoulder.

Throughout the years, he has only bested Coach K four times. However, up until Tuesday night, he had never won at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Here’s a look at each matchup Izzo has had against the Blue Devils:

• Dec 2. 1998 — No. 9 MSU 67, No. 4 Duke 73 (Chicago, Ill.)
• March 27, 1999 — No. 2 MSU 62, No. 1 Duke 68 (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
• Dec 3, 2003 — No. 5 MSU 50, No. 6 Duke 72 (East Lansing, Mich.)
• Nov 30, 2004 — No. 10 MSU 74, No. 9 Duke 81 (Durham, N.C.)
• Mar 25, 2005 — No. 5 MSU 78, No. 1 Duke 68 (Austin, Texas)
• Dec 1, 2010 — No. 6 MSU 79, No. 1 Duke 84 (Durham, N.C.)
• Nov 15, 2011 — MSU 69, No. 6 Duke 74 (New York, N.Y.)
• March 29, 2013 — No. 3 MSU 61, No. 2 Duke 71 (Indianapolis, Ind.)
• Nov. 18, 2018 — No. 19 MSU 71, No. 4 Duke 81 (Indianapolis, Ind.)
• April 4, 2015 — No. 7 MSU 61, No. 4 Duke 81 (Indianapolis, Ind.)
• Nov. 29, 2016 — MSU 69, No. 5 Duke 78 (Durham, N.C.)
• Nov. 14, 2017 — No. 2 MSU 81, No. 1 Duke 88 (Chicago, Ill.)
• March 3, 2019 — No. 2 MSU 68, No. 1 Duke 67 (Washington, D.C.)
• Dec. 3, 2019 — No. 11 MSU 75, No. 10 Duke 87 (East Lansing, Mich.)
• Dec. 1, 2020 — No. 8 MSU 75, No. 6 Duke 69 (Durham, N.C.)

On Tuesday night, the Champions Classic game was moved to Cameron Indoor because of COVID-19. This move made it easier to schedule the game. Before the game started, it was unsure how the Spartans were going to perform. This was there first true road test the Spartans had and it was against one of their arch nemesis in Duke who is ranked in the top 10 as well.

The Spartans started this game sluggishly. They were not playing the game they typically play and they were getting out worked in all facets of the game. They were playing sloppy, making bad passes, not protecting the ball and not controlling the tempo. They were settling for jump shots were not letting the offense set up for a good look.

This all changed when Malik Hall and Julius Marble came in off the bench. These two came in and brought a spark and intensity that was missing from the Spartans. Marble got the ball down low and made a great move for an easy bucket and that is when the momentum started to shift. Once they got the ball inside and could score from the paint their whole game shifted.

The Spartans ended the half going on a 13-3 run and continued the strong play in the second half going up by 16 points at one time. They were playing a great game and then once again they started to falter with only a couple of minutes left giving Duke a chance to get back into the game. Duke was able to pull within six points but could not pull off the comeback.

This win gave Izzo and the Spartans their first win at Cameron Indoor. It has been a tough road but they made it. This could be momentum shift in Izzo’s career that he needs in order to level the playing field and secure more victories over Coach K and the Duke Blue Devils.