Michigan State Basketball: 3 keys to victory against No. 9 Duke

3. If things go south, play defense

I guess it’s a matter of when, not if, the offense becomes stagnant.

The offense has been out of sync at times which is partially due to experimental lineups by Tom Izzo but the veterans on this team just mentally check out for what seems like a few minutes of game time. It’s one thing where the ball just isn’t falling, and that’s going to happen. When it does, the team needs to make up for it on defense.

As I mentioned before, steals are up, blocks are up and if rebounding can bounce back, the defense can carry this team deep into the season, not unlike those classic Izzo teams who would make a clutch defensive stop and then transition to an easy bucket or even a transition three, a potential point differential of up to six points.

Defense can also prevent that 5-0 run that Duke will go on from going from 5-0 to 9-0 to 12-0. Don’t be afraid to have this game hit the under. Tire out the Blue Devils offense and it will eventually lead to them making tired mistakes on defense.