Former Duke and Bulls star Luol Deng returned to the United Center on Tuesday as his Blue Devils played against Michigan State in the 13th annual State Farm Champions Classic.
Deng watched a mistake-filled, offensively challenged game. It was the type of game Deng’s Bulls would’ve played on the United Center court: a methodically paced, defensive-oriented affair with few three-point makes. The current Bulls are coming off back-to-back games in which they missed their first eight shots and looked out of sorts offensively.
But unlike the Bulls, the Blue Devils responded in their 74-65 victory.
“You always learn something, and you’re playing against an opponent who really believes they’re supposed to win,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “It’s a great test.”
The Blue Devils struggled to score in their previous loss to No. 3 Arizona (they shot 43% from the field), and Michigan State had arguably the biggest face-plant of the early college basketball season when it made only one three-pointer in its upset loss to James Madison.
Both teams traveled, missed open shots and played offense in a way that didn’t resemble modern basketball. It’s almost as if they were paying homage to the Bulls.
Even though the Spartans and Blue Devils are ranked, there should’ve been an expectation that points would be hard to come by. Both teams have offensive talent; it’s just about figuring out the right mix.
It was Scheyer’s first game coaching at the United Center since taking over for Mike Krzyzewski. Scheyer — a potent scoring guard in his day — is the fourth-highest scorer in state history and famously had 21 points in 75 seconds at the 2006 Proviso West Holiday Tournament.
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo entered the season as the third-longest-tenured coach in the sport. But this matchup against Duke was different than any other matchup; it was Izzo’s first time facing a Duke coach other than Krzyzewski.
“Listen, this has been a very good rivalry in its own way for two teams that aren’t in the same conference,” Izzo said before the game. “Unfortunately, they have one more [championship] than we have, but I think 90% of the games have been very good games, and I expect this will be a dogfight, too.”
Scheyer said it was a hard-fought game, which he expected from an Izzo-coached team. But the difference-maker was guard Caleb Foster. Foster scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, playing within the flow of the offense after an uneven start to the season.
Scheyer used Foster’s play in particular as an example of the resiliency needed by his team.
“There are going to be moments where you get knocked back, but at Duke — as the program that I know Duke to be — it’s all about how you respond,” Scheyer said.
