NCAA Tournament: Takeaways from Michigan State's second-round loss to Duke, Coach K

The game became what maybe everyone inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena and watching at home on TV thought it would be.

Michigan State and Duke battled. It could've been Mike Kryzewski's last game, as the No. 7 seed Spartans gave No. 2 seed Duke (30-6) about everything it could handle for nearly 40 minutes.

But in the end, Duke prevailed 85-76 and Spartans coach Tom Izzo fell to 3-13 against Coach K.

Duke used a hot shooting night and an overpowering lineup that is filled with NBA-level talent (see AJ Griffin, Paolo Banchero) to stomp out Michigan State's hopes of playing the role of all-time spoilers.

"It was reminiscent of the Final Four games," Kryzewski said. "Both teams were lights out with the effort today. We're so very proud of winning this game because we beat a heck of a team, obviously as well coached as any in the country."

Duke's hopes of sending arguably the greatest coach in college basketball history out with the ultimate prize, the national championship, continued.

Here are the takeaways from the game as Michigan State fell in the round of 32 and Duke keeps dancing:

Duke wins classic at The Well

The biggest shot of the game came in the final minutes. The game that was anticipated to be and built up as a marquee duel became such. And Duke guard Jeremy Roach's 3-pointer with 1:16 left in the game was the dagger.

His basket gave Duke a 78-74 lead late.

"Kind of the last media, the four-minute media, I was thinking to myself, if I get an open 3, I'm knocking it down," Roach said of the shot. "It was kind of like 1:30 left or something like that. The shot clock was winding down, and I knew I had to make a play."

The Blue Devils didn't take their first lead until the 11:11 mark of the first half, when they went ahead 16-15 on a Mark Williams jump shot.

Albeit shocking, Michigan State's aggressiveness and lack of fouling allowed them to lead for the first nine minutes. Duke awoke and Michigan State went on a scoring drought that lasted nearly six minutes.

Duke carried that momentum on both ends in to the second half.

Michigan State was able to make it a one-possession game multiple times and even tied it at 65 with a pair of AJ Hoggard free throws with 6:09 left and took a five-point lead into the final four minutes. After the Spartans took that lead, Duke closed the game with a 20-6 run and also had an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to get the win.

"(I'll) probably be beating myself up for a week," Izzo said. "Because not many times do you get an opportunity to be right there on the threshold of something special, and it slipped away."

Also: 3 things to know about Michigan State senior Gabe Brown

But Michigan State struggled again down the stretch, and it gave Duke a halftime lead that was helpful in hanging on for the win. The Spartans made 11 3-pointers, their second- highest total this season behind the 12 they made on two separate occasions.

Duke shot 57.1 percent from the field, its best shooting night since making 59.3 percent of its shots on March 1 at Pitt. Banchero scored 19 points to lead all scorers.

"We were like, man, we got four minutes," Banchero said. "We can either lay down, or we can turn it up. That's really all it was, man. Just fighting, like you said, having heart. And just trusting each other really."

Spartans had frontcourt battles

Duke has an overpowering set of big men. Banchero and Mark Williams alone have given teams fits all season.

Michigan State senior big men Marcus Bingham Jr. and Joey Hauser combined for seven of the Spartans first nine points in the game. The two combined for 21 points and 16 rebounds overall.

More: 3 takeaways from Michigan State's first-round victory over Davidson

"You want to be proud," said Bingham Jr., who had 16 points and 10 rebounds. "But mad we're not playing another night. We fought. Just some situations, we didn't pull through."

The unit of Banchero, Griffin and Williams in the frontcourt proved a matchup that was too much. Duke was plus-two in the rebounding margin at the half and outrebounded MSU 35-31 overall.

The Blue Devils pounded the ball in the paint to the tune of 44 points inside the lane.

Gabe Brown's big game

Gabe Brown has been an emotional leader for much of his career at Michigan State. He's an energizer bunny and the Spartans' leading scorer at just over 11 points per game.

The senior is familiar with Duke. He was in the rotation when Michigan State defeated Duke in the 2019 Elite Eight to make the Final Four. This year's postseason was his third in the NCAA Tournament.

He began the game's scoring with a baseline jump shot with 18:51 to play in the first half. He seemed emotionally and mentally engaged for the first 20 minutes.

Brown knocked in four 3-pointers and scored 14 in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting overall, leading all scorers at the break. He hit three 3-pointers in the final 4:10 of the half and helped cut the Blue Devils' halftime lead to 39-35 at the break.

His strong play continued in the second half. Brown's breakaway dunk in transition with just less than 17 minutes left in the game cut the Duke lead to 46-42. He had another slam in transition with 8:24 left in the game that cut the Duke lead to two points. His performance was a major reason MSU was in the game for its majority.

"It's a lot of mixed emotions," Brown said. "I put everything I had into being here, playing at Michigan State, everything I put into it for Coach Izzo, my teammates, for the staff, for everybody. I'm sad that I can't play another night, but it's motivation. It's motivation for sure for next year."

Brown finished with 18 points, a team high.

Duke's overpowering talent

The Blue Devil's have four players projected to be picked in the first round of the this upcoming summer's NBA Draft. Freshmen Banchero, Williams, and Griffin and junior guard Wendell Moore Jr. make up an ultra-talented lineup for Duke.

More: What Michigan State, coach Tom Izzo said ahead of NCAA Tournament matchup with Duke

That slowly became the difference. The four players combined for 56 points Sunday.

What's next for both?

Michigan State's season ended in the opening stages of the tournament for the second straight season. Last year the Spartans fell to UCLA, which eventually went on to the Final Four, in the First Four game as a No. 11 seed.

Duke will face Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 in San Francisco. Next week will be Duke's 26th appearance in the Sweet 16 under Kryzewski.

The Blue Devils extended, too, the final season under Kryzewski. The win was his 1,200th the the most all time.

Joe Dandron covers high school sports and more for The Greenville News. Have a story tip or question involving prep sports? Email him at jdandron@gannett.com or reach out via Twitter: @JoeMDandron.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Takeaways as Michigan State falls to Duke, Coach K in NCAA Tournament