DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski entered the locker room at halftime of a 35-35 game with Michigan State and lit into his team for its lack of energy and defensive lapses.
Junior guard Grayson Allen's reaction to Krzyzewski’s red-faced tirade?
Meh.
It was nowhere near the top of Krzyzewski’s halftime rants. Allen, senior guard Matt Jones and fifth-year senior Amile Jefferson have been around long enough to have heard it all before -- and worse. So, they knew exactly how to handle it.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Allen said. “He has his way of motivating us and at halftime he thought it was to light into us. We have guys on our team that are secure and confident in themselves, so they respond well to being lit into.”
The fifth-ranked Blue Devils responded by using an 11-0 run in the second half to break away for a 78-69 win over the Spartans in Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
A lot has been written and discussed about how good Duke will be once freshmen Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden are healthy enough to enter the lineup. All three have the talent to potentially be one-and-done players and high NBA draft picks. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said the trio could make Duke “scary good.”
While the wait continues for that group to lift the Blue Devils into the stratosphere, Duke’s veteran core is proving to be an elite group in itself. Izzo called them “the warriors.”
“With Jefferson, with Allen, with Jones -- they’ve got a lot going on with those guys who seem to be good guys and leaders,” Izzo said.
This is how they led the Blue Devils:
Jones had his worst shooting performance of the season, going 1-for-7 from the field and missing each of his six 3-point attempts. When Krzyzewski called his game a “spectacular two-point performance,” he wasn’t being facetious.
Jones was the primary defender who frustrated Michigan State’s Miles Bridges into 4-of-13 shooting for 11 points -- well below his 17.4 average.
Jefferson, who gained high praise from Izzo, posted his fourth double-double in the past five games, scoring 17 points to go along with a game-high 13 rebounds.
Krzyzewski said Allen hasn’t practiced “one second” as he’s still nursing an injured toe suffered against Penn State on Nov. 19. But Allen scored a game-high 24 points, playing 37 minutes.
“We believe in our group,” Jefferson said. “We believe with the group we have that we’re one of the best teams in the country. When our guys get healthy, when everybody comes around, when Grayson gets 100 percent, on the tail end of it we’ll be a better team.”
On Tuesday night, Duke played with its rotation tightened to just six players for the only time this season. Jones and sophomore guard Luke Kennard played 40 minutes. Jefferson logged 35. Only sophomore center Chase Jeter came off the bench.
“I love it,” Jones said. “Coach always talks about how he leans on us and how we’ve been in a lot of battles together, especially G, Amile and myself. We’ve seen it all. Lost in the [2014 NCAA tournament] first round, won a championship. There’s really not a situation we haven’t been in.”
Jefferson was having his best individual campaign in 2015-16 before a foot injury ended his season. Many people remember how Allen responded in the 2015 Final Four, but up until then he played sparingly as a freshman reserve, averaging just eight minutes a game. Jones was not a full-time starter until his junior season.
“They’ve had adversity,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s not inherited wealth, let’s put it that way. It’s stuff that they’ve earned. And that’s a great environment to be in for these young guys."
About those young guys, Krzyzewski could only offer that they were “getting closer.” He cited Tatum’s workout on Monday and Giles continuing to participate in warm-ups and Bolden making strides. Until they return, the win over Michigan State with just a six-man rotation was a reiteration of what he has.
“Our older guys know how to win when they’re tired,” Krzyzewski said. “They don’t give up the ship. The white flag doesn’t come up, man.”