Allen leads No. 5 Duke past Michigan State 78-69
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) Grayson Allen keeps putting up huge numbers for No. 5 Duke. Imagine how much more impressive they might be if he were healthy enough to practice.
Allen scored 24 points, Luke Kennard added 20 and the Blue Devils beat Michigan State 78-69 on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Allen has been dealing with lingering foot injuries for the past two weeks, with coach Mike Krzyzewski saying he hurt his toe before the Penn State game on Nov. 19 and limped through the Rhode Island game the next day. He checked out of the Appalachian State game early three days ago when he reinjured the toe.
”Grayson does not practice one second,” Krzyzewski said. ”So when he’s out on that court, it’s a gutty performance. … That kid has played unbelievably, and he’s limping.”
Amile Jefferson had 17 points and 13 rebounds while freshman Frank Jackson finished with 11 points and keyed a timely 11-0 run for the Blue Devils (7-1), who won their fourth straight despite shooting just 27 percent from 3-point range.
Eron Harris scored 14 points for Michigan State (4-4). Playing their first game as an unranked team since March 2015, the Spartans had 18 turnovers – ”Too much AAU ball, not enough college ball,” coach Tom Izzo said. Star freshman Miles Bridges was held to 11 points – six fewer than his team-leading average – on 4-of-13 shooting.
”I didn’t think Miles played as hard as he’s been playing,” Izzo said. ”He’d been playing hard, and just got caught…