Michigan State basketball can right the ship vs. No. 9 Duke

Michigan State basketball has a chance to correct all wrongs and right the ship on Tuesday night against Duke.

Tuesday night is the biggest non-conference game of the season. Even though Arizona, who just beat Duke and is ranked higher, is on our schedule, we have a lot of history with the Blue Devils which makes this a bigger game. Michigan State basketball is off to a slow start out of the gates this season. A shocking defeat to James Madison and a somewhat underwhelming win against Southern Indiana is not how any of us expected this season to begin.

But we have a massive opportunity in front of us on Tuesday night to get the season back on track.

A win in this game erases all negative feelings

Michigan State will once again play on the biggest November stage in college basketball in the Champions Classic. We used that to our advantage last year when we upset No. 4 Kentucky. That win last year announced to the college basketball world that we are back. Nobody believed in us last year until that win over Kentucky.

Can the Spartans do the same this season?

After two shaky games to start the season, everyone is doubting our team once again. A win against Duke however erases all of that. Nobody will be talking about the James Madison loss if we win this game. The discussion will shift from a “struggling Spartan team” to a Final Four contender once again.

Need our confidence back

This is arguably the most important thing that we need right now. Our confidence is very low right now after starting the season 1-1. Three-point shooting has also been awful with only two makes in two games. A win against Duke is the confidence boost our guys need right now.

It probably doesn’t even matter how we get that win either. We could be dominant and win while scoring 100 points or win in an ugly game where we shoot poorly again. It doesn’t matter how you play as long as you win. Our confidence and belief in ourselves will be soaring if we can beat Duke.

Can Tom Izzo get it done? These two teams are 2-2 in their last four meetings, which is a lot better than how we did before the last four games. Michigan State also beat Duke three years ago in the Champions Classic, a game that was played at Duke due to COVID-19. I have no doubt that we can get it done, but we’re going to need to play a lot better in order to do so. Both teams are desperate for a win, so this should be another classic in this rivalry.