A Devil of a Time for Duke at MSU

It was a dismal week for the Duke Blue Devils, who look to bounce back from consecutive poor showings and an injury to their best player as they tangle with host Michigan State on Tuesday. The Blue Devils answered a stunning loss to Stephen F. Austin with an uninspiring win over Winthrop, during which they lost guard Cassius Stanley to a leg muscle injury.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Spartans kick things off as 5-point favorites; it’s just the seventh time since the start of the 2017-18 season that the Blue Devils have been underdogs (they’re 4-2 SU and ATS in the previous six).

Duke News & Notes

It’s probably good that Duke is getting its bad stretch out of the way early. Three days after falling 85-83 in overtime to Stephen F. Austin as a 27.5-point favorite, the Blue Devils slipped past Winthrop 83-70 at -24.5 – and will now have to play their first true road game of the season without Stanley, who is out indefinitely after injuring his left leg in Friday’s victory.

Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski couldn’t say when Stanley would return but is hoping to have him back in the lineup before the end of the year. Stanley’s absence is a big blow to a Blue Devils team that enters the week ranked 15th in Division I in points per game (83.8); he ranks third on the team in scoring at 12.9 ppg while adding 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals.

Michigan State News & Notes

The Spartans enter the Big Ten/ACC Challenge with their own issues to address. Not only have they already lost twice – and still have a few weeks to go before conference season kicks off – but one of those defeats came against a Virginia Tech team that entered as a 13-point underdog. The Spartans failed to cover their next two games, victories over Georgia and UCLA.

But while Stanley sits this one out for Duke, his Michigan State namesake is ready to lead the Spartans to March glory. Guard Cassius Winston comfortably leads the Spartans in scoring at 17.9 points per game while adding a team-best 6.0 assists; his 2-for-8, seven-point performance against the Hokies marked the only time he has failed to reach double digits this season.

Betting Pick: Michigan State -5

The Spartans have looked only modestly better than the Blue Devils in recent games, but the loss of Stanley is going to hurt Duke just enough to put Michigan State over the top on home court.