DURHAM -- Reluctantly, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski offered adjectives for freshman point guard Kyrie Irving on Wednesday night.
Irving had just scored 31 points to lift No. 1-ranked Duke to an 84-79 defeat of No. 6 Michigan State at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Eighteen of his points came in the first half, when Irving accounted for almost half of Duke’s points as the Blue Devils led 38-34. A Spartan backcourt with talented veterans such as Big Ten preseason player of the year Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers and Korie Lucious was powerless to stop Irving.
Krzyzewski protested that he performed better on the math portion of the SAT than the verbal portion, so he didn’t want to give adjectives when a reporter asked for them. But they soon came off his tongue, only somewhat in jest.
“Sensational,” Krzyzewski said. “Scintillating.”
Then he was more serious.
“He was great,” Krzyzewski said. “For a freshman in this environment, against those guards, to have this game – superb.”
The win provided some consolation for the ACC’s woes in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, which the Big Ten won 6-5. After falling in the first 10 made-for-ESPN Challenges with the ACC, the Big Ten has won two in a row.
But in the most highly anticipated game of the Challenge – Michigan State had been ranked No. 2 before falling last week to Connecticut – Irving lifted Duke to its second huge win in eight days.
He also had been named the most valuable player of the CBE Classic after Duke defeated then-No. 4 Kansas State 82-68 on Nov. 23 in Kansas City, Mo. But this performance was even better.
Irving shot 8-for-12 from the field and 13-for-16 from the foul line, with a pair of 3-pointers in the first half when the Blue Devils (7-0) struggled to score at times against the tenacious half-court defense of Michigan State (5-2). He also grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists.
“It’s really big,” Irving said. “I’m representing the state of New Jersey. I’m representing Duke basketball. I’m representing my family. To perform like that on this stage, it feels great.”
Four 3-pointers by Irving’s teammates in a span of 3 minutes, 40 seconds helped the Blue Devils open up a 10-point, second-half lead. The Spartans trailed just 49-47 with 13 minutes remaining. But after an Irving free throw, Andre Dawkins drained a 3-pointer from the baseline as Cameron thundered with applause.
Kyle Singler made a pair of 3-pointers in 56 seconds, and Nolan Smith quickly added another. Duke led 64-54 with 8:07 remaining. Michigan State called timeout, but the Blue Devils were on their way to a win in one of the most anticipated nonconference games of the season.
Smith scored 17 points and Singler added 15 for the Blue Devils. Lucious led Michigan State with 20 points and eight assists.
But after the game, all the talk was about Irving. Surrounded by reporters, he said he was grateful that seniors Singler and Smith have told him since the beginning of the season that they are happy for him to take over a game if he can.
Smith compared Irving to John Wall and Derrick Rose, two other freshman point guards who have had huge impacts on college basketball at Kentucky and Memphis, respectively, in recent years.
“He’s on a different level as far as confidence,” Smith said of Irving. “The team wants the ball in his hands.”
The most difficult thing about Irving is to describe him. With “sensational” and “scintillating,” Krzyzewski might have exaggerated just a bit.
But “superb” summed up Wednesday’s effort perfectly.
