Three things to know about Michigan State at No. 5 Duke

Duke will face off with Michigan State (4-3) in Tuesday’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The teams will meet for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. No. 6 Duke (6-1) is 15-2 overall and 7-0 at home in Challenge games.

1. The injured freshmen will not play

Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s update on Duke’s trio of injured freshmen in Marques Bolden, Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum was short and quick after the team’s win over Appalachian State Saturday: They will not play. They’d been dressing out and warming up with the team before the last two games, but that was a tactic to get them mentally prepared to be back in the full swing of things.

2. Duke is still limited

The veteran touch on this team is a great thing to have, but the Blue Devils are still limited, beyond three star freshmen being sidelined. Grayson Allen came down hard after leading all scorers in the Appalachian State game. Chase Jeter, who started the first four games of the year, is still coming off the bench after hurting his foot during Duke’s Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament run. Amile Jefferson hasn’t been 100 percent through all games this season, but is having a strong start manning the frontcourt.

3. Frank Jackson has been waiting for this

The freshman guard came alive in Duke’s first big test of the year on Nov. 15 against Kansas at Madison Square Garden. He turned things around in the second half of that 77-75 loss, hitting the game-tying shot late. Since, he’s picked up three starts after Jeter went down and has looked comfortable attacking the basket.

Jessika Morgan

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Three things to know about Michigan State at No. 5 Duke."