With the loss, the Spartans drop to a 1-8 all-time record against Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, the lone victory coming in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, in the Austin Regional semifinal. The Blue Devils advanced to the Elite Eight, before falling to No. 1 seed Louisville on Sunday, in Indianapolis.

“(Duke’s) a good team,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “Curry hurt us, no question about it, and that’s why he’s a great player. But we didn’t quit. We hung in there. I thought we played poorly for us. But I’m sure Duke had a lot to do with that. And, as I said, the better team won.”

The Spartans secured key victories on the season against then-No. 11 Ohio State, then-No. 18 Minnesota, then-No. 4 Michigan and twice against Wisconsin, earning their 16th-consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and the program’s 11th Sweet 16 appearance under Izzo.

As the season comes to a close, it’s only fair to assess the Spartans and the progress made during the course of the year:

Most impressive win:
75-52 home victory against then-No. 4 Michigan, Feb. 12

With the eyes of the college basketball world tuned in to East Lansing, the Spartans turned in the most impressive victory of the season against their in-state rival Michigan.

In the first-ever meeting of the two programs with both teams ranked in the top 10 of the country, four Spartans scored in double figures as MSU routed the Wolverines, 75-52.

Moreover, members of the Izzone waited in line for hours before the game to secure a spot in the arena and stepped up to bat all evening. When the time came, the crowd greeted U-M players with raucous boos, jeers and shirts reading “You Off” — mocking U-M’s popular “We On” slogan of the basketball team.

“Michigan State, as you saw today, really has an excellent team; I’ve believed that all year long,” U-M head coach John Beilein said after the game. “They really played like that today. That was the worst we played in a long, long time and credit Michigan State for that.”

Best game:
75-70 road loss to then No. 7 Indiana, Jan. 27

From the start, Indiana head coach Tom Crean and the Hoosiers were the class of the Big Ten.
Led by the talented forward Cody Zeller and high-motor guard Victor Oladipo, the Hoosiers captured the Big Ten championship with a 29-7 record.

Yet, in a hostile environment provided by a capacity crowd at Assembly Hall, the Spartans traded blows with the Hoosiers, unlike most teams had been able to at the point of the season.

Although it came in a losing effort, it was among the most entertaining 40 minutes of basketball played anywhere all season, playing with the passion Izzo looked for from his team for much of the year.

“I said to my staff before the game, ‘We’re going to learn something about this team,’ and 90 percent of what I learned was positive,” Izzo said after the game.

The Spartans used the momentum of the game to win the next five games, including Big Ten triumphs against Illinois, then-No. 18 Minnesota and then-No. 4 Michigan.

Overarching trend:
Inconsistency

As many successes MSU had during the 2012-13 season, the team never shook its style of inconsistent play.

Although never suffering an upset loss throughout the course of the season, the team rarely had the same leading scorer in consecutive games, and often had to battle to beat teams they should handily defeat, such as Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament.

Junior guard Keith Appling went through a difficult stretch during the team’s late-season three-game losing streak, and sophomore guard/forward Branden Dawson hit a personal wall after a 20-point game on Feb. 9 against Purdue.

As a result, the Spartans spent much of the season searching for the correct rotation of players and ended up having eight players average 7.5 minutes or more per game.

Best individual performance:
Freshman guard Gary Harris scores 21 points in hostile Indiana environment in 75-70 loss

There were several individual performances statistically more impressive than what Harris did in a January reunion in his home state. However, the environment facing Harris was like few others MSU saw all season.

From the moment Harris took the floor in Bloomington, Ind., he was greeted with jeers and chants of “Gary sucks” from every corner of historic Assembly Hall. And with junior guard Keith Appling in foul trouble for much of the afternoon, the pressure of the scoring fell on Harris.

Still, Harris finished with 21 points and kept MSU in the game down the stretch behind enemy lines.
“To be honest, I didn’t really hear that much of anything really,” Harris said. “I was just so focused on the game, and you kind of block everything else out.”

Most valuable player:
Junior guard Keith Appling

Make no mistake, Appling is the straw that stirs the drink.

In a breakout season for the junior guard, Appling started every single game for the Spartans, fighting through injury, fatigue and ineffectiveness.

Appling’s impact never seemed larger than when the Spartans hit a three-game losing streak late in the year, during which he struggled to maintain his level of play.

As the Spartans lost consecutive games to Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan, Appling scored six, three and nine points, respectively, shining the spotlight on his overall importance.

Appling rebounded with a 19-point game on March 7 against Wisconsin, and the team went 5-2 the rest of the way.

Best newcomer:
Freshman guard Gary Harris

Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Shawn Respert. Gary Harris.

That’s how the list now reads for the top-offensive freshmen in the history of the MSU men’s basketball program.

After a standout rookie campaign, Harris became the first-ever MSU player to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by both the media and coaches. Harris also earned a spot on the All-Big Ten Second Team and was widely regarded among the most talented freshmen in the country, finishing as a finalist for the Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award.