When the men’s basketball team looks across the court at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for pregame introductions, they will already be down 9-1.
No. 19 MSU (1-0 overall ) faces off against No. 4 Duke (2-0 overall) , who will dress nine McDonald’s All-Americans compared to MSU’s one Branden Dawson Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“I’ve been an underdog so many times in my career — that doesn’t faze me,” head coach Tom Izzo said. “I guess I’m worried if it fazes the guys.”
The Blue Devils, led by Mike Krzyzewski for the 40th straight season, will provide a stiff challenge for MSU, who narrowly defeated Navy (0-2 overall) , 64-59 Friday night.
“I’m looking at this as our chance to take another step forward in a long season,” Izzo said . “It’s a great way to start off college basketball.”
Duke comes into the game undefeated, with their wins coming against Presbyterian and Fairfield by an average of 59.5 points.
MSU, on the other hand, struggled at times Friday against Navy, who finished last in the Patriot League last season.
“It adds more motivation kind of being the lower ranked team coming in,” senior guard and team co-captain Travis Trice said.
Trice enjoyed a career game to open the season, posting a career-high 25 points against the Midshipmen. He also scored 17 of the team’s 28 points in the second half, while adding five rebounds and five assists.
The Spartans will rely on the experience of facing and defeating Kentucky, 78-74, in last year’s Champions Classic.
“We didn’t try to do anything out of the ordinary,” senior forward Branden Dawson said about the game last year. “We followed coach’s game plan.”
Dawson will be a huge part of Izzo’s game plan Tuesday.
“(Izzo) wants me to be Superman in this game,” Dawson said.
Dawson, who had 12 points and eight rebounds against Navy, along with junior forward Matt Costello , will draw the task of trying to defend Duke’s Jahlil Okafor .
“Jahlil can draw fouls, he’s a very good player,” Izzo said . “I think he’s one of the more skilled post players they’ve had in a long, long time.”
Okafor, who was ranked by ESPN as the No. 1 player in the class of 2014 , averages a team-high 18 points per game and shoots 85 percent from the field.
Impact of Ellis Injury
Izzo said sophomore guard Alvin Ellis III’s availability to play against Duke was “very questionable” when he addressed the media Monday afternoon.
Ellis only played three minutes before leaving with a sprained ankle against Navy.
Without Ellis, the Spartans will rely on junior guard Bryn Forbes and freshman guard Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. to pick up the slack.
“Definitely losing Alvin hurts,” Trice said. “It’s just going to mean other guys will have to step up. Bryn Forbes is one of those guys that has to step up, and I think he will.”
Forbes, who could not find his shooting stroke Friday, scored just five points and missed seven of his eight shot attempts.
Nairn did not score against the Midshipmen but did have four assists, three rebounds and only one turnover in 20 minutes of action.
“We’re really happy with how (Nairn) played,” Trice said. “He didn’t make that many mistakes. It was a good showing for him.”
Game Notes
The game will air on ESPN at 7 p.m.
MSU and Duke are both 2-1 in previous Champions Classic games.
Duke defeated MSU, 71-61 , in the last meeting between the teams in the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
