Photo credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Duke Basketball's Next Opponent Gets Utterly Dominated in Detroit
It was all but over by halftime. On Saturday afternoon, the sixth-ranked Baylor Bears (9-1, 0-0 Big 12), who play Jon Scheyer's second Duke basketball team next week, entered the break facing a 45-17 deficit to the unranked Michigan State Spartans (5-5, 0-2 Big Ten) in Detroit's Little Ceasars Arena.
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Baylor outscored Michigan State by four points in the second half but fell, 88-64, likely meaning the Bears will fall several spots when the next Associated Press Top 25 Poll comes out on Monday afternoon.
In other words, Baylor's lopsided loss dings Duke's chances of tallying a win over a top-10 squad this season.
The No. 21 Blue Devils (7-3, 0-1 ACC), who recorded a 74-65 victory over then-No. 18 Michigan State at the Champions Classic in Chicago's United Center on Nov. 14, square off against Baylor at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday (ESPN) in New York City's Madison Square Garden.
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Duke is riding a two-game win streak after beating unranked Charlotte on Saturday and unranked Hofstra on Tuesday night. Both of those wins came at home by a margin of over 20 points, a promising bounce-back from the Blue Devils' back-to-back road losses to Arkansas and Georgia Tech.
Following the game against Baylor, Duke basketball will have its longest break of the season before hosting Queens on Dec. 30. Then, only ACC opponents remain on the Blue Devils' regular season slate.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball news.
