Duke and Michigan State play in tonight’s NCAA College Basketball’s March Madness Elite 8 matchup at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Per CBS Sports: Duke head coach, Mike Krzyzewski boasts a remarkable 11-1 record against Michigan State head coach, Tom Izzo, including a 3-1 mark in the NCAA Tournament. However, in those 12 meetings, each team covered six times. Now, the pair will meet with a trip to the 2019 Final Four on the line. Coach K’s Blue Devils are favored by two in the latest Duke vs. Michigan State odds, while the over-under for total points scored is 150.5, down three from the opener.
Michigan State and Duke boast notable alumni from their institution.
Insert Grant Hill and Steve Smith.
Both accomplished college basketball and NBA stars, both are now broadcasting games on television.
Some say that the two even kind of look alike. Smith told me that he was once mistaken for Hill at a basketball game at Madison Square Garden.
Check out our Q&A below:
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: First question: where’s the craziest place you were confused for Grant Hill in public?
Steve Smith: Let see, probably at Michigan State. I’m at a Michigan State game and somebody says, “hey Grant, I appreciate you supporting the Spartans.” And I’m like: I’m sorry, I’m Steve.’ The second was Michigan State was playing Michigan at the Garden at the Big 10 Tournament. he was calling it and when I came to the game, the audio/video guy was like “Grant come on and get mic’d up”, and looking for me to come sit down thinking I was Grant.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Do you think ya’ll look alike?
Steve Smith: I think we have some similarities. The good thing is we play off of it just like now. I tell him to stand up and say he’s Grant, but he didn’t want to do it. We have fun with it. He played for the Pistons, I’m from Detroit, he’s 6’8, light-skinned, big head and shoulders. But I played for the Atlanta Hawks. We both work for NBA TV, we both do college basketball, then Grant grew his beard, which his came in a little bit better than mine. He’s a little younger, but he has more grays.
That’s quite a funny story!
Smith’s Michigan State per CBS Sports, is making its 22nd straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 33rd overall. The Spartans have reached nine Final Fours and won two national championships. Michigan State has the edge over the Blue Devils in field goal and 3-point percentage.
The Spartans are 14th nationally in field goal percentage (48.6) compared to Duke, which is 28th at 47.7.
Their biggest edge is in 3-point shooting, where the Spartans are 24th overall (38.1 percent), while Duke is 331st at 30.7. Michigan State is led by Big Ten Player of the Year Cassius Winston, who had 26 points in the first-round win over Bradley and is the only player in the country averaging at least 18 points per game, seven assists and shooting 40 percent from 3-point range.
Leave a Reply