ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- You want to know how to beat Duke?
Simple. Take the NCAA to court, where it has bungled its way through a costly, serious losing streak. Find a judge who will agree that the five-year clock for eligibility is blatant age discrimination. Ask, pretty please, if an idle Michael Jordan would like to stick it to the Blue Devils one more time, and get him on your side.
It will take more than a few slick Xs and Os, and the grit that has become Michigan State's trademark, for the Spartans to upend the Blue Devils in the second semifinal at the NCAA tournament's Final Four tonight (8: 15 p.m. approximately) at Tropicana Field.
The Spartans (33-4) dominated the deep Big Ten Conference and won 22 straight games to climb to No. 2 in the rankings, but in order to beat No. 1 Duke, the feeling here is that they have to slow point guard William Avery, frustrate the Blue Devils with their physical play and force Duke into an unfamiliar setting: a close game.
The Blue Devils (36-1) themselves have reeled off a school-record 31 straight wins since Nov. 28, when Cincinnati used a last-second tip-in to beat them at the Great Alaska Shootout.
"I think they're beatable," Bearcats coach Bob Huggins said before the NCAA tournament began, before Duke abused its first four opponents by an average of 30 points.
"Whoever plays them is going to have to play very well. I think the one thing Duke doesn't have is depth at the guard position. If somebody can get one of those two guys in foul trouble, certainly that would hurt. You've got to keep them out of transition. They're just so good in transition.
"You've got to play well in the half court."
And defend, and play harder, and win the rebounding battle, and The Achilles' heel Huggins referred to is the fact that Duke has only two scholarship guards on its roster.
Trajan Langdon, a fifth-year senior, was the first building block coach Mike Krzyzewski laid in rebuilding the Blue Devils into championship contenders again, as this is their first Final Four since 1994.
A more recent measure was selling Avery on handling the point guard responsibilities at the end of last season. The sophomore from Atlanta has handled the job beautifully, and averaged a team-high 30.8 minutes. The only game he fouled out of was the overtime classic against St. John's Jan. 24.
In the East Region final, Temple had brief success denying Avery the ball.
"If you listen to what everyone is saying, you hear that the key is taking Will out of his game," said Duke assistant coach Quin Snyder, a former Blue Devils guard himself. "Attack him offensively, attack him defensively. But then you've got to figure out how to play Elton [Brand]. Are you going to match up, double-team him?"
That's the dilemma for Duke opponents, closing down Avery before he delivers the ball to Brand, who yesterday was named national Player of the Year.
Like it does everyone else, Michigan State will try to blue-collar the Blue Devils. The Spartans leaned on Brand and limited him to nine shots back on Dec. 2, when Duke raced to a 17-2 lead but settled for a 73-67 win over Michigan State in the Great Eight.
Duke's rotation includes nothing but Parade All-Americans, including Shane Battier, who grew up outside Detroit and turned down the Spartans. Michigan State, meanwhile, is fueled by players from nearby Flint, including ace point guard Mateen Cleaves and sixth man Morris Peterson.
"I think in this day and age of college basketball, I think you have to be tough to win," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "Not dirty. And I hope nobody ever thinks that. We're just a tough team."
Despite their pedigrees, the Blue Devils are not a bunch of pretty boys. After an early-season benching, Brand became the most tenacious inside force in the game. Small forward Chris Carrawell is a nasty defender. Duke won the regular-season finale at North Carolina without Battier, and played four postseason games without Langdon.
Michigan State plays rougher than anyone Duke ran into in the ACC, where the game is called closer than in the other elite leagues. The Blue Devils blew through a down conference -- they handled second-place Maryland by 18 points in both of their regular-season meetings -- while the Spartans are only half of the Big Ten's entry here.
"Duke hasn't been in too many close games," center Andre Hutson said. "That's an advantage in our favor. They were usually blowing somebody out."
Duke's run through the ACC prompted comparisons to the greatest teams ever, but the only history the Blue Devils dwell on is the flop they endured in this very building last year, when they wasted a 17-point lead on eventual NCAA champion Kentucky in the South Region final.
The November loss to Cincinnati was the whip Krzyzewski needed to keep the Blue Devils on track this season. Do not mistake Duke for Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991, the last overwhelming favorite, a team that fell to none other than the Blue Devils. Krzyzewski has assembled the talent, and its motivation is palpable.
"Normally, there would be a plus side if you were playing some teams that were heavily favored," Izzo said. "You could use some of the bulletin board stuff. But it's such a class program, Mike [Krzyzewski] is such a class guy, you don't hear the players saying things. They're focused on the task at hand.
"I didn't lie to my guys. If they play their 'A' game, I don't think many teams can beat them, including us. Our job is to make sure they don't play their 'A' game."
Either that, or fit Michael Jordan for a Spartans uniform.
Pub Date: 3/27/99