Post-Game Notes: Duke
4/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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• Denzel Valentine recorded his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career with a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds . . . the 22 points represented a career high in an NCAA Tournament game for Valentine (previous: 18 vs. Oklahoma) . . . the 11 rebounds tied a season high and were also the most by Valentine in an NCAA Tournament game . . . he was 7-of-11 from the field, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, and was 3-of-4 from the free-throw line . . . the five 3-pointers were the most by Valentine in an NCAA Tournament game . . . he made 13 3-pointers in this year's NCAA Tournament and averaged 15.0 points per game.
• Branden Dawson recorded two blocks to become MSU's all-time blocks leader with 142 (previous record holder: Adreian Payne) . . . Dawson scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds against Duke . . . in addition to blocks, he finished his career ranked among MSU's all-time leaders in steals (sixth with 163), rebounds (seventh with 902) and scoring (25th with 1,309 points).
• Travis Trice, the Most Outstanding Player of the East Region, scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including two 3-pointers . . . Trice finished his career with 1,135 points, good for 39th in MSU history . . . Trice finished the NCAA Tournament by averaging 19.0 points per game.
• Michigan State is now 3-6 all-time in the national semifinals . . . Michigan State's nine Final Four appearances are eighth most in NCAA history.
• Michigan State jumped out to an early 14-6 lead on 5-of-7 field-goal shooting in the first 4:16, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range . . . the Spartans were then just 3-of-20 from the field the rest of the first half, and missed all five of their 3-pointers . . . Duke took its first lead with 9:38 left in the first half at 18-16 and used a 27-8 run to push the lead to double-digits at 33-22 with 2:37 left . . . Duke led at the half, 36-25.
