DURHAM, N.C. _ Tom Izzo wanted a bucket-list victory.
He once again saw the potential and failings of having a talented but young and developing roster.
Michigan State went toe-to-toe with Mike Krzyzewski and fourth-ranked Duke, but the Blue Devils used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to pull away to a 78-69 victory on Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Grayson Allen scored 24 points for Duke (7-1), including five in the game-changing, 2-plus-minute run that squelched any chance for an upset by MSU to close out its eight-game, 22-day, 13,000-plus-mile first month of the season.
The Spartans (4-4) committed 18 turnovers, which led to 19 Duke points.
MSU returns home Saturday to face Oral Roberts in the first of five straight games at Breslin Center.
Eron Harris led MSU with 14 points, Nick Ward added 11 and Kenny Goins had 10. The Blue Devils held Miles Bridges to 11 points and nine rebounds, but the Spartans freshman fouled out and was frustrated for much of the night.
Early in the game, MSU had little answer for Amile Jefferson's veteran presence and height. The 6-foot-9 graduate student finished with 11 of his 17 points and seven of his 13 rebounds in the first half.
Then Allen took over after opening the game 2-of-10 from the field in the first half.
After 26 minutes of back-and-forth basketball, Duke seized control by getting the Spartans frustrated. Junior guard Allen hit a layup on an inbounds pass, drawing a foul on Bridges and completing the three-point play.
Frank Jackson then drove the left side for back-to-back layups, after the second of which the Spartans coughed up the ball for the fifth time in a little more than seven minutes. Luke Kennard buried a jumper, and all of a sudden, the Blue Devils had built a nine-point lead and forced Izzo to burn a time-out.
The Spartans pulled within six on a Matt McQuaid 3-pointer, but Duke answered with a Jackson 3-pointer to curtail any MSU momentum.
Luke Kennard added 20 points for the Blue Devils.
The Spartans opened the first half by challenging Duke to run with them. The Blue Devils, conversely, opted to pound the ball into the paint against MSU's thin front line.
Duke opened the game missing its first seven shots, with Tum Tum Nairn converting a backdoor lob from Goins for a layup, then driving for another bucket.
Jefferson started attacking in the paint, getting his first bucket on a layup. Then Goins hit a deep jumper from the key to give MSU its biggest lead of the half.
The Blue Devils answered with a 7-0 run that included a 3-pointer from Allen, who was questionable to play with an aggravated toe injury.
MSU countered with its own run to reclaim the lead, getting back-to-back buckets from Ward, who was demanding the ball on the blocks. A driving layup by Harris, who had eight points in the half, put the Spartans back up, 14-11.
Duke mostly shut down Bridges, who missed a pair of potential highlight-reel dunks and had a pair of bricks. He was 2 of 7 in the first half for six points.
However, MSU also kept Allen in check, limiting him to two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws for eight points.
Jefferson's put-back layup with 38 seconds left put Duke up briefly, but Cassius Winston drove and scooped in a bucket of his own to send the game into halftime tied, 35-35.
The two teams traded leads five times and were tied nine other instances. MSU was 16-of-31 from the field and grabbed 17 rebounds with eight turnovers. Duke was 15-of-33 with 16 boards and seven miscues.
