EAST LANSING — Xavier Tillman wanted to beat Duke “badly,” probably as much Tom Izzo wanted Vernon Carey to become a Spartan.

Neither thing happened. And Michigan State did something that rarely happens to an Izzo-coach team.

“We got embarrassed at home,” Tillman said after Tuesday’s 87-65 loss to the Blue Devils in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. “That’s something that, in my whole career of playing basketball, I’ve never gotten embarrassed playing. And this is one off the times I could feel it.”

Or, as Cassius Winston put it:

“I think we didn’t take their punch, and we didn’t punch back. They punched us in our mouth, and we didn’t respond,” the senior All-American said. “That’s what you need in these games.”

No. 8 Duke took advantage of miscues by No. 12 MSU early. The Spartans’ giveaways turning into breakaway points the other way, their struggles at the free-throw line costing them easy points.

Then freshman big man Carey took over in the second half, exploiting MSU’s thin interior for 26 points and 11 rebounds while exposing the Spartans’ limitations on the court and tribulations off it.

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It was a dominating performance by the Blue Devils (8-1). They blocked 11 shots, got 10 steals and got unfettered dunks throughout the first half. Tre Jones added 20 points and 12 assists while owning the highly anticipated battle of point guards against Winston, who scored 12 points but made just 4 of 14 shots with seven assists.

“We just played so hard,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “And we needed to to beat them.”

The Spartans (5-3) didn’t help themselves, either. They went just 15 of 23 at the free-throw line. They gave the ball away 14 times for the game, including eight in the first half that led to 12 points. The Blue Devils also had an 11-1 first-half edge in transition thanks to those giveaways and finished with a 17-4 advantage on the break.

“Outcoached, outplayed, outworked,” is how Izzo opened his postgame news conference.

That leaves Izzo now 2-12 all-time against Krzyzewski after he beat Duke for just the second time to get to his eighth Final Four in March. Tuesday was just the Blue Devils’ second visit ever to MSU, the last exactly 16 years ago on Dec. 3, 2003, a 72-50 Duke win.  

“Let’s get something straight, there is no mystique,” Izzo said. “They’ve beaten our ass. We found a way to win a game or two here or there. … Different players, same coach. So the coach has gotta take responsibility for that.”

The Spartans, who were preseason No. 1 in both polls, continued their struggles in finding a rotation and consistency beyond Winston and Tillman, the junior forward who led them with 20 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Marcus Bingham started again at forward and finished with 13 points. Freshman Malik Hall came off the bench and added nine points and eight rebounds.

But when Tillman went to the bench in foul trouble with a little less than 14 minutes left in the first half, MSU’s backups struggled defensively. Duke scored 10 points off seven MSU turnovers and had nine points in transition in the first 12-plus minutes.

Swingman Aaron Henry was benched to start the second half after not taking a shot in the first 20 minutes. The sophomore’s only basket in two attempts was a dunk in the waning seconds with the outcome determined, and he also had just two rebounds in nearly 21 minutes. And freshman guard Rocket Watts went 1 for 7 from the field, getting a pair of layups blocked.

“There’s no reason you don’t play hard. I’m just telling you, that falls on me. So those who want to rip, you should rip,” Izzo said. “Yeah, we’ve been through more hell than I think I’ve ever been through in my career here as far as some things that happened that kind of set you back. But at the same time, that has no basis for why you don’t play hard.

“I just thought we looked like the moment was too big.”

Trailing 45-29 at halftime, the Spartans opened on a 9-1 run to pull within eight. Winston’s 3-pointer forcing Krzyzewski to call timeout just 2:30 in, the Breslin crowd reaching its most deafening point of the night.

But Duke made that up between sturdy Carey punishing the much thinner Bingham on post-ups in the paint. All it took was three trips for the Blue Devils to push away MSU’s momentum.

Carey had a three-point play, then got fouled by Bingham on another layup attempt. He missed the ensuing free throw, but Duke got the ball and Joey Baker drained a 3-pointer to make that a five-point possession.

Then after MSU chipped it back to 13, Izzo got whistled for a technical foul for arguing a loose ball possession call. Jones hit the two free throws, then a driving, up-and-under scoop shot for a four-point trip. The Blue Devils went up 22 at the midpoint of the second half. Breslin’s crowd died down again.

By the time a media timeout arrived with 6:14 to play, shortly after Winston was blocked on a layup attempt, it was clear who was in control. Duke’s players bopped back to the bench. The Spartans, hands on hips, were completely gassed. Izzo left with his head in his hands.

Back to the drawing board. And fast. The Spartans host Rutgers on Sunday (7 p.m./BTN) as Big Ten play opens.

“It sucks. You want to win these games. But can’t do nothing about it now but learn from it and get better,” Winston said. “It’s still early in the year. We hope to be our best team at the end of the year. And we get a chance to get back in there and start the Big Ten off with a bang and hopefully win another Big Ten championship.”

Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.