No. 5 Michigan St (24-6) at No. 1 Duke (27-5)

AUSTIN, Texas (Ticker) -- Top-seeded Duke is hoping to continue its tournament success against the Big Ten Conference when it faces No. 5 Michigan State on Friday in the Austin Region semifinals.

The Blue Devils (27-5) are 55-22 all-time against current members of the Big Ten and 10-3 in tournament play against them. Duke is 5-1 against Michigan State, including a pair of NCAA Tournament victories over the Spartans in the second round in 1994 and in the Final Four in 1999.

This season, Duke posted an 81-74 victory here on November 30. Duke guards J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing had their way with Michigan State's backcourt, each scoring 29 points to spark the Blue Devils.

Duke advanced to its eighth straight Sweet 16 with a 63-55 victory over ninth-seeded Mississippi State last Sunday. The win also gave coach Mike Krzyzewski his record 66th NCAA Tournament victory, surpassing former North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

Michigan State (24-6) had an easier road to Austin, dispatching of a 12 and 13 seed to get a rematch with Duke.

The Spartans will try to take advantage of the Blue Devils' lack of depth to advance to a meeting with either Utah or Kentucky. Michigan State has 10 players that average over 9.6 minutes per game and none that average over 30.

Look for the Spartans to force tempo and extend their defense while the Blue Devils will be content to spread things out and try to shorten the game.

Paul Davis is the anchor in the middle for Michigan State. He collected 17 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to Duke this season.

Coach Tom Izzo took a chance when he inserted freshman point guard Drew Neitzel into the starting lineup in place of the inconsistent Chris Hill, who is still one of the top 3-point shooters in school history. Neitzel has started 11 of the last 12 games for the Spartans, who have posted a 10-2 record in that span.