Allen leads No. 1 Duke past No. 2 Michigan St.

CHICAGO — Grayson Allen — Duke’s lone senior — scored a career-high 37 points, freshman Trevon Duval had 17 points and 10 assists, and the top-ranked Blue Devils beat No. 2 Michigan State 88-81 in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night.

On a court full of some college basketball’s brightest stars, Allen stepped up whenever his team needed a big play. The Blue Devils (3-0) lost Marvin Bagley III to an eye injury midway through the first half, but Allen made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points in the second half to help make up for the missing freshman phenom.

Wendell Carter Jr. added 12 points and 12 rebounds, helping Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski improve to 12-1 in his career against Michigan State.

Miles Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Nick Ward each scored 19 points for the Spartans, who blocked 12 shots — just one shy of the school record. Michigan State (1-1) shot 51 percent from the field, but was outrebounded 46-34 by the long and athletic Blue Devils.

The 42nd meeting of the top two schools in The Associated Press poll since 1949 lived up to its pregame hype, with Duke and Michigan State exchanging runs for most of the night at the home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. Each team had its sloppy moments typical of a mid-November game, but they also brought the crowd to its feet several times with an array of impressive jams and emphatic rejections at the rim.

Cassius Winston drove the lane and passed to Kenny Goins for a dunk that gave Michigan State a 75-73 lead with 4:12 left. But Carter responded with a rebound slam at the other end and Allen set up Gary Trent Jr.’s tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3:11 to go.

Allen added two more 3s in the final 2

1/2 minutes and Javin DeLaurier’s breakaway dunk made it 86-77 with 50 seconds left, putting the Spartans away for good.

Bagley began his college career with a pair of impressive performances, but he had a short stay in his first game against a marquee opponent. He was held out after he was swiped in the face by DeLaurier with

10:09 left in the first half. He finished with four points and six rebounds.

5-Villanova 113, Nicholls 77

PHILADELPHIA — Mikal Bridges set career highs with 23 points and four blocks, and No. 5 Villanova swatted away a school-record 13 shots in a 113-77 rout of

Nicholls on Tuesday night.

Donte DiVincenzo added 20 points, Jalen Brunson had 17 and the Wildcats (2-0) had six players in double figures while shooting 58 percent from the field in their second straight blowout of an inferior opponent.

Zaquavian Smith scored 25 points and Roddy Peters had

17 for the Colonels (1-1), who trailed by as many as 38 points.

Villanova, which cruised past Columbia 75-60 on Friday, raced to a 22-9 lead and was never threatened. Bridges shot 4 of

7 from 3-point range and the Wildcats were 13 of 30 from behind the arc.

The Colonels, picked to finish 10th out of 13 teams in the Southland Conference, entered as a 32-point underdog and were quickly overwhelmed in the schools’ first meeting.

With just over 8 minutes remaining in the first half, Nicholls had more turnovers (7) than field goals (5) as they fell behind

35-11.

The most impressive Villanova sequence came when Bridges had two blocks and Om- ari Spellman one on the same possession, bringing the crowd and the Wildcats bench to their feet.

Spellman finished with four blocks.