Kansas basketball and Michigan State lace up in the 14th edition of the Champions Classic.
The Champions Classic is always a great two-game event that signifies the start of the college basketball season to many. Four teams, Kansas, Michigan State, Duke, and Kentucky take turns facing each other each year in what usually ends up as good games. Last year, Kansas and Duke were the victors. This year, Michigan State looks to change that.
All time, Kansas is 8-5 in the Champions Classic and 2-2 against Michigan State. Michigan State is 5-8 all-time. The last time these two teams faced off in the event was 2021, when Kansas won convincingly by a score of 87-74.
General Information
Teams:Â Kansas (2-0) and Michigan State (2-0)
Tip Time: 5:30 p.m CST (6:30 p.m EST)
Watch:Â ESPN
Listen:Â SiriusXM
What to know about Michigan State
Michigan State has taken care of business to start the season, beating Monmouth by 24 and Niagara by 36. They have been led by Jaden Akins, who is averaging 16.5 points a game, and Jaxon Kohler, who is averaging 12.5 points a game and 10.5 rebounds a game.
Defensively, they look the part. Monmouth shot just 27.9% from the field, and they’ve forced a combined 31 turnovers over the first two games. They’ll need to step up offensively if they want to beat Kansas. So far, they’ve looked good thanks to Akins, but they’ll need either Frankie Fidler, Jeremy Fears, or Coen Carr to step up and add that extra level of depth. If one of them can break out for 20 points, this team has a decent chance to knock off the country’s top-ranked team.
Kansas has already faced a Power 5 opponent, but this will be the first for Michigan State. They have a hall of fame coach who will make sure they are prepared, but we’ll have to see if there’s a little sticker shock going from playing against teams ranked in the bottom 100 in the country to a top ten team.
Latest on Kansas basketball
Kansas basketball looks to continue its momentum after beating UNC in a home thriller on Friday. Zeke Mayo once again led the way in scoring, and Hunter Dickinson came up big in the last few minutes to secure the win.
Kansas can’t get comfortable tonight, as we saw what happened last time they did. They won’t have the home court to will them to victory, although I’m sure there will be quite a few Jayhawk faithful in the crowd.
The key pieces to watch in this game are Rylan Griffen and AJ Storr. Both are off to slower starts than expected and hoped, but that comes with moving to a new team and a new offense. We saw a five-star freshman in Quentin Grimes break out against Michigan State after a slow start to the season last time these teams played, so hopefully for one of these two talented Jayhawks, we’ll see the same.
Expect Self to go to Dickinson early and often. He’ll most likely be guarded by sophomore Xavier Booker, which should be a huge advantage for Dickinson. Last year, Dickinson went for 27 points and 21 rebounds in the Champions classic, and while they won’t need that from him again, they will certainly encourage it.