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Michigan State basketball gets ‘measuring stick’ vs. #1 Kansas

Michigan State basketball gets ‘measuring stick’ vs. #1 Kansas

EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo always wants Michigan State Basketball to test itself with the best competition on the biggest stages.

It doesn’t get much tougher than facing No. 1 Kansas, and few events rival the Champions Classic night that the two programs have been a part of since 2011. And Izzo is relishing every opportunity he gets, not only to broadcast his program, but to find out exactly where the Spartans are in early November.

“I don’t know if we appreciate it, I don’t know if our alumni appreciate it, I don’t know if Michigan State University appreciates it,” Izzo said Monday. “It’s a privilege. … There are a million other programs that would do this.”

The Spartans (2-0) and Jayhawks (2-0) tip off Tuesday evening at 6:30 PM at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. It’s the first of two games during the annual showcase, with No. 6 Duke and No. 18 Kentucky the late game at 9 p.m. Both air on ESPN.

“Our guys did a great job. Really, the last two practices have been as good as we’ve had,” Izzo said. “What does that mean? It means you sleep much better, but it really doesn’t affect the game. You still have to play the game. And who knows how, when the lights come on, how everyone will deal with it differently, both with their team and with me. But I like where we are now compared to where we’ve been in the last month and a half. I think we’re doing the things we need to do.”

MSU opened with a pair of fairly easy wins, both of which exposed some flaws and showed some strengths. The Spartans started the game brightly against Monmouth, found themselves in foul trouble midway through the game and eventually pulled away for an 81-57 ​​win in the season opener last Monday. On Thursday, after shaking off a slow start, MSU defeated Niagara for a 96-60 win that highlighted the depth, size and balance of Izzo’s squad.

“Right now, we’re kind of enjoying tonight. But at the same time, we’re mentally preparing for a really big game,” said sophomore Jaxon Kohler, who posted a career-best 20 points and 13 rebounds against Niagara, after Thursday’s win. “We know there will be a lot of fans, a lot of people, a very good team. We’re going to focus on: What are we going to do to win that game?

Kansas already has one big win under its belt: Friday night’s 92-89 slugfest over No. 11 North Carolina in Lawrence, Kansas. Bill Self’s team opened the season with a 30-point victory over Howard.

The Spartans are familiar with one of the Jayhawks’ top players, former Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson. The 7-foot-5 fifth-year senior had 20 points and 10 rebounds against the Tar Heels after being a vocal nemesis for Izzo and his players during his three seasons with the Wolverines.

“I think he’s been pretty consistent,” Izzo said of Dickinson, who is in his second season as a Jayhawk. “I don’t see him shooting as many three-pointers now as I thought he did at Michigan. … He’s still a threat deep. He hasn’t changed much, he’s the same old guy, but he’s more experienced now.”

Transfer Zeke Mayo leads the Jayhawks with 20 points per game, with 4.5 rebounds and two assists. The 6-4 Lawrence native returned home from South Dakota State this offseason; as Jackrabbit, he and Frankie Fidler each faced off eight times while the MSU transfer was in Omaha.

Izzo said he needs to get more out of Fidler, who averaged 19.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game for the Mavericks last season but is off to a slow start after two games with the Spartans (10 points and 3.5 rebounds per game). competition).

“When you go through different levels, you sometimes have different problems. For example, why would someone leave one major program for another? Maybe he’s a different kind of kid, maybe there are problems. I don’t know,” Izzo said. “But usually guys in the lower levels want a chance and they deserve a chance. Tyson (Walker) did it, Mayo did it, Frankie did it.”

The Jayhawks also have another face familiar to MSU coaches and players: 6-7 transfer AJ Storr, last year’s star at Wisconsin and a second-team All-Big Ten selection at his third school in three seasons. Storr had 13 points against North Carolina, while Mayo had a game-high 21 with five rebounds and four assists.

The drink stirrer for Kansas, however, is a homegrown product in KJ Adams Jr.. The 6-7 senior swingman is only averaging 10.5 points with 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season, but Izzo delivered high praise and a greater sense of what Adams brings to the Jayhawks.

“He just won a lot of games there. He does all the dirty work,” Izzo said of Adams. “He’s kind of Draymond Green, he’s kind of Xavier Tillman. He’s kind of in between. Doesn’t shoot that well, just makes plays. Sort of a Magic Johnson, he makes some of the best passes of any big man I’ve ever seen at 6-7. So it will be a great test for us to see how we do.”

MSU is 5-8 overall in the Champions Classic and 2-2 against Kansas in the event, having lost in 2021 and 2018 after beating the Jayhawks in 2012 and 2015. The Spartans’ last win in the Champions Classic came as an unranked team. then-No. 4 Kentucky in 2022.

The last time the two teams met was an 87-74 Jayhawks victory over the Spartans at Madison Square Garden. This marks the third time in the last four Champions Classics that MSU has competed unranked.

“It was my first college game ever, so I was a little nervous,” senior guard Jaden Akins said Thursday of the 2021 loss to Kansas. “I mean, they beat us. They had a good team then, they had some pros on that team. But I feel like we are better prepared this time.”

Akins is averaging a team-leading 16.5 points through his first two games this season. However, the senior’s 3-point shooting struggles (1-for-7) mirrored the rest of the team’s struggles from beyond the arc (25%), a concern for Izzo who hasn’t panicked yet with such an attack . limited sample size.

“I think that’s as good a metric, positive or negative, that we could have,” Izzo said. ‘Do you want to have a few more matches under your belt? Maybe. But why not find out where you are now? Because we tell them where we think they are. And until it happens, you don’t know if they really see it that way.

Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.

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