NEW YORK– No. 17 Michigan State men’s basketball is set to have a difficult matchup against No. 12 Kentucky in the Big Apple, as the Champions Classic returns to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday evening.
The Spartans enter as an unblemished 3-0, while Kentucky fell to in-state rival Louisville last week to put its record at 3-1.
This is the 15th Champions Classic, which is held every fall with the same four major programs, the aforementioned Michigan State and Kentucky, as well as Duke and Kansas. The Spartans have the worst record of the four teams in the event at 5-9, but they are 2-2 all-time against Kentucky.
Typically when these two programs face off, it’s the legendary coaching matchup between Tom Izzo and John Calipari, but with Calipari moving to Arkansas, it is the first time Izzo will coach against second-year Wildcats’ head coach Mark Pope.
The last matchup between the Spartans and Wildcats was in 2022, also remembered as “The Mady Sissoko Game” as MSU won 86-77 in a double-overtime thriller. It was also the last win the Spartans had in this event.
This game will be a clash of styles, Kentucky has a high-powered offense that averages north of 90 points per game and lets it fly from the perimeter. While on the other hand, the Spartans are strong on the interior and have a game plan of getting into the paint and winning the rebounding battle.
Although shooting hasn’t been MSU’s strong suit, Izzo expects more from his team from the perimeter and especially the free throw line, where the Spartans rank No. 271 in percentage.
“I’m gonna give them more work, that’s what’s going to happen and starting tomorrow at 7:30 in the morning they’ll be working on free throw shooting,” Izzo said postgame after MSU shot 17-25 from the line against San Jose State on Thursday.
The Wildcats have a well-balanced attack with five players who average double-figures. The Spartans must be wary of Kentucky senior guard Denzel Aberdeen, a rotational player on the 2025 National Champion Florida Gators, who transferred in-conference and has been the leading scorer for Kentucky in his new role.
The Spartans have yet to play a complete 40 minutes on both ends of the court and will need more out of its veterans to do so. The four captains have put up good counting stats, but need to pay more attention to detail if they look to knock off a top program.
Tip-off at Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Catch Jack Sager and Joe Dez on the call for Impact 89FM https://impact89fm.org/
