After a stress-free 2-0 start to the 2024-2025 season, the Michigan State men's basketball team will face its toughest test of the campaign thus far, as the Spartans are set to take on the No. 1-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in the Champions Classic.
This game takes place in Atlanta at the State Farm Arena at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, and will broadcast live on ESPN.
In their last game, the Spartans were able to dismantle Niagara easily, running away in the second half and winning by a final score of score of 96-60. Meanwhile, Kansas was most recently able to pick up a hard-fought 92-89 home win versus the No. 9-ranked ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. The Jayhawks also enter Tuesday's game with a 2-0 record.
The Spartans will have both an opportunity and a tough challenge on their hands to find out what this 2024-2024 team is made of with a massive early-season matchup against the Jayhawks.
Michigan State: Depth Chart and State of the Team
1 - Jeremy Fears Jr. (6’2” RS Fr..), Tre Holloman (6’2” Jr.)
2 - Jaden Akins (6’4” Sr.), Jase Richardson (6'3" Fr.), Gehrig Normand (6'5" RS Fr.)
3 - Frankie Fidler (6’7” Sr.), Coen Carr (6’5” So.), Kur Teng (6'4" Fr.)
4 - Xavier Booker (6'11" So.), Jaxon Kohler (6’9” Jr.)
5 - Syzmon Zapala (7'0" Sr.), Carson Cooper (6’11” So.), Jesse McCulloch (6''10" Fr., expected to redshirt)
The Michigan State Spartans have taken care of business early on in the season by handily defeating programs that they are superior to: Monmouth and Niagara.
In MSU's last game, junior forward/center Jaxon Kohler scored a career-high 20 points and had his second career double-double, as he notched 13 rebounds as well. Kohler will have a much tougher challenge on his hands against Kansas on Tuesday, matching up against KJ Adams Jr., Hunter Dickinson and the bigs of the Jayhawks. It will be interesting to see if Kohler can keep his momentum going.
True freshman guard Jase Richardson had 12 points off the bench, as he started his Spartan career with back-to-back scoring performances in the double-digits, but he will will get his first opportunity against a power conference foe on Tuesday.
MSU starters Frankie Fidler and Jaden Akins scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, against the Purple Eagles. Akins began the season with a 23-point performance, tying a career-high, against the Hawks. Head coach Tom Izzo wants to continue to see Akins take a leadership role for the Spartans both on and off the court.
Now, with a big-time step up in competition against Kansas on Tuesday, it will be imperative that the Spartans play a complete game in order to come out on top against the top-ranked team in the nation.
Kansas: Depth Chart and State of the Team
1 - Dajuan Harris Jr. (6'2" Sr.)
2 - David Coit (5'11" Sr.), Zeke Mayo (6'4" Sr.)
3 - Rylan Griffen (6'6" Jr.), AJ Storr (6'7" Jr.)
4 - KJ Adams Jr. (6'7" Sr.)
5 - Hunter Dickinson (7'2" Sr.), Flory Bidunga (6'9" Fr.)
As mentioned, Kansas is coming off a big early-season win, as the Jayhawks were able to knock off the top-10 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels at home. KU led by as many as 20 points in the game, but allowed UNC to storm all the way back and take the lead late in the game, but in the end, the Jayhawks came away with the victory.
Zeke Mayo has been coming off the bench for Kansas, but we'll see how long that lasts as he led the team in scoring each of their first two games, and was on the court in crunch time against UNC. He is averaging 20 points per game through two contests. Mayo averaged over 18 points per game in each of the past two seasons for South Dakota State, and is a 39.1% career shooter from 3-point range.
Kansas did most of their damage in the paint, led by their 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson. He finished with 20 points and 10 boards on the inside against the Tar Heels. Of course, Michigan State fans know Dickinson well from his time at Michigan.
Dickinson works well with KJ Adams Jr. — when Dickinson gets double-teamed, he is able to quickly find Adams who is typically cutting to the basket for an athletic dunk. Adams is averaging 10.5 points per game on the season.
Dajuan Harris Jr. is a senior point guard who brings his experience to this lineup and leads the team with 4.0 assists per game, while adding 8.0 points per game.
This Kansas Jayhawks team is the No. 1 squad in the country for a reason. They don't have many holes and are coached by one of the all-time greats in Bill Self.
Game Breakdown and Prediction
Michigan State is fighting an uphill battle in this game. From a talent standpoint, the Spartans are outmatched by this Kansas basketball team, which means it will take some special performances from the players and also a special game plan offensively and defensively from Izzo and the coaching staff to find themselves with a chance to win this game.
In the end, I think that right now Kansas is the better and more talented basketball team, and I think that will show in this game in a neutral setting in Atlanta.
Prediction: Kansas 82, Michigan State 68
