KU Basketball vs Michigan St in Champions Classic, Historic

The four Blue Bloods of University Basketball Championships 2018 are entering this season, as they do most seasons, with aspirations for the Final Four and the NCAA title.

"I think it's something to excite everyone. You have four of the top 10 pre-season teams, "said Kansas coach Bill Self, about his top ranked Jayhawks, joining Tuesday's No. 10 United States, second from Kentucky and No. 4 duke. night in Indianapolis. "It will be a nice competition."

The Jayhawks, who with the Michigan State are 3-4 at the ESPN event, which began in 2011, will meet the Spartans at 18h. in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Kentucky and Duke, teams with 4-3 records in the Classic, will get confused 30 minutes after the first match.

KU enters after defeating Kentucky and Duke the last two seasons at the Champions Classic. Michigan State, which is 2-0 against KU in the competition, was the last team to defeat the Jayhawks – in 2015.

"They always seem to play well against us," Self said of the Spartans.

This will be the eighth meeting between KU and MSU in 16 years. KU's Self teams are 3-4 against Spartan teams, all coached by Tom Izzo.

Here is an overview of each of the seven meetings, starting with the Champions Classic matches.

Michigan State 67, Kansas 64, Champions Classic, November 13, 2012, Atlanta: Keith Appling scored 13.8 seconds before scoring three points in advance. Travis Releford of the KU missed a three-pointer while MSU won the Georgia Dome.

Elijah Johnson and Ben McLemore scored 16 and 14 points respectively for KU. The Jayhawks led with seven points 12 minutes from the end and 59-54 with five minutes to play. MSU, led by Appling's 19 points, finished 13-5. Freshman Gary Harris scored 18 points for MSU.

"We were not offended in the last stretch. Our spacing has stung the last seven or eight minutes, "said Self after the match.

Michigan State 79, Kansas 73, Champions Classic, November 17, 2015, Chicago: Denzel Valentine of Michigan State scored 29 points with 12 rebounds and 12 assists for the second triple-double against KU. Magic Johnson of the Spartans, who scored 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a 1979 Jayhawks win in East Lansing, Michigan, was the other player to record a double-double-double against the Jayhawks.

Valentine scored 21 points in the second half as Michigan State dropped a six-point deficit at halftime at United Center.

"It's a disappointing defeat. We had the game, "said Self at the time. "I leave here pretty ticked because I do not think our guys, myself, everyone involved in our program have done the best job possible. If we did, I think we could have removed this one. "

Perry Ellis had 21 points to lead the Jayhawks.

Kansas 90, Michigan State 70, NCAA's second game, March 19, 2017, Tulsa, Okla: Josh Jackson, who was excited to play against his childhood friend Miles Bridges, scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half. Frank Mason contributed 20 points for the Jayhawks.

The bridges finished with 22 points, while Nick Ward and Joshua Langford, who are part of the MSU 2018-1919 team, finished with 13 and 10 points respectively. Lagerald Vick (seven points) and Mitch Lightfoot (no points, 1 minute) are the only current Jayhawks to have played in this game. Current Spartans Cassius Winston and Kenny Goins had seven and five points respectively.

"Josh Jackson is a hell of a player," said Michigan State coach Izzo at the time. "We wanted to beat her head today. I'm sure the feeling was reciprocal. But respect, and respect means there will be a friendship when it's over. "

Kansas 61, Michigan State 56 to Orlando Classic, November 30, 2014, Orlando, Florida: Ellis scored 17 points and took nine rebounds to beat KU in the Orlando Classic title match. Cliff Alexander, who started the second half, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots while scoring six points. Svi Mykhailiuk hit 3 of the 6 shots and scored 11 points.

The Jayhawks overtake the MSU, 44-36, and limit the shots to the Spartans to 32.2% – 24.2% in the last half.

Mason got 10 rebounds with 10 points and five assists. KU won despite a 0-10 win over Wayne Selden. Valentine and Travis Trice scored 14 points each for the Spartans.

"You can not miss easy shots. The number of layups we missed was amazing. I'm not sure Kansas played well. I'm not sure Michigan State played very well. Maybe we should credit both defenses. They found a way to win. Give them credit. We found a way to lose. Give us the blame, "said Izzo.

"I'm going to be honest, I thought we were keeping them pretty well," said Self. "I thought they were keeping us pretty well. When you play Michigan State, they make you play higher than most of the time. You will not have many easy baskets (KU was 3 out of 14 out of three). If someone draws 45% against one of Tom's teams, he really shoots the ball well. We missed open eyes. They missed open eyes. The game really starts when you play often when the ball is in the air. I thought we had done a good job with the glass.

Michigan State 67, Kansas 62, in NCAA Midwest Regional Sweet 16, March 27, 2009, Indianapolis: Goran Suton scored 20 points and Kalin Lucas 18 for MSU. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich had 20 and 17 points respectively for KU.

Lucas scored seven points and was 5 of 5 in the last 49 seconds. The Jayhawks, who had won the national title the year before, had 13 points in the first half and five points three minutes from the end. Draymond Green scored seven benchmarks for MSU.

"I do not think it's a disappointment," KU Collins said at the time. "We always went beyond what most people thought of us, but we had our own expectations in that locker room. I would rather be blown than losing a tight match. "

Michigan State 75, Kansas 62 in regular season game, January 10, 2009, East Lansing, Mich: Lucas scored 22 points for the winners. Collins and Aldrich of KU responded with 25 and 14 points for the Jayhawks, who led 37-18 at half-time, but passed MSU 44-38, the last half.

Aldrich, a junior, shot 4 of 9 shots and had 11 rebounds in 35 minutes. Six different Spartan players were watching him.

"They threw everyone on me," Aldrich said. "Let's see … there was Delvon Roe, (Idong) Ibok, Suton, (Marquise) Gray," he said about the Spartans taking turns replacing him. "I miss two. I can not think of all, there were so many, "added Aldrich, also followed by Green and Raymar Morgan.

Kansas 81, Michigan State 74 in regular season game, November 25, 2003, Allen Fieldhouse: Wayne Simien scored 28 points in 38 minutes and grabbed eight boards in a physical match. Simien scored 18 points in the first period. Aaron Miles scored eight of his 17 points and J. R. Giddens six points while the Jayhawks, who did not play without Keith Langford, led 38-31 at the break. Langford responded with 13 points in the last half, while the Jayhawks, who saw their lead of 17 points (58-41) to four (76-72 to 2:27), were able to win the game. to hook.

"It's probably as fun as I coached in a game," said Self at the time. "It's the best atmosphere I attend."

Maurice Ager had 17 points and Alan Anderson 16 for the Spartans, whose only lead was 4-2.

The Spartans committed 24 turnovers on the 18 of KU.

"Revenue figure. It's almost criminal, "Izzo said. "You have to give Kansas a credit for a few of them, but not for 24."

Gary Bedore

Gary Bedore covers athletics at the University of Kansas for The Star.