The 14th annual Champions Classic in Atlanta on Tuesday brings college basketball’s first doubleheader featuring No. 1 Kansas and unranked Michigan State.
The event, which also features 7 Duke and No. 23 Kentucky, is in Atlanta for the first time since 2012, when he was held at the Georgia Dome. The 2024 program features the nation’s best team, but it’s nothing new for the Jayhawks and Spartans to look for early measuring sticks.
Kansas (2-0) blew past Howard 87-57 on Nov. 4 in its season opener before slipping to No. 9 North Carolina 92-89 on Friday. The Jayhawks saw their 20-point, first-half lead disappear at home against the Tar Heels but scored the final five points of the game for their first win of the season.
South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo led Kansas with 21 points off the bench, while fifth-year Hunter Dickinson recorded 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Mayo, a Lawrence, Kan., native and last season’s Summit League player of the year, leads his new team with an average of 20 points per game.
“(Zeke) met the opportunity in style,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of his performance on Friday. “He was great. He made a couple of plays off the bounce that were just great. He was great, and we needed everything he gave us.”
Alongside Mayo, Dickinson — the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year — and KJ Adams Jr. they returned to the Jayhawks, averaging 18 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. Kansas is 8-5 all-time in the Champions Classic, including 2-2 against the Spartans.
The teams last met in the event in 2021, with Kansas winning 87-74.
Although his team is favored in Tuesday’s game, Self knows not to underestimate the team coached by Tom Izzo.
“Playing Tom’s teams is different because he runs more sets than anyone in this country,” said Self. “Preparing your boys for what they do, will be a spy for many days.”
The Spartans (2-0) blew out two undefeated opponents this season, beating Monmouth 81-57 and Niagara 96-60. Michigan State’s top two players are both back in Jaden Akins — who is averaging 16.5 points per game — and Jaxon Kohler (12.5).
Kohler had 20 points and 13 rebounds against Niagara in the upset win, but Izzo knows Tuesday will be a different story.
“We were able to get the ball inside and outside; we had 52 points,” Izzo said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen on Tuesday night, but it’s all about setting the tempo. What we do well is what we have to continue to do. I think we have a lot of versatility inside and out, and I like the way we moved the ball.”
Michigan State is 5-8 in the Champions Classic, which began in 2011. After disrupting No. 4 Kentucky in the 2022 event in double overtime, 86-77 in Indianapolis, the Spartans fell to No. 9 Duke 74-65 last year in Chicago.
–Field Level Media
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