Don’t you dare turn off the TV after Kentucky vs. Duke. No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Michigan State, the second game of this year’s Champions Classic, should be just as entertaining and just as instructive in terms of finding out what these two championship-caliber teams are made of.
A lot is expected of the Jayhawks, who will be stacked with talent and experience this season. They’ll certainly get a stern examination against Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans, who also have some seasoned seniors that can lead the way toward an early-season upset.
Read on for our preview of the Jayhawks vs. Spartans. Meanwhile, check out our preview of the first half of this Tuesday doubleheader, Kentucky vs Duke.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Kansas Jayhawks vs. Michigan State Spartans Preview
Where: United Center, Chicago
When: Tuesday, November 17, 10:00 PM ET
Line: Kansas Jayhawks at Michigan State Spartans – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Kansas Jayhawks (1-0)
The Kansas Jayhawks may be priced at just +1,400 to win the national title, but they’re currently No. 4 in the country for a reason. They return some tremendous talent and experience this season, and should have one of the deeper teams in the nation.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]They displayed those two strengths right off the bat with their 109-72 win over Northern Colorado on Friday. Junior point guard Frank Mason III ran the show for the Jayhawks as he had 11 points and a team-high nine assists. Meanwhile, senior Perry Ellis, last year’s leading scorer at 13.8 PPG, picked up right where he left off with 16 points in just 20 minutes of action.
However, it was Brannen Greene who led the Jayhawks in scoring with 18 points off the bench. Greene went 5-of-5 from beyond the arc as Kansas went a sizzling 15-of-26 (58 percent) as a team. Five Jayhawks finished in double-figures and eight scored at least seven points.
Kansas should own a sizeable advantage in depth and experience against the Spartans, particularly in the frontcourt with Ellis, fellow senior Jamari Traylor and junior Landen Lucas, who will be going up against a somewhat undersized Spartans team.
Kansas coach Bill Self should also have more weapons to call upon from his bench – four-star freshman Carlton Bragg Jr., Greene and sophomore Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk to name three – that his counterpart, Tom Izzo, whose bench is currently filled with inexperienced and unproven players.
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Betting on the Michigan State Spartans (1-0)
The Michigan State Spartans will go where seniors Denzel Valentine, Bryn Forbes and Matt Costello will take them this season. (They’re currently priced at +1,000 to go all the way and win the national title.) The trio didn’t disappoint in their season opener as they led the way in an 82-55 win over Florida Atlantic.
Valentine, who was a major contributor in the team’s run to the Final Four last year, did a bit of everything as he finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in 28 minutes of action. Forbes went 3-of-4 from downtown and finished with 12 points, while Costello led the team with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Valentine, Forbes and Costello can certainly hang with Kansas’s starry names, and so can Spartans point guard Lourawls Nairn, Jr. The sophomore they call “Tum Tum” may just be 5-10, but he’s a dogged defender, and won’t give Frank Mason a moment’s peace all night long.
However, the X-factor for the Spartans could be freshman Deyonta Davis. Thrust into some heavy minutes due to the absence of junior forward Gavin Schilling, the 6-10 Davis took full advantage of his opportunity as he had 13 points and 11 rebounds against Florida Atlantic to become just the third Spartans player in program history to grab a double-double in his debut.
Schilling is still battling turf toe which will keep him out of the lineup against Kansas, so Davis will once again be tasked with providing a spark off the somewhat shallow Spartans bench.
Writer’s Prediction
Kansas’s depth makes the difference as the Jayhawks edge the Spartans, 87-82.
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