Kansas Basketball: Spartans have been problematic in Champions Classic
By Mike Norris
When Kansas basketball tips their season off Tuesday night in Indianapolis at the Champions Classic they’ll be looking to do something for the first time: Beat the Michigan State Spartans.
Yes, the Kansas Jayhawks have actually prevailed against Michigan State in a game before, including a Second Round matchup between the schools in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, but Kansas is 0-2 against the Spartans all-time in the Champions Classic.
They’ve defeated Duke both times they’ve played, and even upended Kentucky once in three tries, but beat Michigan State they haven’t and that has to bother Jayhawks fans.
For a school that is second all-time in Division I Men’s basketball wins and owns a head-to-head advantage over most teams it has played during its 100-plus years, losing a third time should irk the fan base more than just a little bit.
Even Kansas head coach Bill Self acknowledged a little frustration regarding Tom Izzo’s bunch earlier this week, per Gary Bedore of the Kansas City Star, saying, “They always seem to play well against us.”
Just looking at the box score that usually rings true.
In the Self era the Jayhawks are just 3-4 against the Spartans with the average score of the games 70-69 in favor of KU — Even with Kansas’ 20-point victory in that NCAA Tournament game two years ago.
Expect another good one on Tuesday as the teams face off against each other with both ranked in the AP Top 10 for the third time. The Jayhawks, of course, are the top-ranked team in the country while the Spartans check in at number ten.
Let’s take a look at the past two games between the schools in the Champions Classic and what KU needs to do to avoid a third loss to the Spartans and an 0-1 start to the year for the first time in 16 years under Self.