Photo by: Matthew Mitchell
No. 10 Michigan State Plays No. 1 Kansas Tuesday in Champions Classic
11/5/2018 2:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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Michigan State's men's basketball team opens its 2018-19 regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 6, playing No. 1-ranked Kansas in the Champions Classic at BankersLife Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
The game will air live on ESPN, with Dan Shulman calling the play-by-play, Dick Vitale serving as the color analyst and Laura Rutledge on sidelines. The Spartan Sports Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at SpartanSportsNetwork.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on Sirius 121, XM 195 and Internet 957.
The Spartans are ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press Preseason poll and in the USA Today Coaches poll.
MSU has an all-time record of 3-4 in the Champions Classic. This will be the third time the Spartans have played the No. 1 team in the country, falling to Duke last year (88-81), and beating then-No. 1 Kentucky, 78-74, in 2013.
Michigan State returns three starters from last year's team, which finished with a 30-5 overall record and won the Big Ten Regular Season Championship, posting a 16-2 record in league play.Â
The Spartans return seven rotation players who have started more than 180 games, led by a trio of juniors – guards Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) and Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) and forward Nick Ward (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) – who have combined to start 156 games.
Despite losing a pair of NBA lottery picks from the 2017-18 team, MSU returns 59.4 percent of its scoring from last year, 57.2 percent of its rebounding, 57.0 percent of its assists and 60.7 percent of its 3-point field goals made.
Ward and Winston were among 10 players selected to the Preseason All-BIG 10 Team at the league's media day earlier this month in Chicago.
Ward was a Big Ten honorable mention selection by the coaches and a third team honoree by the media last season. He appeared in all 35 games, starting, 34, and finished third on the team in scoring with 12.4 points and led the team with 7.1 rebounds, adding 1.3 blocks per game in 18.9 minutes. He led the team with eight double-doubles and has 20 games with double figure scoring.
Winston was an All-Big Ten Third Team honoree last season and was selected to the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District V team. Finishing second on the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game, Winston led the team with 6.8 assists per game and in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 49.7 percent of his shots from long distance (75-of-151). Winston led the Big Ten, and was No. 8 in the country, in assists per game.
Ward was selected to the Preseason Watch List for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, while Winston was selected to the watch list for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.
Kansas returns two starters and six letterwinners from last season's 31-8 team, which won the Big 12 race with a 13-5 conference record. Besides the league regular-season title, Kansas also won the Miami Hoophall Invitational, the Big 12 Tournament Championship and advanced to the school's 15th Final Four.
Senior Lagerald Vick and junior Udoka Azubuike return as the starters. Vick is the lone senior on the team and he averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season in earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors. Azubuike, an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2017-18, is KU's leading returning scorer at 13.0 ppg and rebounder at 7.0 rpg. He led the nation and set the KU and Big 12 single-season record for field goal percentage at 77.0 percent in 2017-18. Sophomore guard Marcus Garrett (4.1 ppg, 3.4 ppg) started seven games last season. Other KU regular returners include junior forward Mitch Lightfoot (3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.4 blocked shots per game) and sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa (4.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg).
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The game will air live on ESPN, with Dan Shulman calling the play-by-play, Dick Vitale serving as the color analyst and Laura Rutledge on sidelines. The Spartan Sports Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at SpartanSportsNetwork.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on Sirius 121, XM 195 and Internet 957.
The Spartans are ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press Preseason poll and in the USA Today Coaches poll.
MSU has an all-time record of 3-4 in the Champions Classic. This will be the third time the Spartans have played the No. 1 team in the country, falling to Duke last year (88-81), and beating then-No. 1 Kentucky, 78-74, in 2013.
Michigan State returns three starters from last year's team, which finished with a 30-5 overall record and won the Big Ten Regular Season Championship, posting a 16-2 record in league play.Â
The Spartans return seven rotation players who have started more than 180 games, led by a trio of juniors – guards Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) and Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) and forward Nick Ward (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) – who have combined to start 156 games.
Despite losing a pair of NBA lottery picks from the 2017-18 team, MSU returns 59.4 percent of its scoring from last year, 57.2 percent of its rebounding, 57.0 percent of its assists and 60.7 percent of its 3-point field goals made.
Ward and Winston were among 10 players selected to the Preseason All-BIG 10 Team at the league's media day earlier this month in Chicago.
Ward was a Big Ten honorable mention selection by the coaches and a third team honoree by the media last season. He appeared in all 35 games, starting, 34, and finished third on the team in scoring with 12.4 points and led the team with 7.1 rebounds, adding 1.3 blocks per game in 18.9 minutes. He led the team with eight double-doubles and has 20 games with double figure scoring.
Winston was an All-Big Ten Third Team honoree last season and was selected to the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District V team. Finishing second on the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game, Winston led the team with 6.8 assists per game and in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting on 49.7 percent of his shots from long distance (75-of-151). Winston led the Big Ten, and was No. 8 in the country, in assists per game.
Ward was selected to the Preseason Watch List for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, while Winston was selected to the watch list for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.
Kansas returns two starters and six letterwinners from last season's 31-8 team, which won the Big 12 race with a 13-5 conference record. Besides the league regular-season title, Kansas also won the Miami Hoophall Invitational, the Big 12 Tournament Championship and advanced to the school's 15th Final Four.
Senior Lagerald Vick and junior Udoka Azubuike return as the starters. Vick is the lone senior on the team and he averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season in earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors. Azubuike, an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2017-18, is KU's leading returning scorer at 13.0 ppg and rebounder at 7.0 rpg. He led the nation and set the KU and Big 12 single-season record for field goal percentage at 77.0 percent in 2017-18. Sophomore guard Marcus Garrett (4.1 ppg, 3.4 ppg) started seven games last season. Other KU regular returners include junior forward Mitch Lightfoot (3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.4 blocked shots per game) and sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa (4.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg).
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