Spartans Late Rally Against No. 2 Kentucky Comes up Short

NEW YORK - Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) scored 21 points and sophomore forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central) added a career high seven points and six rebounds, but No. 1 Michigan State's late rally against No. 2 Kentucky fell short in a 69-62 loss in the Champions Classic Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Winston was the lone Spartan in double figures with 21 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. Kentucky freshman guard Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.

"We didn't quit, we came back and played hard after that debacle in the first half of the game," said Head Coach Tom Izzo. "Between the free throw lines and the turnovers-for-touchdowns, we just made some crazy plays. We had some lineups that don't belong in there at this time of year. The foul trouble created that. At the end, we missed four threes that were wide open. I need my three big guys to play well and maybe Cash (Cassius Winston) to play pretty good. We didn't get enough out of them. We miss Josh (Langford). But we're going to get a lot better. I think we were younger than them (Kentucky) most of the time out there."

Summary
-The Wildcats raced out to an 11-4 lead to start the game after an 8-0 run in the first four minutes. Sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) knocked down a 3-pointer and the Spartans answered with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two.with 13:02 left in the first half.
-Winston led all scorers in the first half with 12 points and shot 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Brown added five points and Bingham Jr. collected a career-high six rebounds in the first half to go along with five points.
-Winston grabbed a quick four points sparking the Spartans to a 8-2 run to start the second half. The Spartans cut the lead to four at the 12-minute mark before the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to push the lead to 54-41.
-Redshirt senior Kyle Ahrens (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles High School) drained a 3-pointer with 8:52 remaining to spark a 7-0 run by the Spartans. Sophomore guard Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) rattled in his first 3-pointer of the game to cut the Kentucky lead to four with just over four minutes remaining.
-The Spartans got within two (62-60) with 1:27 remaining after a three-point play from Winston.
-Kentucky finished the game on a 7-2 run on its way to a 69-62 win over the Spartans

Key Stats
-Bingham Jr. collected a career-high six rebounds in the first half to go along with five points. Winston, who scored on the opening play from a back-door pass from freshman Rocket Watts, finished with game-high 12 first half points for the Spartans.
-MSU had 11 players see minutes in the contest. Four starters collected two fouls in the first half for the Spartans.
-MSU and Kentucky combined for 26 fouls in the first half. The Wildcats went 16-for-20 at the free throw line in the first half and the Spartans knocked in 6-of-10 from the charity stripe.
-The Spartans held Kentucky to 32 percent shooting from the field in the first frame (8-of-25) and 19-for-50 for the game (38.0 perecent).
-MSU and Kentucky each finished with 30 rebounds in the contest, while MSU finished with 7 offensive rebounds

Notes
-MSU drops to 94-27 all-time in season openers
-The Spartans fall to 11-14 all-time against Kentucky
-Michigan State falls to 3-6 all-time in the Champions Classic

Up Next
MSU opens its 2019-20 home slate on Sunday, Nov. 10 against Binghamton at the Breslin Center. Action will begin at 7 p.m. and air live on BTN.

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Team Stats

Cassius Winston

Aaron Henry

Gabe Brown

Thomas Kithier

Players Mentioned

Kyle Ahrens

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Aaron Henry

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston