No. 18 Michigan State Plays No. 9 Duke on Tuesday in the Champions Classic

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to Chicago to play No. 9/9 Duke in the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the United Center (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET).

The game will air live on ESPN, with Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Holly Rowe calling all of the action. The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard state-wide and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst, and Blake Froling is the studio host. The game can also be heard on channels 85 or 195 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

The Spartans, No. 18 in the Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the Coaches poll, opened the season splitting a pair of games at home.
MSU lost in the season opener last Monday to James Madison, 79-76, in overtime, with graduate guard Tyson Walker scoring 35 points, a Michigan State career high and one point shy of tying his personal best.
On Thursday night, Walker scored 14 points to lead four players in double figures as the Spartans bounced back to beat Southern Indiana, 74-51.
Following the game on Tuesday night against Duke, the Spartans return home for a pair of games and play eight of their next 10 games at the Breslin Center before the start of the new year.
Michigan State entered the 2023-24 season ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll and the ESPN Coaches Poll … It is the highest the team has been ranked entering a season in the AP poll since being No. 1 prior to the 2019-20 season.
The Spartans return four starters and 11 letterwinners and welcome in a recruiting class that has been rated among the top-five in the country to a team that went 21-13 last year and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
This year, the Spartans return 74.9 percent of the team's scoring (1,805 of 2,411 points), 66.9 percent of the team's rebounds (606 of 906), 85.1 percent of the team's assists (423 of 497) and 75.9 percent of the team's minutes played (5,234 of 6,900).
The Spartans' expected starting lineup – guards Walker, A.J. Hoggard and Jaden Akins and forwards Malik Hall and Mady Sissoko – have combined to start 499 games (258 starts) in their college careers ... Walker leads the way with 122 games played (112 starts), while Hall has played in 120 games.
The Spartans expect to be led by a backcourt that could rank among the best in the country.
Walker and Hoggard were selected to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team.
Walker, who was named to the Watch List for Division I Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, led the team in scoring (14.8 ppg), ranked No. 11 in the Big Ten in scoring and field goal percentage (45.9%) and 10th in minutes played (34.0).
Hoggard was third on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg) and led the team, ranked third in the Big Ten and No. 9 nationally, with 5.9 assists per game.
Junior Jaden Akins was fourth on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) while adding 4.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and shooting 42.2 percent from 3-point land.
Graduate forward Malik Hall returns for his fifth year at MSU and was fifth on the team last year with 8.9 ppg and third on the team with 4.3 rpg despite missing 11 games with an injury.
Senior forward Mady Sissoko moved into the starting lineup last year and responded with 5.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg while blocking 28 shots … He had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday against Southern Indiana.

About Duke

Duke enters tonight's game with a 1-1 record following a 78-73 loss at home on Friday night to No. 12/11 Arizona.
The Blue Devils opened the season with a 92-54 win over Dartmouth.
Duke returns four starters from last year's team that went 27-9 and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Leading the way is sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski, who averaged 15.1 ppg and 8.9 rpg, and senior guard Jeremy Roach, who averaged 13.6 ppg and 3.1 apg.

Against Duke

Duke leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 14-4.
The teams have split the last four meetings ... The Blue Devils won the last meeting, 85-76, in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
Michigan State beat Duke, 75-69, in 2020 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the Champions Classic.
The Spartans are 1-3 all-time against Duke in the Champions Classic, with all four meetings being decided by 10 points or fewer.

MSU in the Champions Classic

Michigan State is 5-7 all-time in the Champions Classic.
In last year's Champions Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Michigan State beat then-No. 25 Kentucky, 86-77, in overtime.
Kentucky has a 5-7 record in the Champions Classic, Duke is 7-5 and Kansas is 6-6.

No. 18 Michigan State Plays No. 9 Duke on Tuesday in the Champions Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Malik Hall

A.J. Hoggard

Mady Sissoko

Tyson Walker

No. 18 Michigan State Plays No. 9 Duke on Tuesday in the Champions Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaden Akins

Malik Hall

A.J. Hoggard

Mady Sissoko

Tyson Walker

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