Kansas vs. Michigan State score: Hunter Dickinson powers No. 1 Jayhawks past Spartans in Champions Classic

Kansas' guards struggle

The emphasis for Self and his staff this offseason was to avoid what afflicted it last season: a lack of depth and a dearth of scoring options in the backcourt. Neither issue thus far this season has been appropriately addressed, as KU's guards again struggled to score vs. Michigan State. Star transfer AJ Storr fouled out after scoring six points on five shots. Griffen, a transfer from Alabama, made timely buckets late but had no groove early before finishing with 10 points on 10 shots. And Zeke Mayo had just six points on eight shots -- with his contributions coming primarily as a rebounder.

I'd chalk all that up for now as a small sample anomaly, but it's worth watching given what we've seen so far. KU's guards were seen as the strength of the team and the primary reason it entered the season ranked No. 1. I'd wager they'll bounce back and regress closer to the mean as above average scorers, but against MSU, they were a key reason during this game that they missed 15 consecutive shots from the field at one point -- and they were nearly the reason for their first loss of the season.

Dickinson destroys again

If not for Dickinosn, a fifth-year senior, Kansas might've got swallowed up by double digits vs. Michigan State. He scored the first eight points of the game to set the tone early and was consistently the guy Kansas turned to when it needed points. That was the case frequently in this game with KU's guards tossing up bricks and struggling to find rhythm, and time and again he came up clutch.

Bidunga brings the boom

There should be as much optimism about what KU has in freshman Flory Bidunga as pessimism in what it lacks in its remade backcourt. Bidunga was excellent off the bench as a breather option for Dickinson, and Self even mixed the two on the court together for a spell. He added six points and one block in 12 productive minutes, with a wave of energy and enthusiasm that changed the momentum of the game. All three of his made shots in the game came on dunks, and all three were vicious in nature.

Kansas outlasts Michigan State in Champions Classic

FINAL: Kansas 77, Michigan State 69

No. 1 Kansas got more than it bargained for from unranked Michigan State, but the Jayhawks pulled away late to win and in the process improved to 3-0 on the season. Hunter Dickinson had 28 points for Kansas on a night where its offense largely struggled, and he was the difference in this one with KU going to him over and over again when it needed to jumpstart its offense.

Michigan State acquitted itself nicely on the night and showed its mettle in a real way on the big stage with Frankie Fidler, Jaxon Kohler and Jase Richardson flashing throughout this one. Richardson was held scoreless in the second half but was key as a creator, and Kohler found a way to hit timely buckets to keep the Spartans within striking distance down to the end.

That's another huge early-season test for preseason No. 1 Kansas passed after taking down a top-15 North Carolina team in Lawrence, Kansas, on Friday by a final margin of 92-89. Sets up what could be one of the best games of the year in two weeks with Duke and Kansas set to square off in Vegas on Nov. 26. 

Kansas pulling away

Final media timeout: Kansas 68, Michigan State 59

As it seemed, Kansas is indeed starting to create some separation down the stretch here between it and Michigan State. Zeke Mayo's been excellent on the boards, Dajuan Harris has been a bit more assertive and MSU's offense has sputtered with a number of point-blank misses. We're at the final media timeout so one last gasp of air upcoming for Sparty to climb back into this.

Kansas poised to pull away

5:50 remaining: Kansas 63, Michigan State 57

Every time Kansas yanks away, Michigan State seizes some momentum to keep this thing close. Kansas has managed to bounce between a one and two possession game and add some cushion, so we'll see if they can close it here after a big 3 from Rylan Griffen to make it a six point game. 

Tie game again

8:51 remaining: Kansas 52, Michigan State 52

We've got ourselves a game in Atlanta. Michigan State is not going away quietly and has once again tied things up at 52-all after Jaxon Kohler drills a top-of-the-key 3-pointer for Sparty. Same theme of the first half continuing into the second half: KU struggling to get offense going outside Hunter Dickinson, and finding no luck shooting from 3. 

Kansas leading by a whisker

U12 timeout: Kansas 45, Michigan State 43

We've got a good one here in Atlanta with No. 1 Kansas pacing -- barely -- ahead of unranked Michigan State in the Champions Classic's first game of the night. KU having serious issues scoring it still, and Michigan State's done a really good job of distributing the ball and sharing. Very fun and unselfish team to watch. Jase Richardson hasn't scored in the second half after scoring eight in the first half but he's made two huge assists in the last few minutes.

Kansas foul trouble adding up

We've got a tighter-than-expected one in Atlanta with No. 1 Kansas in a dogfight vs. Michigan State, and KU's foul trouble is starting to add up as we get deeper into the second half. Big man Flory Bidunga now has four and swiss-army weapon KJ Adams has three.  Meanwhile, AJ Storr and Rylan Griffen have two each. 

Michigan State hanging tough

U16 timeout: Kansas 34, Michigan State 32

Michigan State trails by just two points and will be shooting free throws on the other end of the U16 media timeout to potentially tie it up.

No. 1 Kansas still not getting much from players not named Hunter Dickinson on offense, opening up the second half with misses on six of its first eight field goal attempts. This would be a prime time for Zeke Mayo to step up and be more assertive; he's looked comfortable but ball hasn't found him much.

No minutes yet for MSU's Jase Richardson in the second half, which is curious after leading the team with eight points in the first half. Expecting Tom Izzo to put his rookie guard in shortly to try and jumpstart his offense. 

Five halftime stats to know

Hunter Dickinson leads Kansas with 15 points and 6 rebounds at halftime. Michigan State's Jase Richardson has a team-high 8 points and is the only Spartans player to hit a 3-pointer.

Here are five other stats to know.

• There were two missed dunks in the first half -- one by each team
• Kansas missed six of its seven attempts that qualified as "layups" 
• The first made 3-pointer in the game by either team came at the 4:29 mark. Combined, they are 3-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc.
• It took 12 minutes and three seconds of game action for any Kansas player outside of Hunter Dickinson to score a field goal. Rylan Griffen finally broke the ice with a jumper at the 7:57 mark.
• Kansas got double the scoring production off the bench than did Michigan State, 18 to 9. That might've been because of early foul trouble for AJ Storr, but may also speak to the rebuilt depth of this KU team that, last season, was its clear Achilles heel.

Kansas on top at the break

HALFTIME: No. 1 Kansas 30, Michigan State 24

That first half of basketball will not be going into the Hall of Fame, but No. 1 Kansas is on top at halftime after out-uglying Michigan State in the first half of the first game of the 2024 Champions Classic. Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson has 15 of KU's 30 points, but non-Dickinson players for KU are just 6-of-26 shooting thus far.

"Neither team has shot it very well," Bill Self said at halftime on ESPN. "We need AJ [Storr] out there some more, Rylan, Zeke to make shots."

Storr got into early foul trouble that might've changed the dynamic in that first half a smidge. 

Michigan State got eight points from freshman Jase Richardson, but the Spartans are 1 of 11 from 3-point range and have not found much success on offense, either. Close game going into the second half. 

Kansas getting it going

U4 timeout: Kansas 23, Michigan State 18

Kansas' offense has flowed almost entirely through Hunter Dickinson in this first half by necessity, but Dickinson has been capable of shouldering the big load to keep KU in the mix. He's up to 15 points on the night and finally broke the streak of 3-point misses to open the game. Both teams a combined 1 of 18 from beyond the arc, but KU now 1 of 9 after a Dickinson distance bomb.

Tie game in Atlanta

U8 timeout: Kansas 14, Michigan State 14

Kansas scores on consecutive possessions for what feels like the first time in decades to end a cold spell and get things moving in the right direction. It's been tough sledding for KU on offense but Hunter Dickinson already has 10 points on 5-6 shooting, and they're getting some good looks. Huge credit to MSU, though. They've made Kansas work for it and have been the more aggressive team so far in this one. Looks like Kansas hasn't decided whether it will need to give full effort or not, and MSU playing hungry.

7:57: It took 12 minutes and three seconds of game action for a Kansas player not named Hunter Dickinson to score a field goal in this game. KU's offense has gone totally anemic, but Rylan Griffen finally able to break the lid off the rim.  

Michigan State races back

U12 timeout: Michigan State 10, Kansas 8

No. 1 Kansas has surrendered its early 8-2 lead and trails for the first time in this one, 10-8, after going ice cold in the final four minutes. KU enters the media timeout at the U12 mark having hit just one of its last 13 field goal attempts, and Hunter Dickinson remains the only Jayhawks player to score early in this one.

For Michigan State it's been a concerted effort led by Carson Cooper -- who has a team-high four points. Jaden Akins and Frankie Fidler also on the board with a bucket each.

Dickinson off to fast start

U16: Kansas 8, Michigan State 2

What a start for No. 1 Kansas and its towering big man, Hunter Dickinson. Playing unafraid and attacking down low early has the Jayhawks up 8-2 at U16 timeout over Michigan State. Dickinson is 4-of-5 shooting and has accounted for all eight KU points thus far. Michigan State has thus far had no real answer down low to slow him.

Picking KU-Michigan State ...

No. 1 Kansas is favored by 6.5 points tonight over unranked Michigan State, so it's probably not a huge surprise to know that no one on our staff is going out on a limb and predicting an upset win for the Spartans.

Only one of us is even predicting MSU covers the spread, in fact.

And that someone is not me. I'm taking KU -6.5 tonight.

Kansas struggled to slam the door shut at home vs. UNC on Friday after building up a big lead, but Michigan State isn't quite equipped to give the Jayhawks the same type of scare. KU will have its guard up and I think that looks like KU's guards doing a better job of being purposeful in possessions late to help seal a cozy win.

MSU will keep things interesting and may even give Kansas a brief scare but KU pulls away late for, say, a nine-point win. 

Keep an eye on Kansas freshman center Flory Bidunga

Bidunga came off the bench for No. 1 Kansas and scored 13 points in 17 minutes of play in the season opener against Howard. Bidunga knocked down all six field goal attempts and added eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in the 87-57 win over Howard. Bidunga played the second-most minutes of any bench player behind newcomer Zeke Mayo.

Tracking college basketball freshman debuts: How Cooper Flagg and other five-star recruits did in first game

Cameron Salerno

Bill Self inching toward history

Hall of Fame coach Bill Self moved one step closer to history over the weekend with his No. 1 team's 92-89 win at home over North Carolina, giving him 590 career wins as the Jayhawks' head coach. The win ties him with legendary coach Phog Allen, who of course has Allen Fieldhouse named after him.

"I'm proud, but he's still the greatest coach and the best innovator that this school will ever know," Self said Friday. "So, we don't need to get carried away. We play more games. If he'd had played that many games and coached 39 years, he would have won 2,000 games. But it's great."

A win Tuesday night in the Champions Classic would make Self the winningest coach in KU history with 591.

Kansas is coming off a monster win over UNC

They played a national title game in the first week of the season at Allen Fieldhouse. They played each other to their knees. They left those who squeezed into the old barn breathless.  

The bluest of blue bloods left each other black and blue. If you see another game like it this season let us know because the season has a lot to live up to. 

No. 1 Kansas hung on to beat No. 9 North Carolina 92-89 Friday in a game that started dripping with history and ended up dripping in sweat. 

Kansas sweating out a victory vs. North Carolina in November will help the Jayhawks get ready for March

Dennis Dodd

Michigan State freshman Jace Richardson is one to watch

Recruiting stans have known about him for a bit, but legendary Michigan State 2-guard Jason Richardson has a son who can hoop.  

Would you look at that? 

Freshman Jase Richardson has made a terrific first impression in his MSU debut. The polished lefty cracked double figures twice last week against Monmouth and Niagara, and Michigan State will need him to continue to come off pindowns aggressively and glide his way to the cup for buckets. 

Ten nitty-gritty observations from opening week: Michigan State freshman Jase Richardson starts fast

Isaac Trotter

Kansas vs. Michigan State prediction

What version of Kansas will show up against Michigan State? Will it be the team that looked like the consensus top-ranked team against North Carolina or the team that looked vulnerable in the second half at home? In this matchup, the former is more likely. The difference between this year's roster and last is Kansas has the depth to wear teams down. That will be the difference in this one. Pick: Kansas -6.5

Kansas vs. Michigan State live stream, where to watch Champions Classic, TV channel, odds, spread, prediction

Cameron Salerno

Who are the NBA Draft prospects to watch?

The annual Champions Classic featuring Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and Michigan State is one of the preeminent early-season college hoops events featuring NBAtalent from some of the top programs in the country. And this year's Classic scheduled for Tuesday night in Atlanta should be no exception, with potential No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and a number of other first-round prospects headlining a loaded field.

Duke's Cooper Flagg leads rankings of top 2025 NBA Draft prospects to watch in Champions Classic

Kyle Boone