Michigan State dominates Kentucky: No. 17 Spartans roll over No. 12 Wildcats in 2025 Champions Classic

Purdue has been as advertised but no team in the Big Ten thus far this season has been as good as Michigan State. Wins over Arkansas and now Kentucky are signature victories that will carry significant weight deep into the season.

MSU was picked fifth in the Big Ten preseason poll and I'm not so sure that doesn't already feel like an oversight. (Michigan, UCLA and Wisconsin at 2, 3 and 4 all belong in the same category but may be behind Sparty in a re-do.)

The league is even deeper than perhaps expected because Illinois has looked exceptional, and USC and Indiana have flashed signs of being capable, too. But Sparty's got a great point guard, quality veterans and some freshmen -- led by Cam Ward -- who are poised to grow into bigger roles as the season progresses.

A 3-2 record five games into the season is nothing to panic about for Kentucky. I wouldn't go googling Mark Pope's buyout or anything. But it's undoubtedly well short of what the lofty expectations were for this team entering the year. Remember: this is a program with a payroll believed to be upwards of $20 million. This is an expensive roster UK went out and put together to make sure it had a title contender around star Otega Oweh.

That's not the case right now. This is not a team playing like it will be worthy of title contention -- and Oweh is not yet playing like the star he was last season. 

That's not to say it won't eventually be the case; Jayden Quaintance is out as he recovers from an injury, and Jaland Lowe did not play as he nurses a shoulder injury. That's two quality starters who weren't out there.

But two losses to ranked teams in the span of a week -- last week to rival Louisville, this week to Michigan State -- will and should cause some self-reflection from this UK team. 

Sophomore Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who leads college basketball in assists per game this season, was nothing short of sensational Tuesday in doing what he does best: dishing it out.

Fears Jr. had a career-high 13 assists in the win to just two turnovers and was a team-high plus-19 in the final plus/minus box score. In 31 minutes of action he also added a team-high three steals, six rebounds and was a perfect 4 for 4 from the free throw line.

His 13 assists set a new Champions Classic record for most in a game since the event's inception in 2011.

FINAL: No. 17 Michigan State 83, No. 12 Kentucky 66

It was all Michigan State early and it was all Michigan State late, too, as the No. 17 Spartans dominated No. 12 Kentucky in a statement win to open up this year's Champions Classic doubleheader. The Spartans led for the final 33 minutes of game action and at one point owned an advantage by as many as 24 points before pulling off the gas late.

MSU, a 4.5-point underdog, played like the heavy favorite in this one and overmatched the Wildcats in almost every statistical category of meaning. Jaxon Kohler was the pace car with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead all scorers, and starting guard Jeremy Fears Jr. was sensational dishing it out, finishing with 13 points, eight points and only two turnovers.

For Michigan State, the worst 3-point shooting team in major conference basketball this season, it finished with a season-high 11 3-pointers on 22 total attempts. That was its most made 3s in a game since Dec. 4, 2004 -- 32 games ago -- when it defeated Minnesota 90-72.

Kentucky was as bad as Michigan State was good in this one. It struggled turning the ball over, missed six shots at the rim, missed 23 of its 30 3-point attempts and had no answers for Michigan State's methodical offensive attack. The loss is its second in the span of a week after falling at Louisville, 96-88, last Tuesday.

Michigan State on an 8-0 run and now leads 75-55 -- its largest lead of the game -- as Kentucky calls a timeout with 5:03 remaining. Adding injury to insult: Mouhamed Dioubate appears to be gimpy after landing awkwardly on the last play.

It's not been Kentucky's night -- but credit to Kentucky for sticking around and not letting this one get fully out of hand (yet). It has made five of its last six field goals and done a good job of forcing turnovers in this half. Seems their defensive intensity has ramped up a bit and they are playing with more urgency.

Kentucky has eaten into its 19-point halftime deficit -- but only by a smidge -- as the Spartans still lead by 15, 50-35, at the under-16 media timeout from New York.

Some encouraging action early from Mouhamad Dioubate for UK and Otega Oweh appears to be a bit more aggressive. They need some shots to fall, but more importantly their defense has not done enough to keep them in this.

HALFTIME: Michigan State 44, Kentucky 27

You name the area of the game and Michigan State so far has owned it in the first of tonight's Champions Classic doubleheader. 

The No. 17 Spartans have more 3s, more rebounds, more paint points, more assists -- and, obviously and importantly, more points -- in opening up a game-high 17-point lead going into the second half.

MSU is 7-of-13 from 3-point range and Kentucky is 4-of-15 from deep. Jaxon Kohler leading the way for Sparty with 12 points and four boards.

"We made shots," Tom Izzo told ESPN at halftime. "When you make shots, you feel better."

Kentucky star Otega Oweh largely held in check and unable to get going as he enters halftime with five points and two assists. UK guard Denzel Aberdeen leading all UK players with nine points, and Collin Chandler has seven.

My goodness Michigan State is HOT right now inside The Garden. Another 3-pointer -- this time from Jeremy Fears -- gives MSU a 31-19 lead, and it prompts Kentucky coach Mark Pope to call a timeout.

That 3-pointer from Fears gives MSU its largest lead of the game and makes the Spartans' current run 17-2 over the last 6:18 of game time. Wowza. 

U8 media timeout: Michigan State 25, Kentucky 19

Michigan State's lead is back to six points -- tied for its largest of the game -- as we head to the under-eight media timeout. MSU has made five of its last seven field goals and forced UK to miss six of its last seven shot attempts on the other end. 

Michigan State's been hot from 3 (5-of-9) but its offense has also been in a far better groove. So far it has 25 points on seven assists.  

Kentucky's best offense has been getting out and running in transition and converting turnovers to buckets on the other end. We'll see if it can get its halfcourt offense back into a better groove here soon.

It's a 9-0 run and counting for Michigan State to give the Spartans their largest lead (23-17) of the game in the first half so far. UK has missed four consecutive field goals and its scoring drought is now four minutes and counting. Michigan State's made four of its last six shots.

U12 media timeout: Michigan State 19, Kentucky 17

Michigan State's defense has held Kentucky scoreless the last 2:03 going into the under-12 media timeout while Michigan State's offense has continued to fire on all cylinders early. Spartans guard Kur Teng is on the board after drilling a corner 3, Coen Carr has buried a corner 3 and Trey Fort also has a 3. Lots of good ball movement early from the Spartans.

Jaxon Kohler still leads the team with eight points and he's 3-of-4 shooting from the field.

U16 media timeout: Kentucky 17, Michigan State 14

In a game between two teams that have top-15 defensive units, it has been an offensive display of excellence, surprisingly, out of the gate here at Madison Square Garden.

Michigan State -- the worst 3-point shooting team in college basketball by percentage -- is 4-of-7 from 3-point range already led by Jaxon Kohler's two 3s on two attempts. Kohler leads all scorers with eight points.

Kentucky's nailed three of its five 3-point attempts but has the three-point lead on the strength of seven points off three forced turnovers early. Collin Chandler leads UK with 7 points on 3-of-3 shooting and Denzel Aberdeen has five points. Three different Wildcats have made 3s.

Michigan State and Kentucky have played four times in the Champions Classic. Each team has won twice.

• 2022: Michigan State 86, Kentucky 77 (2 OT)
• 2019: Kentucky 69, Michigan State 62
• 2016: Kentucky 69, Michigan State 48
• 2013: Michigan State 78, Kentucky 74

Neither Michigan State nor Kentucky have been good of late in the Champions Classic. Michigan State is 2-7 in its last nine games in the series, and UK is 1-4 in its last five games in the series. 

There are three new starters for this Michigan State this season but plenty of continuity nonetheless for Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo. That's a staple of his long-running success in East Lansing. 

Here are three things to know about the Spartans ahead of tip tonight.

1. Seniors leading the way: Senior big man Jaxon Kohler leads MSU in scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (13.3 rpg) through three games. His efforts in the frontcourt have been aided by teammate and fellow big man Carson Cooper, whose 12.0 points per game is second on the team and whose 5.0 rebounds per game are tied for second-most with Coen Carr.

2. Big man impact: As you might infer from relying on two big men to lead the team in production, MSU has done a tremendous job on the glass. It has a 45.5% offensive rebounding rate -- sixth-highest in the country -- and is top-20 in defensive rebounding rate to boot.

3. Lack of shooting: The concern about this team coming into the season was its offense and modernity -- or lack thereof -- and that is playing out so far. MSU is dead last in 3-point shooting percentage among major conference teams at 21.7% on the season. The Division I average this season is 32.74%.

And hey, it's Tuesday night, so what the heck -- here's a bonus item: Coen Carr's highlight reel from last season. He is the best dunker in college basketball and it is not close. Keep an eye out for him tonight. He's averaging a career-high 11.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game after earning a starting role in his third season with the Spartans.

This is a relatively remade Kentucky roster under second-year coach Mark Pope. Here are three things to know ahead of the game tonight.

1. Denzel Aberdeen, not Otega Oweh, leads the team in scoring. It's still early yet -- we're four games into the season -- but Florida transfer guard Denzel Aberdeen is averaging a team-high 15.3 points per game on the season for the Wildcats, which includes a 26-point outing vs. Louisville last week. Oweh's struggled to find his groove early and in particular been inefficient from 3 -- having made just three of his 12 so far. 

2. UK without starter Jaland Lowe: Pitt transfer guard Jaland Lowe, the team's starting point guard and the team leader in assists per game at 5.0, will not play tonight because of a shoulder injury. He also missed the team's last game on Friday vs. EIU. Lowe is averaging 7.5 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game this season after averaging 16.8 points, 5.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game last season at Pitt.

3. Efficient on both ends: Only three teams thus far this season are top-10 in both offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency marks at KenPom. Two of them -- Duke and Kentucky -- are part of the action tonight. (The other is Gonzaga.) Kentucky is eighth nationally in offensive adjusted efficiency, anchored by the No. 1 two-point offense in college basketball by percentage, and 10th on the other end. 

No. 12 Kentucky opened as a 5.5-point favorite over No. 17 Michigan State but that line has dropped an entire point -- now UK -4.5 -- ahead of the 6:30 p.m. tip tonight. Interesting. I've also seen it down to UK -3.5 at FanDuel.

Kentucky's played well aside from its lackluster outing vs. rival Louisville. But Michigan State getting some deserved credit in the betting markets it seems. Remember: This is a Spartans team that downed a very good Arkansas team earlier this month. They have a really good defense to match up against Kentucky's high octane offense. 

This will be one of the best games of the season. After not playing at their best against Louisville, I expect the Wildcats to bounce back in a big way against Michigan State. My other prediction is that this is the game that Oweh gets going and shows why he was a preseason All-American selection. Kentucky wins and covers at Madison Square Garden. Pick: Kentucky -5.5

In each of the previous 14 seasons, four of college basketball's best programs have met in a high-profile doubleheader called the Champions Classic. On Tuesday night, they'll do it again, for a 15th time, this time inside New York's Madison Square Garden.

Action tips with No. 12 Kentucky and No. 17 Michigan State at 6:30 p.m. ET. The second of the day's doubleheader is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET between No. 5 Duke and No. 24 Kansas.

All four teams are in Tuesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Purdue remains No. 1 for the 10th consecutive day.

College basketball rankings: Champions Classic headlines as Top 25 And 1 teams battle in Madison Square Garden

Gary Parrish