College Basketball

Michigan St.-Kentucky Preview

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:50 p.m. ET

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Four of college basketball's elite programs will gather at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night for the renewal of the Champions Classic. Kentucky faces Michigan State at 7 p.m. ET followed by Duke vs. Kansas at 9:15.

For No. 2-ranked Kentucky, it will be the first true test for John Calipari's young team, which features three McDonald's All-American freshmen in the starting lineup. The Wildcats defeated Stephen F. Austin 87-64 on Friday and Canisius 93-69 on Sunday before heading to New York City.

No. 13 Michigan State opened its season Friday with a last-second 65-63 loss to No. 10 Arizona in the Armed Forces Classic in Honolulu. The Spartans jumped out to a 17-2 lead but could not hold it.

"Michigan State just lost," Calipari said. "So we're going to be playing a mean dog up in New York."

It will be an interesting test for such a young Kentucky squad.

"It will be hard," Calipari said Sunday night. "We got to practice and travel tomorrow. Have dinner in New York City, and you play the next day. How much can I do?"

Calipari said Sunday he knows what to expect from a Tom Izzo-coached team.

"Go play a team that you know is going to play hard, you know is going to rebound, you know is going to fly," Calipari said. "If you don't get back on defense, they're going to shoot layups. You know they get back. They rebound like crazy, that's their hallmark. They rebound, they bang.

"Tom does a great job with his team and puts them in great positions like always and it will be a war," Calipari said. "It's going to be a tough game for us. We may start four freshmen, that's a tough place to start four freshmen walking into Madison Square Garden in that level of a game."

Izzo's club, like Kentucky, is depending heavily on freshmen. Miles Bridges scored 21 points in the Arizona loss and was the only player to reach double figures in scoring. Nick Ward added nine points, Josh Langford scored five and Cassius Winston had three assists but failed to score.

For Kentucky, sophomore Isaiah Briscoe is the leading scorer through two games at 19.0 points per game, including a career-best 21 points Sunday against Canisius. After that, three freshmen follow Briscoe. Point guard De'Aaron Fox checks in at 16.5 points followed by Malik Monk at 13.0 and 'Bam' Adebayo at 9.5 points and 6.0 rebounds.

Tuesday's game will mark the renewal of one of the greatest basketball rivalries on the national stage. Kentucky and Michigan State have faced off four times in the NCAA Tournament and each time with a berth in the Final Four at stake. The Spartans won three times.

The most memorable might have been 2005, when Michigan State and Kentucky battled into double overtime before the Spartans prevailed 94-88 in Austin, Texas. In 1999, Michigan State kept Kentucky from defending its national title with a 73-66 win. In 1957, Michigan State upset third-ranked Kentucky 80-68.

Kentucky's lone NCAA Tournament win over Michigan State was a big one. The Wildcats topped the Spartans 52-49 en route to the 1978 NCAA Tournament championship.

Overall, Kentucky and Michigan State have faced off 23 times with 12 wins for the Wildcats and 11 for the Spartans. The last meeting was in this same Champions Classic event, a 78-74 win by Michigan State in a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 on Nov. 12, 2013. Kentucky would go on to reach the national championship game, losing to Connecticut.

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