OK, maybe the Champions Classic did not wow with tight games. Michigan State over Kentucky by 17 points, Duke over Kansas by 12, and there was not one lead change in the second half all Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. But there were unmistakable messages sent.
Such as…
Old school is alive and well in East Lansing, Michigan.
Tom Izzo’s distaste for the new world of college basketball with its overheated transfer portal is common knowledge in every corner of the sport. But he’s still doing it his way. Four of Michigan State’s five starters against Kentucky were Spartans last season, and the cohesiveness helped roll over the Wildcats. It didn’t hurt that MSU made a few 3-pointers for a change, either.
How’s this for a team approach? The Spartans had 25 assists on 32 baskets. They had 25 on 28 the game before. For the season, it’s 86 of 110. Point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had as many assists by himself Tuesday night (13) as the entire Kentucky team. And only two turnovers. Plus, there were the usual all hands on deck for rebounding — 42-28 over the Wildcats — and defense. Kentucky shot only 27.6% the first half when the game got away for good.
Maybe continuity can still mean something in college basketball. There’s a 70-year-old coach with something to say about that.
“How about 100 frickin’ percent?” MSU coach Izzo said. “Homegrown, people that are playing for (the) name on the front of their jersey because they know the name on the front of their jersey. People that care about the place they’re at and players they’re with.”
“Transfer portal recruitment is almost bigger than winning games. Not at Michigan State.”
“I don’t give up on the people I’ve got. That’s what you call development, that’s what you call working with players…their loyalty to me has got to me my loyalty to them, and loyalty still frickin’ matters.”
So does shooting. Michigan State could already play defense and rebound, but if the Spartans can fill it up like this, that’s a storm warning to the Big Ten. They shredded Kentucky by hitting 11 of 22 from the 3-point line, including seven of their first 11. That pretty much had the Wildcats in early full retreat. Michigan State came into the game 358th in the nation in 3-point shooting at 21.7%.
LATEST RANKINGS: Illinois, Louisville surge into top 10 of new Power 37 rankings
“We aren’t that good because we don’t shoot the ball that well,” Izzo said. “They aren’t that bad because they do shoot the ball well and missed a lot of shots.”
Maybe, but Michigan State was on a tear Tuesday night and is now 4-0, including 2-0 against the SEC with wins over Arkansas and Kentucky, doing it Izzo’s way, sticking with his guys. Take Kur Teng. The sophomore came off the bench Tuesday to score 15 points in 18 minutes. He played 59 minutes his entire freshman season and had 10 total points.
“I’m just going to keep hanging in there,” Izzo said of his methods, “until it doesn’t work.”
Is something amiss with Kentucky?
The Wildcats have lost two of their first five games, but since they were at Louisville and against Michigan State, defeat was not unduly alarming. But they were down 24 points to Michigan State and 20 to Louisville, that is. How bad would it have been Tuesday had not Kentucky held a 19-8 advantage in free throws?
The Wildcats have been balanced, anyway. Otega Oweh became the fifth different player to lead them in scoring in five games Tuesday. But is that good news or bad? They could use some consistent star power. Oweh was named SEC preseason player of the year, but he’s shooting 29% from 3, has as many turnovers as assists and carries a modest scoring average of 12.8. Kentucky could use some louder numbers from him. Kentucky could use lots of things, something perfectly understood by its frustrated coach.
“We’re far away from the team we hope and aspire to be, and we can’t waste a second on trying to grow into that,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said Tuesday night after an extended locker room session with his team. “We’re disappointed and discouraged and completely discombobulated right now.”
“My message isn’t resonating with the guys right now. That’s my responsibility.”
Darryn Peterson owns the most scrutinized hamstring in the state of Kansas.
Until the Jayhawks’ phenom heals, it’ll be impossible to get a proper read on Kansas. Peterson scored 21 and 22 points in his first two college starts, but he’s had to watch from the bench the past three games. Without him, the Jayhawks stayed in the game against Duke with 22 points from Tre White, despite being outrebounded 41-30. But moral victories only go so far. That makes them 0-2 on Tobacco Road this season, losing to North Carolina and the Blue Devils, by 13 and 12 points.
“We’ve got to go out there and play better without (Peterson) if we don’t have him,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Until he’s healthy 100% and he’s not feeling pain, we’re not going to put him out there.”
“I told the guys I’m not leaving out of here discouraged. We fought. We just need to tighten some things up. I think they would agree. There are some things that we got to do to tighten up to become a good team. And if we can do that, we’ll be a much better team whenever we have all hands on deck.”
MUST-SEE MATCHUPS: Top 10 men’s basketball games to watch this week, according to Andy Katz
The journey of Cameron Boozer is going to be fascinating to watch, and his twin brother, too.
True, Duke’s star freshman started 3 for 11 against Kansas, but shouldn’t an 18-year-old be allowed a few shaky moments his first game in Madison Square Garden?
“This place is different,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I thought he did a really good job handling that.”
Boozer finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Yeah, that’ll do for a Broadway debut. Just wait till he gets used to this college stuff. His brother Cayden scored seven Duke points in a row in the second half to keep things moving along.
Overall, Duke had a solid showing from a young team with a freshman at the head of the parade. The Blue Devils are 5-0, with all five wins by at least 12 points, shooting nearly 50% while out-rebounding opponents by nearly 12 a game. They have yet to trail in the second half. And here’s the scary part, according to Scheyer: “I think the room for us to grow is as big as any team in the country.”
This blue-blooded quartet is not quite as dominant these days.
Per the latest AP poll, they clocked into work Tuesday night as No. 5 Duke, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 19 Michigan State and No. 24 Kansas. Certainly a strong field, but it’s the first time in its 15-year history the Champions Classic did not have at least two top-10 members. In 2019, Michigan State, Kentucky, Kansas and Duke came into the event Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. There are lots of new faces crowding into the polls now.
Duke’s youth, Kansas’ health, Kentucky’s wobbles, Michigan State’s methods. As aways, the Champions Classic was a glimpse, on a road barely started.
