Believe it or not, KU’s opponent in Champions Classic is unranked to start season
Michigan State’s men’s basketball team will open the 2021-22 season Tuesday night unranked in the AP Top 25 preseason poll for the first time in 10 years.
The media panel’s snub of Tom Izzo’s proud Spartans program won’t affect the way No. 3-rated Kansas views the Champions Classic game at 6 p.m. Central time in Madison Square Garden, sixth-year Jayhawk senior forward Mitch Lightfoot maintains.
“It’s Michigan State. They have a great team. They have a great head coach. They’ve got a great fanbase,” Lightfoot said of the Spartans, who did place first in the others receiving votes portion of the initial AP poll.
“They will come out there and play hard like they always do. They will be well coached. They are going to have talent. I’m excited to play against a team like that. I’m ready to get this train moving,” Lightfoot added.
It should be noted that the last time 27th-year MSU coach Izzo’s Spartans opened the season unranked, in 2011-12, they won the Big Ten regular-season title and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“It does tick me off,” Izzo said of being ignored by the voters as quoted by the AP following release of the poll.
“I’m mad too,” senior Gabe Brown said, adding, “It is good being the underdogs because I am ready for the season to start for people to really see.”
Michigan State, which went 15-13 and 9-11 in the Big Ten in a season the Spartans were hit hard by COVID-19, lost its best player, leading scorer Aaron Henry, to early entry in the NBA Draft as well as guard Joshua Langford, who left the program after five seasons in East Lansing, Michigan. Rocket Watts (Mississippi State), Foster Loyer (Davidson), Thomas Kithier (Valparaiso) and Jack Hoiberg (UT Arlington) all transferred.
The Spartans return Brown, a 6-8 senior forward who averaged 7.2 points a game last season as well as 7-foot senior center Marcus Bingham, who averaged 3.5 points and 3.2 boards.
Senior Joey Hauser, a 6-9 former Marquette forward, who averaged 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds a game a year ago, also returns with 6-4 sophomore point guard A.J. Hoggard (2.5 ppg), 6-8 junior forward Malik Hall (5.0 ppg), 6-9 junior forward Julius Marble (4.0 ppg) and 6-9 soph center Mady Sissoko (1.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg).
MSU added a highly regarded junior point guard from the transfer portal in 6-foot former Northeastern standout Tyson Walker, who was also recruited by Kansas.
“We liked him. We certainly would have loved to have him at that particular time,” KU coach Bill Self said, referring to March 27 when Walker committed to Izzo’s program. “He was one of the very first ones if I’m not mistaken to go in the portal and be a highly recruited guy in the portal. We went from recruiting him to him committing to State early on. I think he’s good. He’s quick, a terrific athlete.”
Also, MSU signed a highly-touted recruiting class that includes 6-6 guards Max Christie and Pierre Brooks and 6-4 former Sunrise Christian Academy point guard Jaden Akins.
“Historically Tom’s teams have been relentless. I mean great offensive rebounders,” Self said. MSU a year ago averaged 37.4 rebounds a game to opponents’ 34.3.
“They’ve always been getting 42% of their misses back. If you are a good rebounding team you will hold them under 30%. Against his teams you’ve got to be great on the glass. Sometimes being great on the glass against them would be going even.
“We will be playing without our best defensive rebounder in Jalen (Wilson, suspension). We’ve got to be really good in that area,” Self added.
Self noted that “the other thing they do as well as anybody is go from defense to offense faster than everybody. You’ve got to take away transition because they push so hard. Even though they may not get layups all the time off pushing, they are very capable of that. It forces the defense to sprint (back). Then they can shoot the three behind that,” Self noted. “It’ll be a very difficult first game. It should be. You are playing in the Champions Classic. They are all hard.”
KU is 5-5 all-time in the Champions Classic; MSU is 4-6, Duke 6-4 and Kentucky 5-5. The Jayhawks are 1-2 against Michigan State in the Classic, 2-1 against Duke and 2-2 versus Kentucky. Duke and Kentucky will meet in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader. Both games will be shown on ESPN.
“It’s a matter of us going out there and studying their scouting report. It’s a matter of us showing the hustle we’re required to have to win every game, even moreso in the first game of the year. It’s a big game,” Lightfoot said.
KU will return home after Tuesday’s game and begin preparations for Friday’s 7 p.m. home contest against Tarleton State.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 7:26 AM with the headline "Believe it or not, KU’s opponent in Champions Classic is unranked to start season."
