The No. 13 MSU basketball team trails the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks, 41-35, at the half of the second of two games at the 2015 State Farm Champions Classic.

Senior Kansas big man Perry Ellis leads the way for the Jayhawks with 14 points and three rebounds. Senior guard Denzel Valentine leads the way for the Spartans at the half with 8 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

With a pair of MSU big men out of the action Tuesday night in junior forward Gavin Schilling and sophomore forward Marvin Clark, the Jayhawks exploited a mismatch on the inside early by going to Ellis.

Ellis had nine of the Jayhawk's first 13 points and helped Kansas to an early 13-9 advantage with about 13 minutes to go in the half.

The story for MSU for a large part of the first half was struggling to find ways to score points. With 7:59 to go in the first half, the Spartans were shooting just 32 percent on 6-of-19 shooting. As a result of this, the Jayhawks began to pull away and eventually held a 26-13 advantage.

Turnovers and fouls also hurt the Spartans in the early going. MSU finished the first half with 10 turnovers and 15 team fouls. Senior forward Matt Costello and junior guard Eron Harris both head into the break with three personal fouls a piece.

Despite all this, MSU eventually settled into the game and clawed their way back into it, finishing the half shooting 40 percent from the field, while holding Kansas to just 38 percent shooting in the first half. The Spartans trail the Jayhawks by six, 41-35.