Senior guard Denzel Valentine defends Ferris State wing Greg Williams on Nov. 9, 2015 during the first half of the game against Ferris State at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Bulldogs, 93-57.
On Tuesday night, the MSU men's basketball team will take on the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks in the Champions Classic, a tournament that showcases four of the nation’s most prolific and storied basketball programs.
Joining MSU and Kansas are the Duke Blue Devils and the Kentucky Wildcats. MSU head coach Tom Izzo said he is quite fond of the early season tournament.
“It’s exciting to be in this tournament period," Izzo said. "I love the tournament, it’s great for Michigan State, it’s great for college basketball, I think it’s great for the Big Ten to have a team represented in it.”
MSU has won three of the last four games against Kansas, including the 2012 victory over the Jayhawks in the Champions Classic. However, Kansas and head coach Bill Self, who is 5-6 all-time against MSU, bested MSU last season 61-56 in the championship game of the 2014 Orlando Classic.
Izzo knows depth will be an issue for the Spartans, as junior forward Gavin Schilling and sophomore forward Marvin Clark Jr. are both out for the game with injuries. On the other side, Kansas returns four All-Big 12 performers and 11 letterwinners from a team that went 27-9 last season and won its 11th straight Big 12 regular season title.
“They got depth in there, they got five or six guys, they have got experience in there with four of the five guys and the one who is not, (Carlton) Bragg, is a heck of a player, so that is going to be a big challenge for us,” Izzo said.
Senior guard Denzel Valentine said it will be a challenge, but "we like challenges here at Michigan State," he said. “That’s what we like to do, we like to play the toughest people whenever we can play them. ... We are going to see where we are at, we going to see what we can do.”
Although Izzo is 56-0 at home in November, and 80-25 overall in the month, the Spartans have often failed to come away with victories over the highly-ranked competition early.
However, senior forward Matt Costello said MSU plans on changing that.
“Throughout our career we have typically struggled in November," Costello said. "Coach always tries to schedule very big games, and we just never feel like we can get over that hump early. ... So just attacking these games with a different mindset. We want to leave a legacy here, Zel and I talk about it all the time. We have a couple goals, to be the most winning class, win these November games, win those holiday tournaments, things Michigan State teams don’t typically do. We want to be different.”
MSU tips off against Kansas at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday night against Kansas from the United Center in Chicago. MSU is 2-2 alltime in the Champions Classic.
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