For the sixth straight year, college basketball fans will be treated to the Champions Classic, the made-for-TV spectacle built up as the “Final Four in November.” Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and Michigan State will all be in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, with ESPN broadcasting both games to a national audience.
Michigan State vs. Kentucky 2016: Start time, live stream, TV schedule, and 5 things to know
Tom Izzo, John Calipari, and a cast of talented freshmen take center stage at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The first game of the night will pit Kentucky vs. Michigan State. It’s a matchup of two Hall of Fame coaches in Tom Izzo and John Calipari. Michigan State enters the game 0-1 after losing its opener to Arizona at the buzzer, while Kentucky is 2-0 with wins over Stephen F. Austin and Canisius.
This event has served as a coming-out party for future NBA stars like Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Karl-Anthony Towns in years past. It won’t be any different this year. Michigan State is led by blue-chip freshman forward Miles Bridges, who picked the Spartans over Calipari’s Wildcats. Kentucky still has a host of elite freshmen, led by the dynamic backcourt of De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk.
How to watch Kentucky vs. Michigan State
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York City
TV: ESPN
Stream: Watch ESPN
1) Isaiah Briscoe is emerging as Kentucky’s best player
The freshmen get all of the publicity for Kentucky, but for the second straight year John Calipari’s best player could be a sophomore. Isaiah Briscoe, a McDonald’s All-American and five-star recruit out of high school, opted to bypass the NBA draft for another year of college ball after an up-and-down freshman year for the Wildcats last season. Now he’s trying to follow in the footsteps of Tyler Ulis and make the jump from role player to star as a sophomore.
Briscoe was excellent against Canisius on Sunday, leading the team with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting. That’s a big deal for Kentucky because, for the second straight year, Calipari is starting three guards whose games aren’t a natural fit next to one another. Briscoe is a natural point guard playing off the ball next to freshmen De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. Shooting would seem to be a question mark for that perimeter attack, but a breakout year from Briscoe would go a long way towards quieting those concerns.
2) Miles Bridges is ready for his coming out party
Miles Bridges’ college choice came down to Michigan State vs. Kentucky. In the end, the Flint native chose the home school to anchor what might be the best recruiting class of Tom Izzo’s career. He lived up to the hype in his debut vs. Arizona on Friday, pouring in 21 points and seven rebounds in Sparty’s tight loss. Bridges had multiple highlight-reel dunks in the game and should be anxious to put on a show in front of the scouts that always populate the Champions Classic:
3) De’Aaron Fox is a one-man fastbreak
We deemed Kentucky’s backcourt the “House of Highlights” this season because of the elite athleticism possessed by Fox and Monk. They haven’t let us down during Kentucky’s 2-0 start. Fox has been particularly impressive, averaging 16.5 points and 7.5 assists so far.
Fox’s impact goes beyond the numbers. He’s a blur in the open court who wants to turn every missed shot or turnover into a layup at the other end. Will Michigan State have anyone who can slow him down in transition? That might be Izzo’s toughest task on Tuesday.
4) Can Michigan State’s newfound small ball survive against Kentucky’s size?
Izzo teams are typically defined by defense and rebounding, but that will be a tough task for the Spartans this year given their lack of size. Michigan State started the 6’6 Kenny Goins at center and the 6’7 Bridges at power forward in their opener against Arizona’s twin 7-footer attack of Dusan Ristic and Lauri Markkanen. To their credit, Michigan State still tied the Wildcats 34-34 on the glass and came within a coast-to-coast layup in the closing seconds by Arizona’s Kadeem Allen of winning.
Kentucky’s front line has just as much size as Arizona’s, only it also has a lot more athletic power. Bam Adebayo has grown man strength for a freshman, and Calipari can also trot out Isaac Humphries, Derek Willis, and Sacha Killeya-Jones in the front court. Small ball has been a trend at every level, but Izzo is going to see just how effective the speed-for-size trade-off is against a team as big as Kentucky.
5) Which freshman breaks out for Kentucky?
One thing that made Kentucky’s incoming recruiting class so intriguing is there wasn’t one player who stood out above the rest the way Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jamal Murray have in years past. With Fox, Monk, Adebayo, Gabriel, and Killeya-Jones, Calipari has five players who could eventually emerge as the team’s top freshman.
The Champions Classic is known to attract personnel from every NBA team because it’s a one-stop shop for scouting. This would be a great time for Monk, Fox or Adebayo to solidify themselves as first-round picks in early mock drafts, or for a player like Gabriel to introduce himself to a national audience.
Calipari’s team again has so many great pieces. Now it’s on the players to sort out the team’s hierarchy.
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