Though the Champions Classic isn’t the official tipoff of the men’s college basketball season anymore, it’s still the first marquee event — and it always whets the appetite for Feast Week action in a few weeks. Getting Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Michigan State in the same building for a doubleheader is always intriguing, but the 2024 edition, which took place in Atlanta, has some added pop, especially since the matchup featuring the No. 1 team in the country was considered the undercard.
Top-ranked Kansas took on Michigan State in the first game of the doubleheader, with the Jayhawks coming out at the end of an ugly game with a 77-69 win.
But the story of the night was the nightcap, featuring the big-game debuts for Mark Pope as Kentucky’s head coach and Duke’s Cooper Flagg as the face of college basketball in 2024-25. Despite the projected No. 1 draft pick’s effort (26 points on 9-of-19 shooting, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks), the Blue Devils fell to the Wildcats 77-72.
ESPN college basketball writers Jeff Borzello, Myron Medcalf and Joe Lunardi, and NBA draft analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo break down the games and draft prospects from Tuesday night’s showdowns.
For Mark Pope’s first four seasons at BYU, 3-point attempts accounted for nearly 40% of shots. Then something changed last season when the Cougars suddenly increased that number to more than 50%. Read: Every other shot in their offense last season was a 3-pointer. But they actually made fewer than 35% of those shots overall.
When he moved to Kentucky, Pope recruited five players who shot at least 37% from 3. That accuracy from the perimeter was the reason Duke and Kentucky were tied 72-72 in the final minute of the game Tuesday. It’s also partly why the Wildcats won. Kentucky shot 40% from beyond the arc and kept the game close before multiple clutch plays late. That offensive capability matters. The experience on its roster matters. The toughness on its roster matters. Kentucky challenged Flagg in the second half and forced key turnovers.
ATLANTA — A chance to compete on the national stage always motivates Hunter Dickinson.
But a shot at an old foe during the Champions Classic at State Farm Arena on Tuesday night added more intensity to the moment for the All-American center.
Dickinson, the former Michigan star, led all players with 28 points and 12 rebounds as No. 1 Kansas downed Michigan State, 77-69.
Afterward, he said his malice for the Spartans built up over his years in Ann Arbor fueled the big performance.
“It was a very big game for me,” he said. “Very big game. Definitely, a big game.”
“Obviously, I went to Michigan. I graduated from Michigan. I still got that rivalry inside me.”
Michigan State and Kansas both struggled at times offensively. They combined to start 1 for 18 from beyond the arc. At one point in the first half, Michigan State had made just 18% of its field goal attempts. By halftime, Kansas players not named Hunter Dickinson were 6-for-26 from the field.
“I think [Bill Self] agrees with me and I agree with him … offensively, we both sucked, to put it bluntly,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “We’ve got to both get better and we’ve got to find a couple guys.”
Yet, Dickinson’s effort helped the Jayhawks overcome those lapses. Michigan State, which decided against double-teaming him, couldn’t stop him.
Midway through the second half, Dickinson spun on Jaxon Kohler and nearly scored before Coen Carr was flagged for goaltending. Dickinson made the trending “too small” gesture with his hand before he pretended to step on the player guarding him.
“I was saying they were too small,” Dickinson said when asked about the gesture. “They can’t guard me, and I was putting emphasis on it.”
Still, four days after a thrilling victory in Lawrence over a top-10 North Carolina team, the Jayhawks struggled to get a win over an unranked Michigan State squad that has made just 20% of its 3-point attempts this season and entered the game ranked 34th in the KenPom rankings.
But Dickinson said Tuesday’s challenges shouldn’t change KU’s current standing as the No. 1 team in America.
“It’s impossible to be better than 3-0 right now for us,” he said. “Can’t be better than 3-0. We beat a top-10 team in the country. We beat a Michigan State team that will probably end up in the top 25.”
There were many moments when it appeared as if Kansas might leave here with a loss, but Dickinson was too good and too energized by the matchup to let his team fail.
Self, who improved to 591-143 in his 22nd season at Kansas and moved past Phog Allen for the most wins with the program, said a team is defined by its ability to win games when it plays well and also when it has to wade through adversity.
He also said Dickinson helped steady a squad that has added multiple key transfers and continues to learn how to work together through difficult stretches. Self said he expects the big man to improve in the weeks ahead as he gets more reps in practice after missing multiple exhibition games and practices with a foot injury.
“He doesn’t like Michigan State a lot,” Self said. “In large part, just because he went to Michigan. And I’m sure they’re trained to dislike the other team at a pretty significant level.”
