No. 1 Kansas pulls away in 2nd half to beat Michigan State

Field Level Media|published: Tue 12th November, 21:17 2024

NCAA Basketball: Champions Classic-Michigan State at Kansas

Nov 12, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Kansas Jayhawks forward KJ Adams Jr. (24) controls the ball defended by Michigan State Spartans forward Jaxon Kohler (0) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

ATLANTA -- Hunter Dickinson paired 28 points with 12 rebounds on Tuesday to help lead No. 1 Kansas to a 77-69 win over Michigan State in the Champions Classic.

Dajuan Harris Jr. added 11 points, while Rylan Griffen scored 10 for the Jayhawks (3-0), who shot 40.6 percent from the field. Zeke Mayo chipped in six points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the win.

Frankie Fidler led the Spartans (2-1) with 15 points, followed by Jaxon Kohler's 12 points and 10 boards. Michigan State made 24 of its 69 shots from the field (34.8 percent) and shot just 12.5 percent from 3-point range (3 for 24).

Kansas took the lead for good on KJ Adams' free throws with 8:37 left in the game, which sparked a 6-0 run that propelled the Jayhawks ahead 58-52. The Spartans closed to within 63-59 before Harris scored five straight points, extending the Jayhawks' advantage to nine with 4:25 remaining.

Dickinson's layup put Kansas up 70-61 at the 2:11 mark, and the Jayhawks led by at least five the rest of the way.

Kansas' 7-foot-2 star center scored the game's first six points - and the Jayhawks' first eight - before Coen Carr's free throws stamped an 8-0 run that swung the Spartans ahead 10-8 at the 12:08 mark of the first half. Kansas' first points from a player other than Dickinson came when Harris drilled two free throws to tie the game 10.

Following a pullup jumper from Jeremy Fears Jr. that gave the Spartans an 18-16 lead, Flory Bidunga's dunk tied the game before Dickinson knocked down the game's first 3-pointer to put the Jayhawks back in front. Bidunga dunked again to force a Michigan State timeout with Kansas up 23-18 with 3:20 left before halftime.

Jase Richardson's layup then cut Michigan State's deficit to three, but Griffen answered with a mid-range jumper before David Coit's triple and another Bidunga slam gave Kansas its largest lead at 30-20 with 10 seconds left in the first half.

Richardson was fouled when he connected on the Spartans' first 3-pointer of the game and made the ensuing free throw to trim the Jayhawks' lead to 30-24 entering halftime.

Michigan State pulled even at 39 after Kohler's three-point play with 14:04 left.

--Jack Batten, Field Level Media

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