By Peggy Gilligan
In the first game Duke vs Michigan State was played at Cameron Indoor Arena on the Duke Campus. Duke took an early lead but late in the first half Michigan State’s experience took over and held a lead at the half 37-33. Michigan State was up by as many as 16 in the second half and was able to hold on to win in Cameron Arena for the first time and it was the first win for Tom Izzo against Mike Krzyzewski in a regular season game. Final score Michigan State 75-Duke 69.
Game 2 #10 Kentucky vs #7 Kansas
The second game of the State Farm Champions Classic tipped off from Bankers Life Arena in Indianapolis, IN, with no fans in attendance. Kentucky was coming off a loss Sunday to #19 Richmond and Kansas also lost to #1 Gonzaga on Thanksgiving Day.
Kentucky was starting five players who had not played any minutes for Kentucky last year. The team consist of three transfers (Sarr, Toppin and Mintz), along with seven freshman all new to the team.
Kansas took the tipoff and neither team was able to score until 17:37 left in the first half when Kansas hit a two-point shot. Kentucky freshman Terrence Clarke scored first for Kentucky. At the first time out, the Wildcats held a 7-5 lead with both teams having three turnovers each. After the media timeout the Cats went on a 7-0 run to lead by four point 9-5 with 14:20 left in the first half. The Jayhawks had a long scoring drought that lasted 6:46 allowing Kentucky to take a 17-5 lead. Late in the first half Pendleton County Native Donte Allen hit his first three point shot of his Kentucky career to give the Cats a 26-13 lead with 5:44 left in the half. Scoring by both teams picked up late in the first half and Kentucky held a 35-29 lead at he break.
In the second half Olivie Sarr the Cats big man got into foul trouble early and had to sit out for several minutes which hampered his playing time. Kansas tied the game at 44 with 7:48 left in the game. The Jayhawks took the lead with 3:25 left in the game and the Cats were not able to recover and lost the game with the final score of 65-62. For the first time in the Calipari era at Kentucky the team has a losing record of 1-2 after the first games of the season.
Final game stats: Kentucky FG-36% 3FG-14%, FT-75% Kansas FG-29%, 3PT24%, FT-67%
The next game for Kentucky is against Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Sunday December 6th.