Moments That Popped: No. 1 KU 77, Michigan State 69

It was another good night at the Champions Classic for the top-ranked Kansas men’s basketball team, which kept Michigan State at arm’s length for most of the night to win, 77-69 in Atlanta.

The win was the fifth in a row at the early-season showcase event for the Jayhawks and the eighth in the last nine Champions Classic contests.

KU (3-0) is now 9-5 all-time in the event, which pits KU, MSU, Duke and Kentucky against each other in rotating fashion every November.

The Jayhawks fought through some cold shooting and leaned a little harder on their starting five than they had in two previous games.

Per usual, though, KU coach Bill Self pushed all the right buttons and the Jayhawks left Atlanta with their second signature win of the season, following up last Friday’s win over No. 9 North Carolina at Allen Fieldhouse.

Hunter Dickinson led Kansas with another monster showing in the Champions Classic. He finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds, giving him just the fifth game of 25+ points and 10+ rebounds in Champions Classic history, which dates back to 2011.

His huge game against Kentucky in Chicago last season (27 points and 21 rebounds) was one of the other four.

KU guard Shak Mooore did not play for the third consecutive game, and Self said before the game that a timeline for Moore’s return remained up in the air.

Next up: KU will get a little down time. The Jayhawks do not play again until Saturday night against Oakland at Allen Fieldhouse.

Tipoff for that one is slated for 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

After that, it’s another home game next Tuesday, against UNC-Wilmington (7 p.m. on ESPN+) before heading to Las Vegas to take on the Duke Blue Devils in yet another marquee matchup in the early going.

No. 6 Duke lost the nightcap of the Champions Classic to No. 19 Kentucky and first-year coach Mark Pope, 77-72, despite leading the Wildcats by 9 at halftime.

Here’s a look back at some of Tuesday’s action from KU-Michigan State.

LIKES

• Zeke starts – It seemed inevitable after the way he played in the first two games — and there might still be a debate worth having whether he’s better at the opening tip or as instant offense off the bench — but KU senior Zeke Mayo was in the starting lineup on Tuesday night in Atlanta. And even without shooting lights out like he did last week, it was crystal clear why. Mayo shot just 2-for-8 from the floor and missed all three 3-point attempts, but he still found a way to have a major impact on the game. He grabbed 10 boards, dished 7 assists, played tough defense, picked up a key steal late and knocked down two free throws that helped salt the game away. All of that in 34 minutes of action, second only to Hunter Dickinson’s 35. In short, Zeke showed everyone on the big stage why those who know him know he’s much more than just a scorer.

• Hunter’s start – Dickinson admitted after Friday’s win over North Carolina that he was still a little out of shape after the time off to tend to his foot injury, but you never would’ve known it from the way he opened this one. Not only did Dickinson score KU’s first 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting, but he also looked lighter on his feet and pretty mobile while doing it. That wasn’t the case for the entirety of the game, but the start set the tone for a monster night — 28 points, 12 rebounds and even 3 steals in 35 minutes on 13-of-21 shooting. Michigan State had some bulk inside, but none of it proved to be enough to slow down KU’s All-American big man.

• Rylan Griffen contests dunk attempt – Midway through the second half, with Michigan State looking to take its first lead of the night, MSU big man Carson Cooper rolled to the rim and appeared to have a wide open dunk that would’ve put the Spartans ahead. But Griffen rose up and challenged the dunk, forcing the miss and keeping the game tied. That was only half of the play. The block also started an important break. Seconds later, fellow-newcomer AJ Storr picked up the ball in transition and soared to the rim for an easy deuce for the four-point swing. Neither Griffen nor Storr played a perfect game on Tuesday night (more on that a little later) but these kinds of plays, especially on this type of stage, reminds you of what both guys are capable of.

• Some numbers of note – KU turned it over just 10 times in this one, a notable number because of the pace at which the Spartans like to play… Speaking of pace, KU held its own in transition. Michigan State still looked like the more comfortable and aggressive team on the run, but Kansas had its moments and made them count… KJ Adams’ 3 blocks tied a career high… Dajuan Harris Jr., finished the night with 6 assists to move past Cedric Hunter and into 3rd place on the Jayhawks’ all-time assists chart, behind only Jacque Vaughn and Aaron Miles.

DISLIKES

• Back-to-back Storr fouls early first half – Storr’s struggles feeling comfortable within the KU defense continued to show up on Tuesday night, this time in the form of him fouling out in just 12 minutes of game time. He picked up two fouls in the span of less than 30 seconds in the first half and never quite found his rhythm on defense. That didn’t keep him from having a couple of bright spots. He scored a bucket in transition and hit a 3-pointer — one of just 5 for the Jayhawks on the night. But until he figures out the defensive end — where to be, how to play, how to avoid fouling and more — he’s going to face an uphill battle for minutes.

• Ice cold after the start – Dickinson staked the Jayhawks to an early 8-2 lead, but it was pretty cold for a while after that. In fact, the Jayhawks made just 1 of their next 16 shots after Dickinson’s spurt to open the game and did not score another field goal until Griffen scored a bucket in transition with 7:56 to play in the half. Michigan State wasn’t much better — the Spartans shot just 35% for the game, including a 3-of-24 clip from 3-point range — but that stretch allowed Tom Izzo’s team to hang around and push the Jayhawks for much of the first half. KU did just enough, however, to maintain control. At one point, after the Spartans had tied the game, the ESPN broadcast caught KU coach Bill Self telling his team in a 14-all game, “the game starts now.” A few minutes and 9 KU points later, the Jayhawks led by five and took a 30-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.

WHAT THE?

• He’s No. 1 – On Friday night, KU coach Bill Self tied Phog Allen for most wins by a coach at Kansas in program history with 590 in his 22 seasons. On Tuesday, Self moved into first place on that list all alone with win No. 591. The Kansas coach from Oklahoma has enjoyed a remarkable run of success since taking over for Roy Williams before the 2003-04 season, and while he likes to downplay these types of achievements, it was good to see that KU made a pretty big fuss of the milestone victory both in the locker room after the win and across its social media platforms. Here’s a look at some of that.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com