Kentucky vs Michigan State basketball live updates: Start time, TV channel for Champions Classic
Kentucky basketball’s Mark Pope ‘confident’ despite Jaland Lowe injury
Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach Mark Pope expresses confidence in his squad despite Jaland Lowe reinjuring his shoulder in practice Nov. 13.
Kentucky and Michigan State are two of the most consistently successful programs in men’s college basketball, with a slew of conference titles and Final Four appearances to their name over the past 25 years (to say nothing of a pair of national championships, one for each program).
On Tuesday, as they do once every three years around this time in November, the Wildcats and Spartans will square off.
Watch Kentucky vs. Michigan State basketball live with Fubo (free trial)
The annual Champions Classic will tip off on Tuesday, Nov. 18, with a matchup between the No. 13 Wildcats and the No. 18 Spartans serving as the first entry in a doubleheader at Madison Square Garden in New York.
In its second season under coach Mark Pope, Kentucky is aiming to get back to the Final Four for the first time since 2015, an unusually long drought for a program with justifiably high expectations. After a Sweet 16 appearance last season, the Wildcats ramped up their roster-building efforts, assembling a team worth a reported $22 million. That group includes returning stars like All-SEC honoree Otega Oweh, but also prized transfers like Jayden Quaintance, Denzel Aberdeen and Jaland Lowe. Quaintance, however, is still in the final stages of rehab after tearing his ACL last season at Arizona State and Lowe will reportedly miss Tuesday’s game while nursing a shoulder injury. The Wildcats have endured an early stumble, too, falling 96-88 to archrival Louisville in a game they trailed by as many as 20 in the second half.
Kentucky will take on a Michigan State team with lofty goals of its own. Though the Spartans lost their top three scorers from a team that earned a No. 2 seed and advanced to the Elite Eight last season, they were still No. 21 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. They’ve made good on that promise early this season, getting off to a 3-0 start and beating what was a top-15 Arkansas team 69-66 on Nov. 8. Forward Jaxon Kohler, one of coach Tom Izzo’s top returning scorers, has been superb so far this season, averaging a team-high 14.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game.
Michigan State won the last meeting between the programs, an 86-77 double-overtime victory at the 2022 Champions Classic in Indianapolis.
USA TODAY Sports will be providing the live score, updates and highlights from Kentucky’s game against Michigan State. Follow along:
Kentucky vs Michigan State live score
This section will be updated throughout the game.
12FMichigan State———Kentucky———
This section will be updated closer to tipoff.
Kentucky point guard Jaland Lowe will miss the Wildcats’ Champions Classic game against Michigan State while he deals with a lingering shoulder injury, with coach Mark Pope passing along the news to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander Tuesday afternoon.
Kentucky vs Michigan State start time today
- Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
- Date: Tuesday, Nov. 18
- Location: Madison Square Garden (New York)
What TV channel is Kentucky vs Michigan State basketball today?
Kentucky vs Michigan State predictions, picks, odds
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Tuesday, Nov. 18.
- Spread: Kentucky (-4.5)
- Over/under: 153.5
- Moneyline: Kentucky -210 | Michigan State +170
Prediction: Kentucky 82, Michigan State 77
Even without two of their best players, the Wildcats should have enough firepower to outscore a Spartans offense that ranks outside the top 50 nationally in efficiency thus far.
