Spartans And Jayhawks Meet For Orlando Classic Championship
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| #20/19 Michigan State (5-1) vs. #11/12 Kansas (4-1) | |
| Date | Sunday, November 30, 2014 |
| Time | 1 p.m. ET |
| Location | Lake Buena Vista, Fla. | HP Fieldhouse |
| Television | ESPN (Dave O'Brien, Dick Vitale) |
| Radio | Spartan Sports Network (Will Tieman, Gus Ganakas, Matt Steigenga) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Game Notes | Michigan State | Kansas |
| Statistics | Michigan State | Kansas |
| Live Stats | |
| Social Media | @MSU_Basketball  | Facebook  |
THE OPENING TIP
Michigan State and Kansas will square off in the championship game of the Orlando Classic. The Spartans are looking to capture an early-season championship for the second straight year, having won the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic last season.
MSU BASKETBALL NOTES
* Michigan State is 4-1 in Orlando Classic history, including going 2-1 in the 2008 event.
* Denzel Valentine is averaging 22.0 points in the Orlando Classic, shooting .519 (14-27) from the field, including .611 (11-18) from 3-point range. He scored a career-high 19 points against Rider in the quarterfinals, and followed with a career-best 25 points vs. Marquette in the semifinals.
* Bryn Forbes has been playing with a broken bone in his left (non-shooting) hand this season. Through the first two games, he shot .286 (4-14) from 3-point range while playing with a larger brace. Healing in the hand has allowed him to use a smaller brace beginning with the Loyola contest. Since then, he is shooting .500 (9-18) from behind the arc over the last four games.
* MSU struggled from the foul line through the first four games of the season, shooting just .540 (27-50). Since arriving in Florida, however, MSU is shooting .788 (24-48), while nearly doubling its attempts per game compared to the first four contests.
* Michigan State owns a Big Ten-best +9.3 rebounding margin, having out-rebounded five of six opponents. In the Tom Izzo era, MSU has out-rebounded 510 of 661 opponents (.772), posting a 404-106 (.792) mark in those games.
* Michigan State is shooting .430 from 3-point range on the season (ranking third in the Big Ten, including .469 (45-96) over the last four games.
* Michigan State has made 12 3-pointers in each of the last three games. On the season, MSU is averaging 9.7 made 3-pointers per game, ranking tied for second in the Big Ten. Four Spartans (Travis Trice-17, Denzel Valentine-16, Bryn Forbes-13, Marvin Clark Jr.-11) have made 11 or more 3-pointers. Clark Jr. leads the Big Ten in 3-point field-goal percentage (.611), while Trice ranks fourth in the conference in 3-point field goals made per game (2.8).
* Over the last four games, Michigan State is holding opponents to 54.2 points and a .332 FG%, including .275 from 3-point range.
* Michigan State is averaging 18.7 assists per game, ranking second in the Big Ten.
* The Spartans are recoding an assist on 64.7 percent of their baskets. In three of six games, MSU has recorded an assist on more than 70 percent of its baskets (vs. Navy 18 ast., 25 FG - 72.0%; vs. Loyola 27 ast., 36 FG-75.0%; vs. Santa Clara 22 ast., 29 FG - 75.9%).
* Michigan State has an all-time record of 114-30 in games played in the month of November, including 79-24 under Tom Izzo.
* Tom Izzo is in his 20th season as MSU head coach. The only high-major coaches with longer active tenures at one school are Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (39th season) and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (35th season).
* Michigan State is the only team in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 to open with six of its first eight games away from home. This is the third time in Tom Izzo's 20th season that the Spartans will open with six of eight away from home, having also done it during his first season in 1995-96, when MSU opened with five games away from home, and in 2005-06.
* Travis Trice ranks second in the Big Ten in assists (6.5 apg), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.9), fourth in 3-point field goals made (2.8), and ninth in scoring (16.8 ppg).
* Between Javon Bess (6 games), Alvin Ellis III (5 games) and Branden Dawson (1 game), the Spartans have already lost 12 games due to injury or illness.
* Three different Spartans have posted a double-double this season as Matt Costello (vs. Loyola-13 pts., 11 reb.), Gavin Schilling (vs. Santa Clara-14 pts., 11 reb.) and Denzel Valentine (vs. Santa Clara-13 pts., 11 reb.) each have one.
* Branden Dawson is tied with Paul Davis for ninth in Michigan State history with 87 career blocks, just behind Aloysius Anagonye (88) and Goran Suton (90).
* Michigan State's roster features three pairs of high school teammates: Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes-Lansing Sexton; Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr. and Marvin Clark Jr.-Sunrise Christian Academy; Alvin Ellis III and Gavin Schilling-Chicago De La Salle.
* Since the 1997-98 season, the year of Michigan State's first of 17 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans have played 187 games against ranked opponents. That total ranks first among teams that have appeared in a Final Four since then. The Spartans are followed by North Carolina (169), Kentucky (162), Illinois (160), Duke (160) and Texas (159).
* Michigan State leads all Big Ten schools with eight players appearing on NBA rosters this season, including: Gary Harris (Denver), Adreian Payne (Atlanta), Alan Anderson (Brooklyn), Shannon Brown (Miami), Draymond Green (Golden State), Kalin Lucas (Memphis), Zach Randolph (Memphis) and Jason Richardson (Philadelphia).
MSU VS. KANSAS NOTES
* Michigan State leads the all-time series, 6-4, including winning the last three meetings.
* Tom Izzo is 4-1 in his career against Kansas and 6-4 in his career against Bill Self (1-0 vs. Tulsa, 2-3 vs. Illinois, 3-1 vs. Kansas).
* Michigan State won the last meeting, a 67-64 victory at the 2012 Champions Classic in Atlanta. Keith Appling scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, including MSU's last five points in the final two minutes to secure the victory.
* Two current Spartans appeared in the last meeting. Branden Dawson started and scored 12 points, while Denzel Valentine added four assists and two blocks off the bench. Travis Trice and Matt Costello were on the roster, but both missed the game due to injury. Walk-ons Keenan Wetzel, Colby Wollenman, and Trevor Bohnhoff were also on the team but did not play. Current Jayhawks Perry Ellis (4 points, 3 rebounds) and Jamari Traylor (6 points, 4 rebounds) appeared in the game for Kansas.
MSU VS. MARQUETTE NOTES
ORLANDO CLASSIC SEMIFINALS
* Denzel Valentine scored a career-high 25 points, including connecting on a career-high six 3-pointers.
* MSU matched its season-high with 12 3-pointers, shooting a season-best .522 from behind the arc.
* MSU committed a season-high 16 turnovers, leading to 20 Marquette points.
* The Spartans recorded a season-high seven steals.
* Gavin Schilling blocked a career-best three shots.
* MSU shot a season-best .833 from the foul line, while also recording season highs in free throws made (15) and attempted (18).
* MSU opened the second half by making 11 of its first 13 shots over the first 8:53.
