No. 5 Michigan State Faces No. 2 Duke in Champions Classic on Tuesday in Chicago

EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 5 Michigan State hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to Chicago to play No. 2 Duke in the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at the United Center ...

The game will be air live on ESPN, with Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Kris Budden calling all of the action. The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard state-wide and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play, Kevin Pauga serving as the color analyst and Zach Surdenik as the studio host. The game can also be heard on channel 81 on SiriusXM or on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

The Spartans opened the season with a pair of wins at home, beating Quinnipiac in the opener (96-59) and following that up with a 91-61 win over Toledo last Thursday.
In the opener redshirt junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr., the Blue Ribbon Basketball Preseason National Player of the Year and the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, had a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists and senior center Anton Bonke scored 11 points with 13 rebounds.
Freshman guard Jasiah Jervis scored a game-high 16 points and had five rebounds in the win over Quinnipiac ...
Fears is one of five players scoring in double figures and one of nine scoring at least 6.0 ppg, leading the team with 12.5 ppg and 10.0 apg.
Sophomore forward Jordan Scott is second on the team with 11.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.5 bpg and 2 blocks.
MSU played three exhibition games ahead of the start of the regular season, all against Division I schools. beating Incarnate Word, 89-59, at home, losing to No. 4 UConn, 78-70, and at Marquette, 86-79.
Michigan State finished the 2025-26 season with a 27-8 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in the Big Ten Conference to tie for second place.
The Spartans were selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 28th-straight season and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year and the 17th time under Head Coach Tom Izzo, finishing the year ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25.
Izzo enters his 32nd season at the helm of the program he has been with for more than 40 years, including his time as an assistant coach.
The Spartans will look to replace six letterwinners, including two starting post players in center Carson Cooper (11.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 26.8 mpg) and forward Jaxon Kohler, an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection by the league's coaches (12.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, team-best 58 3-pointers made).
Fears was named the Preseason National Player of the Year by Blue Ribbon College Basketball in September and was named the Big Ten Conference's Preseason Player of the Year on Oct. 8.
An All-Big Ten First Team selection, Fears led the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game (No. 17 in the Big Ten) and in assists, with 9.4 per game, which not only ranked first in the Big Ten but was No. 1 in the country.
Carr, who started all 35 games, was third on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and rebounding (5.4) and second in minutes played (29.2).

Champions Classic

Michigan State is 6-9 all-time in the Champions Classic.
In last year's Champions Classic in New York City, Michigan State beat then-No. 12 Kentucky, 83-66, including 15 points from Kur Teng and 8 points, 6 rebounds and 13 assists from Jeremy Fears Jr.
Kansas has a 9-6 record all-time in the Champions Classic, Duke is 9-6 and Kentucky has a 6-9 record.

Against Duke

The game on Tuesday night will be the 21st all-time meeting between Michigan State and Duke.
Duke leads the all-time series with the Spartans, 16-4, and has won the last three games.
The Blue Devils posted a 66-60 win over MSU at the Breslin Center on Dec. 6, 2025 in the last meeting between the teams.
MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo has a 3-15 all-time record against Duke.
This will be the fifth meeting all-time between the teams at the Champions Classic, with the Blue Devils holding a 4-1 advantage.

About the Blue Devils

Duke enters the game on Tuesday night with a 2-0 record following wins over Army West Point (84-50) on Nov. 2 and Coastal Carolina (113-52) on Thursday night.
The Blue Devils, the preseason pick to win the Atlantic Coast Conference, are ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press and the ESPN Coaches polls.
Duke returns three starters junior center Patrick Ngongba II, senior guard Caleb Foster and sophomore forward Dame Sarr from last year's team that went 35-3 and lost in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Sophomore guard Cayden Boozer, who started 11 games as a freshman, has started both games this year and is averaging 10.0 ppg and leads the team with 7.5 apg.
Freshman center Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, the son of former Georgetown standout Ruben Boumtje Boumtje under Hall of Fame coach John Thompson Jr., is averaging 12.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg and has blocked six shots in two games.
The Blue Devils added fifth-year transfer guard John Blackwell, who averaged 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists while scoring more than 1,500 points over four years at Wisconsin.

With the 2026-27 schedule now set, there's no better time to secure your place at the Breslin Center for another season of Spartan Basketball. A limited number of season tickets remain available, giving fans the opportunity to experience every home game and help create the energy and home-court advantage that makes the Breslin Center special. Secure your season tickets HERE and be a part of the action all season long as the Spartans take the floor.

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Players Mentioned

Anton Bonke

Carson Cooper

Jeremy Fears Jr.

Jasiah Jervis

Jaxon Kohler

Jordan Scott

Kur Teng

Michigan State University Athletics