Jaxon Kohler scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting to help No. 17 Michigan State roll to an 83-66 victory over No. 12 Kentucky on Tuesday night at the Champions Classic in New York City.
Jeremy Fears Jr. recorded a career-best 13 assists to go with eight points, six rebounds and three steals for the Spartans (4-0). Kur Teng added 15 points and Trey Fort had 13 for Michigan State.
Otega Oweh scored 12 points for Kentucky (3-2). Denzel Aberdeen, Mouhamed Dioubate and Collin Chandler all had 10 apiece for the Wildcats, who trailed for more than 34 minutes of the game at Madison Square Garden.
Michigan State shot 50% from the field, including 11 of 22 from 3-point range. The Spartans held a 42-28 rebounding advantage.
The Wildcats struggled with their shooting by hitting just 35.1% overall and 23.3% (7 of 30) from behind the arc.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Teng gave Michigan State a 56-37 lead with 13:46 left in the game.
The Wildcats responded with a 13-4 push to cut their deficit to 60-50 on Jasper Johnson’s putback with 9:37 remaining.
The margin was 12 before the Spartans received four points from Kohler and consecutive dunks from Cameron Ward to make it 75-55 with 5:03 to play.
Michigan State’s lead topped out at 24 points while finishing off its sixth victory in the past nine meetings with Kentucky.
Kohler scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half as Michigan State led 44-27 at the break. The Spartans were 7 of 13 from 3-point range in the first half while Kentucky was 4 of 15.
Chandler scored the first five points of the game for the Wildcats before the Spartans scored 12 of the next 17 points.
Kentucky later led 17-14 after a basket by Dioubate with 13:36 left in the first half before Michigan State went on an 18-2 burst.
Teng’s jumper capped a run of nine straight points that put the Spartans ahead by six. Jesse McCulloch and Fort later drained consecutive treys to make it 31-19 before Coen Carr split two free throws with 6:28 left to complete the run.
The Spartans continued to grow the lead and a late basket by Teng accounted for the 17-point halftime advantage.
