Since the Cats beat Magic Johnson and Michigan St. on March 18, 1978, the Cats and the Spartans have played each other 10 times. Sparty has a clear advantage. Michigan State has won six of those games, and the Cats have won four. Two games were NCAA Regional Finals, and the Cats lost both of those. Two went to double overtime, and the Cats lost both of those. Here is the complete list:
11/15/22: Michigan St. 86 - 77 (4) Kentucky (2 OT) (Indianapolis, Ind.)
11/05/19: (2) Kentucky 69 - 62 (1) Michigan St. (New York City)
11/15/16: (13) Michigan St. 48 - 69 (2) Kentucky (New York City)
11/12/13: (1) Kentucky 74 - 78 (2) Michigan St. (Chicago)
03/27/05: (7) Kentucky 88 - 94 (15) Michigan St. (2 OT) (Austin, Tex.) (NCAA Regional Final)
12/13/03: Michigan St. 74 - 79 (8) Kentucky (Detroit)
12/14/02: Kentucky 67 - 71 (2) Michigan St.
12/16/00: (2) Michigan St. 46 - 45 Kentucky
12/23/99: Kentucky 60 - 58 (5) Michigan St.
03/21/99: (2) Michigan St. 73 - 66 (8) Kentucky (St. Louis) (NCAA Regional Final)
Please note that Kentucky has never scored 80 points in regulation against a team coached by Tom Izzo.
Michigan St. is a grim, but fair task. You can't outcoach Izzo -- you can only beat him with better players.
ReplyDeleteOf course, he may outcoach you. So, to beat Izzo you need better players -- and those players have to be well coached.
ReplyDeleteThe game is played so cleanly that there's no stoppage in play until there are 13 minutes and 17 seconds left in the first half. Cats lead 17-14.
ReplyDeleteIf the Cats are really a top ten squad, then they should win this game. In fact, after last week's debacle at U of L, it seems clear that if UK loses this game, much of the fan base -- and almost all the national media -- will write off UK as a serious threat for the SEC title or the Final Four.
ReplyDeleteAfter 10 Minutes: Kentucky 17 - 23 Michigan St.
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "Michigan State makes 13 threes in first 4 games. They then make 4 in first 4 minutes. Insane."
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "Michigan State decided to stop playing at UK's pace. And now Kentucky looks completely stagnant in the half court."
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "Not sure the game plan of 'let Michigan State shoot wide open from 3' was an effective one."
ReplyDeleteGerry Faust coached five seasons at Notre Dame. He went 30-26-1. The last game he coached for the Irish was a 58-7 defeat at Miami of Florida.
ReplyDeleteThree seasons after he left, Notre Dame won the National Championship.
ReplyDeleteHalftime: Kentucky 27 - 44 Michigan St.
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "Well that was awful. Embarrassing performance by Kentucky all the way around."
ReplyDeleteAt the same time he hired Pope, Mitch Barnhart also hired a new coach for the women's hoop team. For that job, he hired a coach who went to the Final Four at Virginia Tech. The women's team is currently undefeated and cruising to an easy win over Purdue.
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "It's starting to feel like there is a chemistry disconnect with this group."
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "About as bad a performance as Kentucky could have in this spot. This group looks completely out of sorts and a group whose whole is somehow worse than the sum of its parts."
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "Injuries are not an excuse for this performance. This is just a beatdown and Kentucky looks absolutely lost."
ReplyDeleteFinal Score: Kentucky 66 - 83 Michigan St.
ReplyDeleteCats host North Carolina on December 2.
Matt Jones: "Mark Pope still hasn't come out for postgame press conference . . . that's a much longer time in the locker room than usual."
ReplyDeleteMatt Jones: "Mark Pope ends his press conference by saying 'we will not fail this season.' Strong words."
ReplyDeleteAgain, the Heels will be in Lexington on December 2.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the Cats have fallen to number 11 on Ken Pom. They are number 333 for "luck."
ReplyDeleteWestern Kentucky beats Bethel 97-67, and runs its record to 4-0.
ReplyDeleteFinal: Arkansas 84 - 83 Winthrop
ReplyDelete