After some early back-and-forth, Kansas opened up a big first half lead and held off a late Spartan charge to defeat Michigan State by a 92-87 final.
The Game
With Kansas leading 18-16 at the under-12 TV timeout, the lead quickly ballooned to 13 a after a 12-1 Jayhawk run. KU held the Spartans at arm’s length for the rest of the first half, taking a 17-point lead with under 20 seconds to go before a last-second three by MSU’s Kyle Ahrens fell. The Jayhawks led 50-36 at the break.
A Quentin Grimes three-pointer right after the break extended the lead back to 17, but that’s as high as it would go for Kansas as Michigan State began to slowly chip away.