5 things you need to know from Kentucky’s 83-66 blowout loss to Michigan State
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Gameday: No. 17 Michigan State 83, No. 12 Kentucky 66
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday’s Kentucky-Michigan State game at Madison Square Garden in New York.
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This Kentucky team has no identity. And the Cats are no closer to finding one
Kentucky embarrassed in NYC again. Michigan State beats Cats by 17 points
5 things you need to know from Kentucky’s 83-66 blowout loss to Michigan State
Notable numbers, full stats from Kentucky basketball’s 83-66 loss to Michigan State
Five things you need to know from No. 12 Kentucky’s 83-66 loss against No. 17 Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic:
1. Michigan State’s 3-point barrage. The Spartans entered the game shooting 21.7% from behind the arc in their first three games, a chilly 13 of 60.
MSU got right from behind the arc against Kentucky’s struggling defense. Michigan State started the game making five of its initial eight trey tries and never really cooled off.
The Spartans finished 11 of 22 on 3-point tries, a sharp contrast to UK’s arctic 7 of 30 shooting from behind the arc.
Michigan State rifled in a pair of treys during an 18-2 first half run that turned a 17-14 UK lead into a 32-19 edge for the Spartans.
The Wildcats never recovered.
2. An unlikely “Cats killer.” Michigan State sophomore guard Kur Teng came off the bench and scored 15 points in 18 minutes. The 6-foot-4, 190 pound product of Manchester, New Hampshire, was part of the 3-point shooting barrage, hitting 3 of 7.
Even by the standards of unlikely Kentucky basketball nemeses, Teng had a light résumé.
The 15 points were his career high, exceeding the 10 points he scored in MSU’s 79-60 win over San Jose State last Thursday night.
As a true freshman last year, Teng scored 10 points all season.
Teng had five points to help spark the 18-2 Michigan State run in half one that broke the game open.
3. Mark Pope vs. Top 25 foes. With the loss to the No. 17 Spartans, Mark Pope is now 8-8 as UK head man against foes ranked in the AP Top 25.
After winning his first five such games and seven of the first nine last season, Pope has lost six of the past seven contests against ranked opposition.
4. Cats have fallen under a “MSG hex.” Kentucky’s loss to MSU was its fifth defeat in its past six games at Madison Square Garden.
UK’s previous six games at MSG have been:
• 84-83 overtime loss to Seton Hall in the Citi Hoops Classic in 2018-19;
• 69-62 win over Michigan State in the Champions Classic in 2019-20;
• 79-71 loss to Duke in the Champions Classic in 2021-22;
• 63-53 loss to UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic in 2022-23;
• 85-65 loss to Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic in 2024-25;
• 83-66 loss to Michigan State in the Champions Classic in 2025-26.
5. Cats struggling in Champions Classic. With the loss to Michigan State on Tuesday night, Kentucky has now lost seven of its past nine games in the Champions Classic.
Overall, Kentucky is now tied with Michigan State for the worst record in the Champions Classic at 6-9.
UK is 2-3 against all three of the other schools which participate in the annual men’s college basketball doubleheader: Duke, Kansas and MSU.
Tom Izzo’s Spartans are now 3-2 vs. UK, 2-3 against Kansas and 1-4 vs. Duke.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 8:41 PM.
