MSU Must Quiet Former Wolverine in Order to Upset No. 1 Kansas
Michigan State is 2-0 in the young season, but only one team in the upcoming MSU vs. Kansas game will be able to keep its record blemish-free.
The Spartans will go up against the Kansas Jayhawks in their third game of the season on Tuesday. Going into the game, the Spartans will need to find a formula to contain Kansas center Hunter Dickinson's offense to keep the contest close, competitive and ultimately, give MSU a chance at victory.
In Dickinson's last game, a narrow win over No. 9 North Carolina, the Kansas center dropped 20 points in 29 minutes of play. He also ended his night with 10 rebounds and three assists and successfully made six of his nine free throws.
Dickinson, so far this season, has already collected 36 points. His current average gameplay is 25 minutes on the court while averaging 18 points scored. Dickinson hasn't played MSU since the 2022-2023 season.
In his college career, Dickinson has averaged 29.6 minutes on the court against the Spartans, 19.3 points scored over the previous six games he has played MSU in his college career and has won half of the games played against MSU since the 2020-2021 campaign.
Dickinson decided to return for another year of college ball rather than enter the 2024 NBA draft, and so far, he may be proving he has nothing more to learn at the college level. Dickinson has been regarded as a swift player in the paint and could go as high as the second round in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Dickinson has a 33.3% 3-point success rate so far this season, which the MSU defense will look to try and overcome. His seven-foot-two-inch frame is hard to guard, but MSU knows that a limitation to Dickinson's game is speed and agility. The Spartans will look to try and cover him on defense and be ready for a rebound grab after an attempted throw for three.
Tom Izzo and the rest of the Spartan squad look to improve their season record to 3-0 when they take on Dickinson and the No. 1 team in the country in the State Farm Champions Classic on Tuesday.
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Dominic Minchella holds a communications degree from Eastern Michigan University. He is a former MLB writer and joins our team ad an NFL/College team reporter on Sports Illustrated