Kentucky vs. Michigan State: Numbers You Need to Know

Sparty, the Michigan State mascot, via Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Kentucky is preparing to step onto the biggest stage in basketball at Madison Square Garden in the Champions Classic. Mark Pope is seeking his second-straight win in the neutral site series in his first matchup against Tom Izzo. Before they take the floor at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN, here are all of the stats, facts, and numbers you need to know.

2 — Bad free-throw shooting teams are taking the floor tonight at MSG. Kentucky is only hitting 72.5% of its attempts from the charity stripe, but Michigan State is even worse at 67%.

2.5 — Turnovers per game by Otega Oweh, the 14th-most in the SEC. Through four games, he’s shooting 46.2% from the field and 25% from three, his lowest marks since his freshman season.

3.3 — Made 3-pointers per game by Collin Chandler. He’s shooting 56.5% from three-point land, the second-best mark in the SEC.

4 — Different leading scorers by Kentucky in the first four games of the season. Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen has the high-water mark with a career-high 26-point performance against Louisville.

5 — Point advantage for Kentucky in overtime of the last game against Michigan State. Oscar Tshiebwe’s crew couldn’t close out Sparty. Michigan State outscored Kentucky 15-6 in the second extra period, handing the Wildcats another devastating defeat in Indianapolis.

7.5 — Rebounds per game by freshman Malachi Moreno, which ranks in the Top 15 in the SEC. He’s one of five Kentucky Wildcats averaging double-digits in scoring with 10.5 points per game.

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9.3 — Assists per game by Michigan State point guard Jeremy Fears, the best mark in college basketball.

13.3 — Rebounds per game by Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler, the second-most in the Big Ten. He has double-doubles in two of his three games this season.

46.5 — Michigan State’s offensive rebounding rate ranks sixth nationally.

.500 — Record in this series at neutral sites. Each team has four wins apiece, but Izzo only has two neutral-site victories over Kentucky. Kentucky has a narrow 14-12 overall advantage in the series.

58 — Percent chance Kentucky will win, according to Bart Torvik, who predicts a final score of 76-74. ESPN’s analytics are much more bullish on the Cats, giving Kentucky a 77.6% winning percentage. KenPom forecasts a 79-73 Kentucky victory.

66.2 — Kentucky’s 2-point shooting percentage is the best in college basketball.

361 — Wins for Tom Izzo in conference play, a Big Ten record. He surpassed Bob Knight in February for the most wins in Big Ten history. Izzo is 740-302 over 31 seasons at Michigan State. He’s been to eight Final Fours and won 11 Big Ten regular season titles.