Tom Izzo says Kentucky is a 'more athletic and tougher' version of Arkansas

Tom Izzo‘s Michigan State Spartans have already beaten the former head coach of Kentucky men’s basketball this season. He’ll have a chance to take down the current head coach later on Tuesday.

No. 17 Michigan State and No. 12 Kentucky will clash tonight in Madison Square Garden for the annual Champions Classic. The Spartans bring a 3-0 record into New York City, including a big 69-66 win over John Calipari‘s Arkansas Razorbacks. It was just 10 days ago that MSU beat the Hogs at home. Izzo sees some similarities between Calipari’s squad and what Mark Pope has rolling in Lexington — but he thinks Kentucky is a better version of what he saw with Arkansas.

“I thought Arkansas was one of the most talented teams I saw, and I did, but they had some younger guys, they didn’t have as much experience,” Izzo told reporters on Monday. “Kentucky is even more athletic and tougher.”

“They really push the ball. Arkansas had one guy that really pushed the ball. Kentucky’s got multiple guys that push the ball. They have more than a couple of shooters. And they can shoot it from deep, deep. Arkansas had one, maybe two. They have three, maybe four. They’re big inside, and those two guys inside (Brandon Garrison and Malachi Moreno) complement each other. They kinda play about 22, 18 minutes, so they’re usually fresh. They’re well-coached. Again, I think we’re gonna hit some of the better teams in the country, and they’re one of them.”

That’s some high praise from Izzo for his upcoming opponent. Arkansas is clearly talented, headlined by the freshman backcourt duo of Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas, but Izzo believes Kentucky is another level up in some areas. That shouldn’t come as too much of a shock to hear, though — Pope went out of his way in the offseason to bring in the athleticism and toughness that his first Kentucky team was lacking.

Unfortunately, that athleticism and toughness didn’t matter much when Louisville ran the Wildcats into the ground last week. But it sure did when Kentucky was mandhandling the likes of Nicholls, Valparaiso, and Eastern Illinois. Michigan State will still try to get out in transition like the Cardinals did, but the Spartans prefer to hit the glass hard and get to the free-throw line. UK’s athleticism and toughness that Izzo mentioned will be tested in the Garden.

Michigan State isn’t an outside shooting team (one of the worst in the country, in fact), but has six guys who get to the line at least three times per game. 6-foot-9 forward Jaxon Kohler leads the Big Ten with 13.3 rebounds per game, 5.3 of them coming on the offensive glass. Point guard Jeremey Fears Jr. leads the country in assists per game at 9.3. They pass the ball more than any group in the country. Izzo has a team that can make some noise in March. He said Monday that the previous two days of practice were some of the best he’s had in the last two years.

“I’ll be shocked if we don’t play well,” Izzo said of his team. “Whether that’s enough — I mean (Kentucky is) a hell of a team with a hell of a roster. That’s 10 deep of really good players. So we’ll see.”

We’ll see very soon, too. Tipoff between the ‘Cats and Spartans in NYC is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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