Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET the college basketball season will be turned up a notch as the No. 2 Michigan State Spartans (1-0, 0-0) will face off against the No. 1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats (2-0, 0-0) and their fabled recruiting class on the Chicago Bulls' floor at the United Center. Watch the game on ESPN or live stream it free by clicking this link. Spartans fans can hear the game on Detroit 950 AM while Kentucky fans can catch the radio broadcast on WKYM FM 101.7.
The Wildcats haul of freshmen has been lauded as the greatest collection of new talent since the Fab Five dominated headlines with the Michigan Wolverines. This crew is led by a big man, Julius Randle, who threatens to overtake Andrew Wiggins as the No. 1 pick in next year's draft. Through two games, Randle is pacing the Wildcats with 22.5 points per game and 14.5 rebounds.
Randle's not resting on his laurels though, or using his high profile as an excuse to coast. "I'm still missing some opportunities," Randle said. "(There were) a lot of balls I didn't come up with. I just have to learn from it and improve."
Tonight's game will not be easy. The Spartans are annually one of the best-coached teams in the nation, and have an experience edge over the green Wildcats. Kentucky coach John Calipari specifically penciled in the Spartans this early in the year as a gauge for his young core.
"For us, it's just a bar of where we are right now. We've got a long way to go. ... We're still trying to figure out how to play fast, how to get in the lane, how to post up, how to cut. Trying to figure out defensively how we need to play. We're still not right."
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is also chomping at the bit, while acknowledging Kentucky's vast reserves of talent may be enough to overcome the lack of seasoning.
"We're going to have some problems with (Kentucky) matching up and they might have some problems with us," he said. "(Kentucky) looks like an NBA team. It's a big, big team. Talented team. Well-coached team. Can't wait.
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