ATLANTA — A chance to compete on the national stage always motivates Hunter Dickinson.
But a shot at an old foe during the Champions Classic at State Farm Arena on Tuesday night added more intensity to the moment for the All-American center.
Dickinson, the former Michigan star, led all players with 28 points and 12 rebounds as No. 1 Kansas downed Michigan State, 77-69.
Afterward, he said his malice for the Spartans built up over his years in Ann Arbor fueled the big performance.
“It was a very big game for me,” he said. “Very big game. Definitely, a big game.”
“Obviously, I went to Michigan. I graduated from Michigan. I still got that rivalry inside me.”
Michigan State and Kansas both struggled at times offensively. They combined to start 1 for 18 from beyond the arc. At one point in the first half, Michigan State had made just 18% of its field goal attempts. By halftime, Kansas players not named Hunter Dickinson were 6 for 26 from the field.
“I think [Bill Self] agrees with me and I agree with him … offensively, we both sucked, to put it bluntly,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “We’ve got to both get better and we’ve got to find a couple guys.”
Yet, Dickinson’s effort helped the Jayhawks overcome those lapses. Michigan State, which decided against double-teaming him, couldn’t stop him.
Midway through the second half, Dickinson spun on Jaxon Kohler and nearly scored before Coen Carr was flagged for goaltending. Dickinson made the trending “too small” gesture with his hand before he pretended to step on the player guarding him.
“I was saying they were too small,” Dickinson said when asked about the gesture. “They can’t guard me, and I was putting emphasis on it.”
Still, four days after a thrilling victory in Lawrence over a top-10 North Carolina team, the Jayhawks struggled to get a win over an unranked Michigan State squad that has made just 20% of its 3-point attempts this season and entered the game ranked 34th in the KenPom rankings.
But Dickinson said Tuesday’s challenges shouldn’t change KU’s current standing as the No. 1 team in America.
“It’s impossible to be better than 3-0 right now for us,” he said. “Can’t be better than 3-0. We beat a top-10 team in the country. We beat a Michigan State team that will probably end up in the top 25.”
There were many moments when it appeared as if Kansas might leave here with a loss, but Dickinson was too good and too energized by the matchup to let his team fail.
“You’ve got to grind games out like this, especially against teams like Michigan State,” said Dajuan Harris Jr., who finished with 11 points and six assists for Kansas. “You know how they play super hard, play super fast. So that was a game where we had to grind down and play together and really played through [Dickinson]. He brought us home [a win].”
Self, who improved to 591-143 in his 22nd season at Kansas and moved past Phog Allen for the most wins with the program, said a team is defined by its ability to win games when it plays well and also when it has to wade through adversity.
He also said Dickinson helped steady a squad that’s added multiple key transfers and continues to learn how to work together through difficult stretches. Self said he expects the big man to improve in the weeks ahead as he gets more reps in practice after missing multiple exhibition games and practices due to a foot injury.
“He doesn’t like Michigan State a lot,” Self said. “In large part, just because he went to Michigan. And I’m sure they’re trained to dislike the other team at a pretty significant level.”
