Kentucky basketball doesn’t get to feel sorry for itself — not even for a moment.
Just a week after a 96–88 loss to Louisville, a game where the defensive collapse was impossible to ignore, Mark Pope’s “distracted” Wildcats now have to fly to New York for one of the biggest stages of the season: the Champions Classic matchup with Michigan State.
This is no longer a “measuring stick” game.
This is a stop-the-bleeding, fix-it-or-get-exposed-again game.
Kentucky already failed its first major test, falling behind by 20 before making a late push. Now, under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden with a national audience watching, the Wildcats have to prove that Louisville was a wake-up call — not the beginning of a troubling pattern.
How to watch Kentucky vs. Michigan State
Date: November 18, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM ET
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV: ESPN
Announcers: Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, Kris Budden
Streaming: ESPN App
Radio: Tom Leach & Jack Givens
Online: UKAthletics.com or the iHeartRadio app (WLAP 630)
Local FM/AM Stations:
Lexington: 98.1 FM / 630 WLAP
Louisville: 840 AM WHAS
London: 103.9 FM WWEL
Hazard/Pikeville: 101.1 WSGS
Madisonville: 93.9 FM WKTG
A rivalry defined by close finishes
This is Pope’s first taste of this rivalry, but its history is loaded with chaos. Whenever these teams meet, the game looks and feels like March.
Michigan State leads the all-time series 6–4, and the neutral-site matchups are almost always thrillers decided in the final minutes:
2022–23: L 86–77 (2OT, Indianapolis)
2019–20: W 69–62 (New York)
2016–17: W 69–48 (New York)
2013–14: L 78–74 (Chicago)
2004–05: L 94–88 (2OT, NCAA Regional)
This matchup has never been calm. It’s never predictable. And it’s rarely anything short of wild.
Will Kentucky’s ‘poor’ team defense show up again?
This game will be decided on one end of the floor — defense.
Kentucky’s offense isn’t the issue; they still scored 88 points in the loss to Louisville.
But the defense?
That’s where the alarms are blaring.
Mark Pope didn’t hide the problems. He said the team was “wildly out of character,” noting that they allowed 34 points in the first 8 seconds of the shot clock. Their body language looked “underwater,” and the defensive principles were “incredibly poor.”
And now they face Tom Izzo.
Michigan State is the last team you want to see when your defense is unfocused.
While Louisville burned Kentucky with pace, the Spartans will test them with physicality and discipline.
Izzo’s identity is built on:
Relentless rebounding
Halfcourt execution
Toughness
Elimination of easy buckets
This game will be a grind. A test of focus. A challenge to see whether Kentucky can finally shut down the one flaw that Louisville exposed so brutally.
The narrative has officially changed.
This isn’t about showing off the offense anymore — it’s about fixing the defensive leak before Michigan State turns it into Louisville Part 2 under the lights of MSG.
