The Michigan State Spartans and Kansas Jayhawks both face a tall order tonight when the two basketball powerhouses tip off against one another in the 2012 Champions Classic. For Tom Izzo's team, they will be doing so without back-up point guard Travis Trice.
Trice is dealing with "concussion-like symptoms", according to Diamond Leung of MLive.com. That means the backcourt will be a bit thinner and less experienced when facing an intense Kansas defense.
"Against a (Kansas) team that puts a lot of pressure on you, (Trice) have helped us, but Valentine and Kearney are going to have to step up," Izzo said.
That said, Kansas will have a lot of inexperience on the court as well given the starting freshman pair of Perry Ellis and Ben McLemore. Both are high impact players, but it's clear that this will be their first primetime match-up of their careers after early season tune-ups and a summer schedule overseas.