Kentucky had its chances but just couldn’t seal the deal as the No. 4 ranked Wildcats suffered their first defeat of the season, a double overtime, 86-77, setback to Michigan State during Tuesday’s Champions Classic.
Kentucky (2-1) held a 76-73 lead with 4:00 remaining in the second overtime before seeing the Spartans use a 13-1 run to secure the come from behind win.
Despite having missed a month because of a knee injury, Oscar Tshiebwe played 34 minutes before fouling out and totaled 22 points and 18 rebounds.
It was his 17th consecutive double-double, including the final 16 games of last season. It was also his eighth 20-15 game as a Wildcat, beginning with the 2021-22 season.
Freshman Cason Wallace had 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and a school-record-tying eight steals.
Jacob Toppin contributed 10 points and four rebounds while Sahvir Wheeler scored 16 points and led the Wildcats with eight assists.
Kentucky is 5-7 in the Champions Classic, including 2-2 against Michigan State in the event.
This is the fourth time that the event has been held in Gainbridge Fieldhouse and UK is 1-3 in those games.
The matchups and game date have been set for the 2023 Classic – Nov. 14, 2023, in Chicago with UK playing Kansas and Michigan State taking on Duke.
In the first half, Kentucky built what proved to be its largest lead of the game, 20-13, but an eight-point run by Michigan State put the Spartans back in the lead.
The teams battled evenly the rest of the way, but MSU scored the final five points for a 36-34 halftime lead. Tshiebwe led Kentucky with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Michigan State scored the first three points of the second half, completing an 8-0 run for a 39-34 lead.
With the Wildcats trailing 42-39, Wallace scored the last four points of a 7-0 spurt with an offensive rebound and basket, followed by a steal and fastbreak layup.
Trailing 52-51, a driving Wheeler found Tshiebwe for a dunk with 6:25 to go — Kentucky never trailed again until the second overtime — and Fredrick picked a nice time for his first basket of the night, a 3-pointer from the left wing to put UK up 56-52 and force a Spartan timeout with 5:21 remaining.
Tied at 58, Toppin made the first of two free throws, with Tshiebwe grabbing an offensive rebound and getting a layup for a 61-58 advantage.
At 61-60 with 15.4 seconds left, Wallace made the second of two free throws. Michigan State tied it at 62 on a dunk with 3.7 seconds remaining.
In the first overtime, Toppin opened the scoring with a pair of free throws with 4:31 remaining and a Wheeler 3-pointer a minute later opened a five-point advantage, 67-62, but the Spartans responded with five straight points to tie the game at 67 apiece.
Wheeler made a free throw and one of his driving underhand bankers to make it 70-67 while Michigan got a basket, then Tshiebwe fouled out on an illegal screen with 32 seconds left.
Kentucky forced a miss and Wallace was fouled with 7.6 seconds left, making the second free throw for a 71-69 count, but the Spartans tied it on a dunk with 1.4 seconds remaining.
A Wheeler 3-pointer with 4:00 remaining in the second overtime put the Wildcats ahead 76-73 but Michigan State finished the game on a 13-1 run.
A dunk put the Spartans ahead 78-76 with 1:44 to go, their first lead since 6:25 remaining in regulation.
