NEW YORK -- Freshman Malik Monk scored 23 points and sophomore Isaiah Briscoe added 21 points to lead No. 2 Kentucky to a 69-48 win over No. 13 Michigan State in the first game of the Champions Classic on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
The Spartans (0-2) had won four of the last five meetings against the Wildcats (3-0).
The second game featured No. 1 Duke against No. 7 Kansas.
Monk is part of a star-studded freshman group that includes forwards De'Aaron Fox and 'Bam' Adebayo. Fox contributed 12 points and five assists and Adebayo added six points and five rebounds.
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Michigan State and Kentucky have four of the top six recruiting classes this season, and eight of the nation's top 10 recruits. Fox contributed six points in the outburst.
Kenny Goins and Cassius Winston led the Spartans with just nine points each. Michigan State shot just 32 percent from the floor, made only 5 of 26 3-pointers and committed 21 turnovers.
The Wildcats made their most significant run of the game, going on a 13-2 tear to pull away 60-38 with 7:01 to play. Fox contributed six points in the outburst.
A 9-2 run from Kentucky in the first five minutes of the second gave moved the Wildcat lead to 45-31, their largest to that point. Briscoe scored five points in the sequence and Monk sank his fifth trey of the game.
Monk poured in 14 points, 12 of which came via the 3-pointer, to help the Wildcats to a 34-26 lead at the half. Both teams shot 36 percent from the floor and combined for 17 fouls in the stop-and-go half.
The Wildcats scored the 34 points in 38 possessions.
Matt McQuade's 3-pointer for Michigan State tied it at 12 before the Wildcats used a 14-2 run over the next seven minutes to move ahead 26-14, their largest lead of the half, with 6:12 left. Monk drained two 3-pointers in the spurt.
Michigan State held the lead for only 1:41 in the first half
NOTES: Both teams combined for 36 fouls. ... Kentucky G De'Aaron Fox was named the SEC's Freshman of the Week. It's the third straight season a Kentucky freshman has earned the honor in the first week of the season. ... Michigan State will travel more than 13,600 miles in 22 days in November, including trips to the Bahamas and Hawaii. ... Michigan State is the only school in the country with 27 or more wins in each of the last five seasons. ... Since the 1997-98 season the Spartans have played 206 games against ranked opponents. ... Kentucky and Michigan State have faced each other four times in the NCAA Tournament and each time with a berth in the Final Four at stake. The Spartans won three times.
