INDIANAPOLIS _ No. 1-ranked Kansas opened its season of great expectations by upending an old Champions Classic nemesis, Michigan State, on Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Freshman guard Quentin Grimes, who scored just 17 points combined in two exhibition games, poured in 21 points and Dedric Lawson added 20 (on 5 of 18 shooting) with 14 rebounds as the Jayhawks toppled the No. 10-ranked Spartans, 92-87.
KU prevailed despite seeing a 17-point second-half lead dip to three points with 19.9 seconds to play.
The victory came before a crowd of 20,000 that included one of the Jayhawks' biggest fans _ budding NBA star Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers _ who hugged ESPN announcer Dick Vitale before the contest.
Overall KU improved to 4-4 at the Champions Classic, while Michigan State fell to 3-5.
Grimes hit 7 of 14 shots and was 6 of 10 from 3-point range after hitting just two 3s in seven tries in a pair of exhibition games.
Udoka Azubuike netted 17 points for the Jayhawks, who will maintain their top spot in the polls into Week 2. KU will be idle until Monday's 8 p.m. contest against Vermont at Allen Fieldhouse.
Joshua Langford had 18 points and Kenny Goins 17 for MSU.
The Jayhawks led by 17 points late in the first half, but that lead dipped to 14 (50-36) at intermission following a 3 by Spartans junior Kyle Ahrens.
KU's lead sagged to eight points (63-55) at the 14:40 mark, and after it grew back to 17 at 75-58, the Spartans trimmed it to eight again, 81-73, with 5:39 left. It was sliced to seven (89-81) on a conventional three-point play by Winston at 3:01. And it was down to six (90-84) at 1:18 on an inside bucket by Goins that followed one of two free throws by Azubuike, who also missed a pair with 54.3 seconds left and KU up by six.
Grimes scored 11 points the first half. Azubuike added 10 points in the half, while Lawson pulled down 11 rebounds to go with seven points (2 of 10 shooting) in 19 minutes as KU led 50-36 at the break.
Michigan State was led by the 9-point, 7-rebound first-half performance of Goins. The Spartans missed 11 free throws in 25 tries in the first half.
The Jayhawks used a 12-1 run to turn an 18-16 lead into a 30-17 advantage at the 8:30 mark. Grimes, who scored eight of KU's first 16 points and 11 of KU's first 23, hit a three in that surge. Also, Azubuike had four points and David McCormack a bucket, all off inside moves.
The run stretched all the way to 21-7 as KU led 39-23 and 26-11. The Jayhawks held a half-best lead of 17 points, 44-27, at 3:12.
