photo by: AP Photo/John Bazemore

Kansas head coach Bill Self reacts on the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Michigan State, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Atlanta.

Atlanta — Old habits die hard for Hunter Dickinson.

The Jayhawks’ center, who once recorded his career high of 33 points against Michigan State when he played for its rival Michigan, turned in another command performance against the Spartans on Tuesday night in Atlanta.

Dickinson racked up 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds on a night when practically no one on either team could score remotely reliably. Michigan State kept the game close until the final minutes but didn’t have enough juice as it finished the night shooting 34.8% and just 12.5% (3-for-24) from beyond the arc. Frankie Fidler led the Spartans with 15 points.

Rylan Griffen hit a pair of 3s and he and Dajuan Harris Jr. were the only other Jayhawks in double figures as top-ranked KU survived the Champions Classic with a 77-69 victory.

Bill Self officially passed Phog Allen as the winningest coach in Kansas men’s basketball history with his 591st victory.

The KU offense revolved around Dickinson from the early going, and even as he received relentless boos from Michigan State, he scored the first three baskets of the game, benefiting from smooth interplay with first-time starter Zeke Mayo and accounted for KU’s first eight points.

The Spartans committed four early turnovers, but after the under-16 timeout managed to score eight straight points and take a 10-8 lead by drawing an array of fouls. KU missed 15 shots in a row and in fact didn’t get a point from a player other than Dickinson until Harris made a pair of free throws just short of 10 minutes into the game.

A transition layup by Griffen broke the interminable drought from the field and tied the game at 12-12, but Dickinson continued to be the only reliable source of offense for KU. Even after missing a dunk, he hit the first 3-pointer of the game for either team. Flory Bidunga supplied a pair of dunks for the Jayhawks and forced Michigan State to call timeout down 23-18 with just under four minutes left in the half.

KU was poised to go to halftime on a 12-2 run, thanks to a 3-pointer by David Coit and another dunk from Bidunga, but Rylan Griffen gave up a four-point play to Jase Richardson in the final seconds of the half, setting the margin at 30-24 entering the break.

The Spartans outplayed the Jayhawks out of halftime and tied the game on a three-point play by Jaxon Kohler with 14 minutes to go. The teams continued to trade baskets for an extended stretch, with the Spartans never taking the lead. KU took five-point leads on several occasions, but couldn’t extend much further, and Kohler connected from deep to tie the game at 52 with 8:51 left and force a timeout by Bill Self.

However, the Jayhawks clung to a narrow lead down the stretch and managed to stretch their advantage as far as 68-59 when Harris converted a transition layup through a foul on Jeremy Fears Jr. and made the successive free throw.

A late turnover by Mayo led to a fast-break layup by Fears that made it 72-66 inside of a minute left, and Fidler hit a 3, but KU iced the game at the line.

The Jayhawks, who improved to 3-0, will return home to take on Oakland at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

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