NEW YORK -- One of the Kentucky freshmen stepped up big from the outside while the rest of the Wildcats took care of things with defense.Malik Monks 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting from 3-point range and the second-ranked Wildcats defense that held No. 13 Michigan State to 32.8 percent shooting combined for a 69-48 victory Tuesday night in the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.These guys took some pride defensively here, Kentucky coach John Calipari said. Michigan State they run great stuff. They iso and do things that forced us to prepare beyond where we are.The Wildcats (3-0) averaged 90 points in their first two games but this time it was defense that did it as the Spartans (0-2) shot 32.8 percent from the field (20 of 61) including 5 for 26 (19.2 percent) from beyond the arc.Relying on another talented freshman class, Kentucky was able to up the tempo enough and keep the tenacious defense going that the Spartans committed 20 turnovers which the Wildcats turned into 24 points.Freshman DeAaron Fox added 12 points for Kentucky, which snapped Michigan States two-game winning streak in the series that the Wildcats lead 13-11.We knew they were going pack it in. I just had to be prepared, Monk said. They set me up well. I was just able to knock down the shot.Kenny Goins and Cassius Winston led the Spartans with nine points each. Freshman Miles Bridges was held to six points on 2-for-11 shooting but he grabbed 12 rebounds.We did a couple of things knowing that if he got going he would be a beast, Calipari said of Bridges. He had 12 rebounds, but the way we played, we just made it really difficult for him to just play basketball.Spartans coach Tom Izzo said, Im actually a little embarrassed. I felt like we competed defensively for the most part, we just didnt do anything offensively. We looked like a team that was an AAU team, we just went 1-on-1 didnt move the ball and got frustrated.The Spartans were coming off a 68-65 loss to No. 10 Arizona in Honolulu.I was very disappointed in the way we were kind of `deer in the headlights but you know you have four freshmen playing at Madison Square Garden and coming off the Hawaii trip, that was the way we played. Well get better.Kentucky led 34-26 at halftime and the Wildcats opened the big lead with a 16-7 run that made it 51-37 with 12:04 to play. Michigan State continued to struggle from the outside and the Wildcats led by as many as 23 points.Its the same freshmen that played against Canisius and we were down with three minutes in the half, Calipari said. Weve got a long way to go. This shows us what were capable of and now we have to build from this. You have to convince them that if we become a great defensive team.BIG PICTURE:Kentucky: The Wildcats freshman class is as loaded with talent as any recruited by Calipari and this group has size. ... Last season the Wildcats had trouble setting any kind of presence inside but with freshmen Ban Adebayo and Wenyen Gilbert grabbing 11 rebounds between them. Kentucky was able to stay on the glass with the Spartans only being outrebounded 44-40.Michigan State: The Spartans played in Honolulu on Friday and then headed across the country for this game. Michigan State will travel 13,600 miles by Nov. 29 and in a 21-day span they will face at least three Top 15 opponents. ... Michigan State wont be at full strength for a while as they wait for Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter to return from injuries.ALL ALONE:Monk was the only Wildcat to make a 3-pointer. The rest of the team was 0 for 7. Nobody on Michigan State made more than one 3.You have to give Monk credit he was 3 for 13 going in and hit some big 3s early, unguarded on the break, Izzo said.FOUL SHOOTING:Kentucky was 16 of 20 at the free throw line while the Spartans were 3 of 9.SITTING PRETTY:In the row behind the Kentucky bench were Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Brown who was Calipari boss at Kansas and Bruiser Flint, the coach who succeeded Calipari at Massachusetts. Also sitting in a good seat was New York Knicks guard Carmelo Anthony. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski went over and gave Anthony a big hug before the second game. The two were part of the last Olympic gold medals for the U.S.UP NEXT:Kentucky: The Wildcats return to Rupp Arena to face Duquesne on Sunday.Michigan State: The Spartans finally stop traveling to go home and play Mississippi Valley State on Friday.Kent Benson Jersey . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Kyle Singler Jersey . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. https://www.cheappistonsonline.com/656y-jerry-stackhouse-jersey-pistons.html . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. Bob Lanier Jersey . LOUIS -- St. Andy Phillip Jersey .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers.INDIANAPOLIS -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. indicated Friday he is feeling a little better as he battles balance issues and nausea believed to be from concussions.Earnhardt, who has been working with doctors for the past 10 days, will miss his second consecutive race this weekend.Today is the 1st day in many that I sensed improvement, Earnhardt tweeted Friday morning. Seen small gains during my physical therapy as well. Light at the end of the tunnel.Earnhardt, 41, initially thought his symptoms were from a sinus infection or allergies. Having been in wrecks June 12 at Michigan and July 2 at Daytona -- as well as having missed two races in 2012 after suffering two concussions in a span of six weeks -- spurred Earnhardt to see a neurologist last week.The tweet from Earnhardt, who visited the shop Wednesday, was encouraging for team owner Rick Hendrick.I want him to be healthy and right when he gets in the car and the doctors are going to dictate that, Hendrick said. The news has been really good. The tweet this morning was really good. He looks good. Hes sharp.Im excited about getting him back, but Ive tried to leave him alone. ... He misses this. He misses his team. He came to see his team [Wednesday]. He saw the guys and it really lifted them.Earnhardt was replaced by one his Xfinity Series drivers, Alex Bowman, last week at New Hampshire and will be replaced by four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon this weekend at Indianapolis and next week at Pocono. There is no timetable for Earnhardts return.They can give me a lot of exercises that retrain my brain to handle what I need to handle -- its just going to take a lot of patience, Earnhardt said Monday on his The Dale Jr. Download podcast. I take my health and quality of life as a top priority. ... I am going to take this slow and strictly take the advice of my doctors.On the podcast, Earnhardt said his ImPACT test -- a test that measures cognitive function such as memoryy and reaction time -- matched a previously taken test that is used as a baseline to determine effects of a concussion.ddddddddddddEarnhardt is seeing doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program.Dr. Mark Lovell, who developed the ImPACT test and is the chief science officer of ImPACT applications, said it is encouraging that Earnhardts recent results have matched his baseline. Lovell is not treating Earnhardt.You can have other symptoms of concussion that are not specifically cognitive -- not related to memory -- [so] we dont just look at the cognitive scores, Lovell said. We look at, is their balance OK? Do they have headaches? Do they have other signs or symptoms that arent purely of the cognitive variety?Lovell said an athlete typically would undergo an exertion test to determine if the balance and nausea symptoms return. He said when he was treating athletes, he would want to see someone undergo the exertion test for a few days without symptoms.The brain undergoes a physiological change, Lovell said. So there are actual chemical changes that take place. You want that process to settle down before somebody goes back in to [avoid] risk of another injury.By doing the exertional exercises, youre basically stressing the system. Its kind of like a stress test for the brain ... to make sure they are OK before they go back in.Lovell added that there is no expected timetable for an athlete to recover.The brain is complicated, Lovell said. Its not like any other injury. Its complicated by the fact that it can look differently in different people. ... [It] is really important to recognize that there is no testing for a concussion, an MRI scan.What happens in brain with a concussion is generally more of a physiological reaction, a chemical reaction. ' ' '