JayhawkSlant.com caught up with Brendan Moore from SpartansIllustrated.com to get his thoughts on tonight’s game. Bill Self's crew and Tom Izzo's squad are both 2-0 on the season and will meet in the first game of the Champions Classic in Atlanta, Ga., on Monday night.

1) Michigan State is off to a 2-0 start, so what’s been most impressive about the Spartans early on?

Senior guard Jaden Akins has been impressive for Michigan State so far this season. He has been inconsistent over the years shooting the basketball, but he’s off to a great start, granted the Spartans have played Monmouth and Niagara so far. Akins tied a career-high with 23 points against Monmouth on 8-for-12 shooting. He scored in double figures against Niagara as well. He has done an excellent job at getting quality looks and driving instead of settling for perimeter shots. Moving forward, it’s all about consistency for Akins.

2) When looking to the game tonight, is there one or two players that really need to perform at a high-level in-order for Michigan State to be successful?

Akins is probably the biggest X-factor for the Spartans this season. In addition to Akins, Michigan State’s bigs have to show up on the glass and in the scoring column. So far, junior forward Jaxon Kohler has been the most reliable big for Michigan State. He put up a career-high in points (20) and rebounds (13) against Niagara. Kohler has also developed a perimeter shooting game. True freshman guard Jase Richardson, son of Jason Richardson (Jason also played under Tom Izzo and spent 13 seasons in the NBA), continuing to produce off the bench would also be a welcome sight for Michigan State.

3) How do you see this game in Atlanta, Ga., playing out? What are the biggest keys for the Spartans?

I do think Michigan State has one of the more underrated teams in the Big Ten. This team has a totally different vibe than it has had in recent years, and it is spearheaded by redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who does a good job orchestrating the offense and plays with an edge. The rest of the guys seem to feed off Fears. The Spartans have other fresh faces in the form of two transfers (forward Frankie Fidler and center Szymon Zapala) and have the aforementioned true freshman (Richardson) in the playing rotation as well. This team is bigger and can stretch the floor more than they could last season. It’s all about if Izzo can find the right lineups to play. Last season, some of Izzo’s lineups seemed to stagnate, resulting in a very inconsistent team. If Izzo can find that sweet spot rotation-wise, Michigan State can hang with Kansas. Expect the Spartans to push the pace throughout the game. It’s hard to pick against the Jayhawks, but I like Michigan State to keep this close.