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Michigan State basketball men, women to play in Phil Knight Invitational on Thanksgiving

kirkland crawford, detroit free press
·2 min read

Michigan State basketball will be serving a double helping on Thanksgiving Night.

The Spartans' men's and women's basketball teams will play in the Phil Knight Invitationals during the holiday weekend in Portland, Oregon.

The eight-team PKI tournament will begin with four games at the Moda Center on Nov. 24: North Carolina vs. Portland at 1 p.m. Eastern, Iowa State vs. Villanova at 3:30, UConn vs. Oregon at 8 and MSU vs. Alabama at 10:30 on ESPN.

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The Crimson Tide is led by Nate Oats, head coach at Romulus High School from 2002-13. In three seasons at Alabama, he's led the team to two NCAA tournament appearances, including last season.

The PKI semifinals and consolation games will be Nov. 25, and the championship game will be 10 p.m. Nov. 27.

The men's team participated in the inaugural Phil Knight Invitational in 2017.

Tom Izzo's team will open the 2022-23 season with a game against Gonzaga on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln at the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego on Nov. 11. MSU will also play Kentucky in the annual Champions Classic, this time on Nov. 15 in Indianapolis. Both of these games will be on ESPN, too.

The four-team women's bracket for the Phil Knight Invitational will begin with North Carolina and Oregon at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, followed by MSU vs. Iowa at 7:30. The third-place and championship games will be played on Nov. 27.

There is a second half of this event, the Phil Knight Legacy tournament, for both the men and the women. The men's side features Duke, Oregon State, Florida, Xavier, Purdue, West Virginia, Portland State and Gonzaga. The women's side will have UConn, Duke, Iowa and Oregon State.

Contact Kirkland Crawford: kcrawford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball in Phil Knight Invitational on Thanksgiving