A pair of top-ranked teams are set to tip off as part of the Las Vegas Invitational on Thursday night with the UCLA Bruins getting their first real test of the young season against the Michigan State Spartans.
The Spartans kicked off the season with a tough matchup against No.1 Kansas and fell by five. They’ve cruised by their other competition to this point while the Bruins have had a rather easy beginning to their non-conference schedule, but that’s about to change on Thursday.
Both teams boast an excellent recruiting class this year, but Michigan State combines that with a much more experienced roster while the Bruins are in a bit of a reset with the LaVar Ball era in the rearview mirror. Regardless of who wins, it’ll be a nice early season statement for either program. It should go down to the wire and be a great game from start to finish and you can be part of the action by taking part in the live betting opportunities available at BookMaker.eu.
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Michigan State Spartans vs UCLA Bruins
Date and Time: Thursday, November 22, 2018, 10 p.m. ET
Location: The Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
College Basketball Odds: Check Back Later
Spartans vs Bruins TV Coverage: FS1
Michigan State may have lost to Kansas at the beginning of the season, but they put up a good fight in that game and made a nice impression. Down 14 through the first half, the Spartans, played well late, closing the gap to just five by the end of the game. They showed they can go toe-to-toe with the nation’s best college hoops teams. They ultimately suffered from below average free throw shooting and some sloppy play that cost them, but it’s not all bad.
Joshua Langford led the team in scoring in the game with 18 points while Kenny Goins added 17, Cassius Winston added 13 and Matt McQuaid had 12.
The Bruins, at least by all appearances, look to be a bit more beatable than Kansas. Michigan State should be favored, but this is the best team they’ve faced outside of Kansas. They’ll try to play a bit cleaner and shot better from the line.
Overall, Winston has led the team through four games in scoring with 17.3 PPG while Langford is just behind at 17. Winston’s the strength of the team’s backcourt and while McQuaid played up to the competition versus the Jayhawks, he’s primarily more of a ball handler than a shooter, especially from three.
Langford, meanwhile, is a nice blender. A wing, he can play inside—although undersized—while he can also shoot form deep. That makes him dangerous.
Under the rim, Nick Ward is the primary big man, but he only plays half the game. Xavier Tillman has also been a solid presence inside.
On the other side of the court, the Bruins will get their first real test in this game after going through a number of lesser teams to this point.
UCLA’s got some good talent, but it’s a bit short on experience. Fortunately for the Bruins, that’s about all that’s short on this team.
The Bruins have a height advantage in this game due primarily to Moses Brown. The five-star freshman center stands at 7’1”, giving him several inches over anyone he’ll matchup against in this game.
Brown’s already making his presence felt with 17.3 PPG and 12 RPG, but those numbers haven’t come against ranked teams like Michigan State. He still has size on his side, but he’ll be going against better defenders, blockers and rebounders. We’ll see how he, and the rest of his teammates, handle the pressure of the big stage.
Speaking of his teammates, the team has a pair of sophomores on the perimeter in Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands. On this team, that counts as experience.
The two are solid offensive performers, but will be asked to play a bigger role than last year. So far, they’ve looked good doing just that, but the competition hasn’t been much of a challenge.
We’ll see how the tandem stack up against the Spartans, particularly with Wilkes’ shortcomings shooting from three-point range. Hands is better from the arc, but his overall shooting percentage from the floor isn’t anything out of the ordinary.
Live Betting
UCLA and Michigan State are both highly ranked teams, but the Bruins may be a bit overrated. They still need to prove themselves. The recruiting class looks good, but can they immediately provide quality production this early in the college hoops season?
Look for this game to come down to the Bruins’ ability to out rebound the Spartans behind Moses Brown and to shoot well enough from the outside to keep pace in what could be a higher scoring affair. If UCLA is getting quality outside shooting from its backcourt early, the Bruins could keep this close and—at least—cover the spread. If not, that opens things up for the Spartans to own the outside.
The battle inside the paint is important, too. Size helps Brown and the Bruins, but Michigan State is no slouch inside either.
Another important note is how the Bruins slide a bit in the second half of their last game while Michigan State has surged late a couple times this year. If UCLA is close or up early in the second half, don’t underestimate the Spartans coming back when betting against the spread at BookMaker.eu.
Key Player
Keep an eye on Jaylen Hands in this one. With a young team, Hands is one of a few returning players that received significant time last season. He averaged 9.9 PPG and generally shot well from the outside, but wasn’t a premier scorer. Having some experience going up against a top team for the first time is important.
This year, he’ll be asked to step up into a bigger role. Kris Wilkes joins him on the outside and they’ll be tasked with Cassius Winston and Matt McQuaid—amongst others—in the backcourt for Michigan State.
So far this season, Wilkes has really stepped up with 17.5 PPG while Moses Brown has looked good inside the paint. Hands has been a bit less steady, shooting just 41.7-percent from the floor. He’s had some good games and some mediocre ones. He’ll need to be good against Michigan State, particularly as he’s the biggest shooting threat outside. Wilkes has been terrible from three while Hands is 7-for-17 early.
Spartans vs Bruins Live Betting
The Bruins have a pretty good tandem on the outside and Moses Brown has looked good inside, averaging a double-double through four games. The team has four players with at least 12 PPG and six with at least nine, but the competition hasn’t been that difficult. They’ll face much better defense against Michigan State in this one.
All in all, UCLA hasn’t exactly dominated the cake portion of their schedule. Presbyterian didn’t shoot well, but still scored 65 and kept the game to 15 points. The Bruins, obviously, took the foot off the pedal after a dominant first half, but ultimately didn’t’ shoot as well as they wanted to outside and showed some signs of youth.
Look for the Spartans to be a wakeup call of sorts for the Bruins. Michigan State is the first real test for UCLA and they looked a bit over matched. The experience for Michigan State—including already this season with a game against Kansas—should help them capture a lead and hold it against the Bruins.
Check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for Thursday’s college basketball.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Michigan State 86, UCLA 74
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