Friday night’s Michigan State vs UCLA game will be a rematch of a game that wasn’t exactly tightly-contested in East Lansing a few weeks ago. The Spartans ran away with that one against former Spartan Xavier Booker and the Bruins.
They’re going to meet again in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday night. The winner will go on to play the winner of Nebraska vs Purdue who will play at 6:30 p.m.
Michigan State fans are probably hoping for a rematch with Nebraska to avenge that early-January loss in Lincoln. That game was decided by just two points and you just know that Tom Izzo and Jeremy Fears want that one back. That game, the Michigan matchup in East Lansing, and the Duke game could have all easily been wins, but late-game collapses prevented that.
The Bruins are 5-1 since losing to Michigan State with wins over Nebraska and Illinois in that stretch, and they’re trending in the right direction at the perfect time.
Friday’s game is not going to be an easy one for the Spartans as they look to lock up a 2-seed.
Vegas is projecting a close Michigan State vs UCLA game
Odds via DraftKings as of Friday, March 13
Line: Michigan State -5.5
Over/Under: 141.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -230 | UCLA +190
The odds have moved slightly in UCLA’s favor. While the line is the exact same as it was on Friday morning, the moneyline has inched closer to toss-up range. The Bruins were +205 this morning and now they’re down to +190. That’s not a huge change, but that shows that some money is coming in for the Bruins.
Vegas already expected a close game, but the bettors, too, have faith in UCLA.
I think it’s going to be close throughout the entire first half, and I wouldn’t even be surprised to see UCLA hold a lead at halftime. Michigan State is going to regain that lead early in the second half, it’ll lock down defensively, and it’ll extend that lead late. Michigan State’s going to win this one, but it’ll be more of a low-scoring defensive battle than Vegas is predicting.
Prediction: UCLA 59, Michigan State 70