Friday night’s Michigan State vs UCLA game is a rematch of a battle that took place in East Lansing a few weeks ago and went the Spartans’ way.
It’s also another chance for Michigan State to see former Spartan Xavier Booker before the NCAA Tournament. The former Spartan transferred to UCLA this offseason to play with Mick Cronin. He’s had a decent season, averaging 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 43 percent from deep.
In the first meeting between these two teams, however, Booker had just two points, two rebounds, and two blocks in 25 minutes after getting the start.
Michigan State didn’t have much of a problem with the Bruins the first time around, but Vegas believes that this rematch is going to be a heck of a lot closer.
The opening line for Michigan State vs UCLA is surprisingly close
While the first matchup was lopsided, Vegas thinks this rematch will be much closer.
Odds via DraftKings as of Friday, March 13
Line: Michigan State -5.5
Over/Under: 140.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -250 | UCLA +205
The first meeting was pretty much over before it even began. The Spartans were up big early, taking a 20-point lead into halftime, and they only extended that in the second half.
Things did get a little chippy as well when Steven Jamerson II fouled Carson Cooper a little too hard near the end of the game and Cronin decided to eject his own player a couple minutes early. There were obviously no hard feelings and the foul wasn’t intentionally dirty, but at that point in the game, it didn’t make a ton of sense to even foul hard and risk injuries.
Michigan State will now get a chance to add another win over an NCAA Tournament team to the resume before earning a rematch with either Purdue or Nebraska on Saturday.
Beating UCLA won’t be easy, especially since the Bruins are 5-1 with wins over Illinois and Nebraska since that loss to Michigan State a few weeks ago. The Bruins have gotten hot, and even took down the Spartans’ kryptonite (Rutgers) on Thursday night.
Friday night should be interesting.