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Sometimes you want to make a quick pit stop, empty the bladder, grab a bag of salty snacks and limber up the limbs before hitting the open road again. For the fast-minded who enjoy simple $2 scratchers hoping to uncover the jackpot-winning image, here are quick thoughts and the lean on Michigan State vs. UCLA.
No. 9 Michigan State (18-3, 9-1) at UCLA (16-6, 7-4)
Date: Tuesday, February 4
Time: 10 p.m. ET
TV: Peacock
It’s 1:22 a.m. somewhere in East Lansing. The cops have arrived. The kegs have run dry. And the thumping jams in the background have abruptly ceased.
As the shindig’s organizer and partaker, suffice it to say, it’s foolhardy to believe the Sparty Party will continue.
[ Bracket Big Board: Brad Evans' latest NCAA Tournament projections ]
As discussed earlier this week, the Michigan State correction is underway. USC knocked down Tom Izzo’s club a peg last Saturday in Los Angeles. Across town on the Westside, UCLA is aiming to bring another round of hell in the City of Angels.
Pandemonium could soon ensue inside Pauley Pavilion.
The pick — UCLA -2.5 (-110, BetMGM)
Not long ago, the Bruins were statistically bankrupt. An ankle injury to leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau and a team-wide defensive downfall had Westwood reeling. Over the first half of January, UCLA dropped four straight games, slipping to 2-4 in Big Ten play.
Then Mick Cronin’s boiled-over anger began to quell.
Aday Mara, a 7-foot-3 Redwood tree, is a BIG reason why his head coach’s frown has turned upside down. The Spaniard has played at least 20 minutes in his last four games — all Bruins victories — averaging 13.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game. Yep, he’s been a tyrannosaurus around the tin on both ends.
Riding a five-game win streak, UCLA has overcome its flimsy defense (No. 279 in eFG% D) by blitzing the basket. Over that span, the Bruins rank No. 1 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 3 in effective field-goal percentage offense, netting 59.6% on 2-pointers and 40.8% on 3-pointers. Marvelous. Simply marvelous.
The Spartans could be in the midst of a slump. After mostly beating up on the conference’s lower half and racing out to an unblemished 9-0 B1G start, Jaden Akins and cohorts are in their hardest stretch of the league season.
MSU’s staunch defense and strong presence on the glass should prevent it from slipping into a deep, dark abyss. However, given that it’s shooting a laughable 29.3% from distance over its last five contests, the bricks laid have erected populous cities.
UCLA’s cold spell seems to be long in the past. Due to Mara’s emergence, the hot shooting of Eric Dailey Jr. and Dylan Andrews and Bilodeau’s bucket-getting consistency, the Bruins have the necessary tools to skewer Sparty.
Call it a night, Michigan State revellers.
Season record: 18-16, +1.62 units