How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins vs. Michigan State Spartans

This morning, the UCLA Bruins will face the Michigan State Spartans in the fifth-place game of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

The Michigan State Spartans lost to Virginia Tech, 71-66, to open the Maui Invitational on Monday. Then, yesterday, the Spartans defeated the Georgia Bulldogs, 93-85, to advance to today’s fifth place game against the Bruins.

In yesterday’s game against Georgia, senior guard Cassius Winston was 2 of 4 from three-point range. Overall for the season, Winston is shooting .361 from three-point range on 36 attempts. So, look for him to be the guy Tom Izzo turns to this morning to attack UCLA from the perimeter.

Freshman guard Rocket Watts is another threat from outside, not necessarily because he’s more accurate. He isn’t. So far this season, he’s shooting just .204 from three-point range. But he’s shown a willingness to shoot the three. He’s got the second-most three-point attempts on the team behind Winston with 24 tries. That means that Watts is another guy UCLA will have to guard against on the outside.

Expect sophomore forward Gabe Brown to get the start today or, at least he should see a lot of playing time today as Brown is shooting .400 from behind the arc. Look for Aaron Henry and Xavier Tillman to round out the starting five. Both players tend to take a lot of threes. So, they are also likely to attack from outside.

Tom Izzo is a respected top-notch coach. So, expect the Spartans to attack UCLA from outside today.

Listen to the Game Here on BN!

This season, we are proud to, again, have today’s audio feed for everyone who opts to us the TuneIn Player link below. For optimum results, start the audio feed then pause your DVR and sync them up together. Today’s game is on ESPN2 with Dave Pasch and Bill Walton. If you would prefer to listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray call tonight’s game instead you can listen to today’s game online.

Just be sure to right-click on the link above so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below.
Join your fellow fans discussing tonight’s game.

This is your UCLA Bruins vs. Michigan State Spartans Maui Jim Maui Invitational game thread.

Go Bruins!!!