The NCAA Tournament is finally upon us and Friday’s Bucknell vs. Michigan State game could be one of the more intriguing matchups of round one.
Michigan State is one of those mystery teams heading into the 2018 NCAA Tournament. While the Spartans are a sparkling 29-4, which would be good enough for a 1-seed most season, they had a relatively easy conference schedule, losing to Michigan (twice) and Ohio State but beating Purdue.
The NCAA Tournament is when Tom Izzo’s teams usually perk up and this one has the experience of facing solid teams, beating North Carolina and a healthy Notre Dame team handily in non-conference play. Miles Bridges returned for his sophomore year to do one thing: win the national title. The pressure will be on to do just that, starting with a tough round-one matchup.
Bucknell, on the other hand, has been red-hot lately, winning the Patriot League regular season by four games as well as the conference tourney. They’re one of the nation’s hottest teams after starting the year with a lackluster 7-8 record, winning 18-of-19 games. This could be an upset special pick.
The Bison have three senior starters who lead the way in the scoring column and they like to get out and run, which is exactly what the Spartans do best. They also turn the ball over quite a bit and their defense ranks just 168th in total points allowed per game. Will they be able to slow down the high-powered Spartans?
Here’s how you can watch Friday night’s Bucknell vs. Michigan State game:
Date: Friday, March 16
Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
Location: Detroit, Mich.
Venue: Little Caesars Arena
TV: CBS
Live Stream: March Madness Live
Next: NCAA Tournament 2018: First round tip times, TV schedule
Michigan State has the talent to hang around with just about anyone, but will the Spartans finally live up to their potential and take care of Bucknell on the way to another deep run in March?