UCLA Basketball Vs. Indiana State: TV Schedule, Live Stream, Game Time, Mini-Preview And Prediction

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UCLA basketball is hours away from tip-off. Pauley Pavilion is set to re-open its doors after a long year which saw the homeless Bruins fall to a 19-win record in 2011-12.

Indiana State’s on the schedule. Here’s your info on the game tonight.

WHAT: No. 13 UCLA Bruins (0-0) vs. Indiana State Sycamores (0-0)

WHEN: 8:00 PT, Friday, November 9, 2012 

WHERE: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA

ONLINE: Pac-12 Now

TV: Pac-12 Networks

WHY: Because basketball.

The shimmy: We don’t have to tell you how badly a win is needed here, because a loss to an Indiana State team that failed miserably last season — ranking in the bottom half of the nation in nearly every statistical category — would surely be a sign of a long, hellish season for the UCLA Bruins. The Bruins will have to watch out for opposing point guard Jake Odum, though, the team’s unquestioned leader. On defense, the Bruins should have no problems putting up massive points against the Sycamores, as the Sycamores were in the bottom-100 defensively last season.

Some storylines: UCLA legend John Wooden coached Indiana State for the first two years of his career, and UCLA likely scheduled the Sycamores as the home-opener to the historic Pauley Pavilion for that reason.

Final prediction: UCLA 88, Indiana State 51. The Bruins’ offense is too potent to allow a team like the Sycamores to hang around. An easy win is the expectation here, and loss would send the UCLA fan-base into a frenzy.