UCLA Basketball to face Michigan State in the Las Vegas Invitational
The bracket has been set for the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational as the UCLA basketball team will face Michigan State on Thursday, November 22.
The UCLA basketball team has one treacherous non-conference schedule ahead of them. Not only will they face Ohio State, Notre Dame and Cincinnati this fall/winter, but now they have a four-team tournament to try and navigate through and it will not be easy.
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Today it was announced that the Bruins will be taking on the Michigan State Spartans in the first game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational on November 22 at 7 p.m. PT, Thanksgiving night. It will be the second game in the tournament after Texas and North Carolina face off at 4:30 p.m.
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The losers of each game will face each other on Friday, November 23 at 1 p.m. in the consolation game. The winners will battle it out in the championship game at 3:30 p.m.
The Thanksgiving holiday contests are actually the second two of four total games for each participant in the Las Vegas Invitational. UCLA, Michigan State, Texas and North Carolina will each host two games at their home sites beginning on Friday, November 16 and Monday, November 19. The two teams are yet to be scheduled for UCLA.
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Though the Bruins will have several cupcakes to feast on during the non-conference season, they are going to need to dig deep when they face these nationally recognized programs.
The Bruins are going to be playing with a lot of youth this year as they only have two upperclassmen on their roster. So with 10 freshmen and sophomores leading the charge, they are going to have to bring it all together rather quickly if they want to do some damage during the 2018-19 season.
UCLA also has a good chance of winning the Pac-12 as several teams have lost a lot of talent, most notably last year’s no. 1 and 2 teams, Arizona and USC.
UCLA will take on Michigan State in the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational on Thursday, Nov. 22.
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) July 19, 2018
The four-team bracket for games on Nov. 22-23 has been announced.
DETAILS: https://t.co/lsFQRL5hDQ pic.twitter.com/klUgwKPY7J
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With the Bruins cutting their teeth on the non-conference season, they should be well prepared for the Pac-12 come January and hopefully make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.