NCAA Basketball: 2018 Las Vegas Initational preview and predictions
Participants in the Las Vegas Innovational Continued
No. 11 Michigan State Spartans (3-1)
Michigan State lost to Kansas on opening night. It was only by five, but it seemed to be larger than that. Guys hadn’t seemed to figure out their roles yet. The Spartans then got three buy games which has led up to this terrific, very underrated early season Tournament.
Michigan State did put up over 100 twice since the loss to the Jayhawks and have held opponents to less than 60 in two contests. Cassius Winston is still playing like the best point guard in the Big Ten. He’s averaging over 17 points per game, seven assists and three boards. He leads the team with 12 triples.
Winston isn’t having to do everything from the outside though because Joshua Langford has found his stroke. Nick Ward is continuing to grab boards at a high clip. Matt McQuaid is itching to find his shot from deep. Kenny Goins starts for the Spartans right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if four-star from last season Xavier Tillman enters the lineup as he’s averaging eight boards per game. The bench still has some question marks as they didn’t have that great of a recruiting class, but the starters are talented nonetheless.
No. 17 UCLA Bruins (4-0)
It’s been all buy games for UCLA as well. They’re the only participant however that hasn’t played a power-conference team yet. The Bruins haven’t been away from home either and this certainly going to be a test for a pretty young team that Steve Alford is coaching up this season.
UCLA has scored 80 or more in each of their four games. They allowed 80 to Long Beach State, but besides that, they haven’t let an opponent score over 71.
They’re being led by three guys who were all top-30 players in each of the last two recruiting classes. Kris Wilkes was set to be the Bruins leading scorer which he has done just that with over 17 per game.
Moses Brown is a treat to watch. We’re all talking about Bol Bol in the Pac-12, but standing at seven-foot-one, 245, Brown is wonderful as well. Jaylen Hands is the other returning, highly recruited freshman from last year who is in double-figures. Chris Smith is a freshman who is coming off the bench and is averaging 12 per game.
UCLA has some depth this season. They can go a very solid four deep. The Bruins don’t have any seniors on their team, so it is fair to call them young. It is also okay to call them talented and coach Alford is hoping to get the best out of them this year.