NCAA Tournament: Michigan State vs. Bradley fearless prediction and game preview.
Broadcast
Date: Thursday, March 21
Game Time: 2:45 ET
Venue: Wells Fargo Arena , Des Moines, IA
Network: CBS
All You Really Need To Know About Michigan State (28-6)
(Big Ten), NCAA NET Rank: 8. East 2-seed
After tying for the Big Ten regular season title, the Spartans turned their game up a few notches with an impressive run to the conference tournament championship. They finished up with a dominant performance against Wisconsin before getting past Michigan for the third time in three weeks. Cassius Winston and Nick Ward lead a fast, deep team that overcame the loss of Joshua Langford by getting production from all the parts.
The Spartans are terrific at moving the ball around, great at coming up with tough plays on the inside, and strong at hitting their timely threes when needed. Get the boards, get on the move, score in transition. Good luck stopping it.
All You Really Need To Know About Bradley (20-14)
(Missouri Valley), NCAA NET Rank: 176. East 15-seed
Mediocre during the regular season, the Braves stepped it up when needed to rally by Northern Iowa for the Missouri Valley title. Along the way, they screwed up the Loyola dream of going back to the Final Four with a 53-51 semifinal victory.
There’s not a lot of offense – forget it if the Braves get into a shootout – and the defense doesn’t generate enough easy points. However, they can slow games down to a stop, they take advantage of opportunities and make their free throws, and they do enough on the defensive boards to come up with a whole lot of one-and-dones.
What’s Going To Happen
Don’t pick Michigan State, or you won’t be in trouble for “not promoting the Bradley brand.”
The Spartans are on a roll at the right time, and they’ll get up fast and keep on going with the transition game and ball movement. The Braves just don’t score enough, and they won’t get enough going defensively to make up for the struggles on the outside.
Fearless Prediction & Line
Michigan State 80, Bradley 55
Line: Michigan State -18.5, o/u: 133.5
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ATS Confidence: 3
5: Watching games by Vegas pool working on fruity drink No. 3
1: Watching game online while doing TPS reports in your cubicle
