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Michigan State basketball: Spartans set to begin NCAA Tournament run vs. Bucknell

By Zac Snyder

The Michigan State Spartans huddle before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The Michigan State Spartans huddle before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Expectations for this Michigan State basketball team could only be met in March. The Spartans’ NCAA Tournament run starts tonight against Bucknell.

The 2017-18 Michigan State Spartans were billed as one of Tom Izzo’s best-ever squads. Expectations that come with a label like that can only be met in March. The Spartans haven’t been strangers to Final Fours since winning the National Championship in 2000 but they haven’t been able to get Izzo his second title.

This year’s team was to give Izzo a serious shot at title number two and the third overall in program history. They have already earned a banner having won the Big Ten regular season title but couldn’t follow that up with a Big Ten Tournament championship after losing to rival Michigan in the semifinals. But it wasn’t that tournament that would define the success level of this season.

Michigan State starts their NCAA Tournament run close to home and will certainly have the support of a partisan crowd behind them at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Up first will be Bucknell, champions of the Patriot League regular season before breezing through the conference tournament to earn the conference’s automatic bid.

It may be a 3-14 matchup but the Bison are not to be taken lightly. Bucknell returns a veteran squad to the tournament including Nana Foulland and Zach Thomas, who sit fourth and fifth respectively on the school’s all-time scoring list. Bucknell put a scare into West Virginia in last year’s tournament as the fourth-seeded Mountaineers staved off an upset bid with an 86-80 win.

Here is all the information you need for tonight’s game, including start time, TV, radio and live stream.

NCAA Tournament First Round – Midwest Region

(3) Michigan State Spartans vs. (14) Bucknell Bison
Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI
Game time: 7:10 p.m. ET
National TV: CBS
Radio: 760 AM in Detroit (click here for affiliates)
Live Stream: NCAA.com
Line: Michigan State by 14.5

Next: Michigan starts slow, advances over Montana

Tonight’s winner moves on to the second round to play the winner of TCU and Syracuse. The Horned Frogs and Orange will meet in the game played in Detroit directly after Michigan State-Bucknell.

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