Pac-12 in NCAA Tournament: Michigan State Leads UCLA at Halftime

Michigan State went into halftime with a 44-33 lead over UCLA in the final preliminary-round NCAA tournament game of the day on Thursday at Purdue’s Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The Spartans led by as many as 14 points with 2:42 left in the first half, but the half ended with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo arguing with his players as they left the floor. Izzo and the Spartans’ Gabe Brown were going nose to nose while arguing, and Izzo grabbed Brown’s jersey as they left for the locker room.

Tom Izzo grabs Gabe Brown’s jersey at end of first half. Photo by Marc Lebryk, USA Today

Those who are familiar with Michigan State say this stuff happens all the time, but it did not look good on national TV.

Jaime Jaquez had 14 points for UCLA, and he hit a long two-point shot at the first-half buzzer to get the Bruin within 11 at the break.

Aaron Henry and Julius Marble II had eight points apiece for Michigan State, which made 5 of its first 7 three-point shots. Michigan State committed just four turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

A lot of people were surprised the Spartans were forced to play a preliminary-round game.

In the past three weeks, Michigan State had wins over two teams with No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament — Illinois and Michigan — as well as a win over a No. 2 seed Ohio State.

But they were just 9-11 in the Big Ten and entered the NCAA tournament with a 15-12 overall record.

UCLA came into the tournament on a four-game losing streak, all to teams in the NCAA tournament, and in two of the losses the Bruins held a lead in the final minute.

The Bruins started the NCAA tournament with a 17-9 mark after finishing fourth in the Pac-12 at 13-6.

The winner of the UCLA-Michigan State game will play sixth-seeded BYU in a first-round game at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Saturday at 6:40 p.m. Pacific time on CBS.

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Cover photo of Gabe Brown and Tom Izzo by Marc Lebryk, USA TODAY Sports

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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