Preview: Michigan State Spartans vs. UT-Arlington Mavericks

Your MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SPARTANS vs.

THE BRESLIN CENTER, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN
7:00 P.M. (ET), WEDNESDAY
TV: BIG TEN NETWORK

Having now made the mental transition to conference play, I can't find the inspiration to do a full run-down on UT-Arlington.  So you get one paragraph on them:

Judged by their KenPom ranking (#316), the Mavericks are the weakest team MSU has played to date in regular season competition.  The team is 5-4, but three of those wins came against non-Division 1 competition and the other two came against teams ranked in KenPom's bottom 10 nationally.  The Mavericks do play at a very fast tempo (#7 in the nation in adjusted tempo) and are decent in two areas defensively in which MSU has struggled offensively in its three losses: turnovers and 3-point shooting.  So expect an up-and-down game with a handful of less-than-perfect moments for MSU along the way.  Senior 6'3" guard Marquez Haynes leads UT-Arlington in scoring at 25.2 points/game on .532 three-point shooting.

According to the numbers, there should be less drama on the court tomorrow night than there is off the court at the moment: KenPom predicts a 103-63 MSU win in 78 possessions.