UCLA jumped on the Spartans early on in the opening round in Tampa Bay, getting a 10-3 lead in the first three minutes, and building on their lead for the rest of the half.
Michigan State has been befuddled on both ends of the floor, struggling to find the bottom of the basket and completely unable to get stops on defense. The Spartans shot a very poor 29% from the field in the first half and have made only one of their seven three point attempts, and the 42 first-half points given up to the Bruins is very uncharacteristic for the Spartans defense.
Reeves Nelson had a great first half for UCLA, scoring 8 points and coming down with 7 rebounds, a statistic that the Bruins hold an advantage of 21-10. Forward Tyler Honeycutt too has had a productive half, with 9 points and 3 steals.
For Michigan State, the lone bright spot seems to be the play of Durrell Summers, who has 12 points off of nine shots in the first half. Former Big Ten Player of the Year Kalin Lucas, who scored 30 in the Spartans' win over Purdue hasn't scored a point thus far against UCLA