Michigan State men's basketball to play UCLA in Las Vegas Invitational

It was already known that the Michigan State men's basketball team would play in the 18th annual Las Vegas Invitational in the 2018-19 season.

Now the Spartans know who they'll play.

The school announced Thursday that the team play UCLA in the semifinals on Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, with tipoff scheduled at 10 p.m., airing on FS1.

The other matchup pits North Carolina vs. Texas. 

The winner of those two games will square off in the championship game at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 23. The losers of the semifinal games will tip off at 4 p.m. Both of those games will air on FOX.

All games will take place at Orleans Arena.

This will be the ninth matchup between MSU and UCLA, with the Bruins owning a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series. UCLA won the last matchup, a 78-76 win in the first round of the 2011 NCAA tournament.

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Tickets for the final rounds in Las Vegas are available at the Orleans Arena box office at www.orleansarena.com. Ticket prices start at $130, and the MSU Ticket Office will take requests on Thursday from season ticket holders and Spartan Fund members.

Other nonconference matchups slated for the Spartans this year include Kansas, Louisville and Florida.

Contact Phil Friend at 517-377-1220 or pfriend@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Phil_Friend.