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Miles Bridges Shines As Michigan State Basketball Routs MVSU

By Colton Wesley

Nov 18, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (22) blocks the shot of Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils forward Michael Matlock (22) during the second half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 18, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (22) blocks the shot of Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils forward Michael Matlock (22) during the second half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 18, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans bench reacts to a play during the second half of a game against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 18, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans bench reacts to a play during the second half of a game against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /

Bridges impresses, Spartans put on offensive show

Freshman Miles Bridges got off to an up-and-down start with the Spartans in his first two games, but completely dominated the first half against Mississippi Valley State on Friday. Bridges led all players on both teams with 24 points and 11 rebounds, picking up his first double-double as a Spartan, while shooting an impressive 11/14 from the floor and getting some air in the process.

Former Michigan State stars were impressed by Bridges’ performance. Magic Johnson called it “unbelievable” while Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson texted Bridges their congratulations afterward.

Even head coach Tom Izzo was effusive in his praise, saying it was “as good as I’ve seen in a long time” and comparing it Denzel Valentine’s game against Kansas a season ago.

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The Spartans were dominant as a team on offense throughout the game, shooting 39/59 (66.1%) from the floor and 16/28 (57.1%) from beyond the arc. Senior Eron Harris seemed to shake off his struggles from the first two games, scoring 19 points. Freshman big man Nick Ward came off the bench and scored 18 while Matt McQuaid added 15, all from three-pointers.

Michigan State was just as impressive on defense and in the paint as the Delta Devils shot only 22/67 (32.8%) from the floor while the Spartans outrebounded them 46-22.

Michigan State’s 100 points and 47-point margin of victory were the most since 101-48 win over New Orleans on December 28, 2013.

The Spartans’ top four freshmen all entered the game in the first few minutes and all contributed. Ward grabbed eight rebounds to go with his 18 points and Cassius Winston led the Spartans with 11 assists. Josh Langford also played, but injured his hamstring and was still dragging his leg after the game. Izzo expressed concern for Langford, saying that he is one of the unit’s best defenders. 13 different Spartans saw minutes in the game, 11 of them registering in the scorebook.

Score FG 3P FT OR/DR AST STL BLK TO FLS
MVSU 53 22/67 5/16 4/7 12/10 13 8 3 6 15
MSU 100 39/59 16/28 6/10 12/34 33 6 4 14 15

Full box score from ESPN here.

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The Spartans will host Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday at 7:00 in East Lansing as a part of the Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland.

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