Sophomore guard Miles Bridges (22) dunks the ball during the first round of the NCAA tournament against Bucknell on March 16, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The Spartans defeated the Bison 82-78.
DETROIT — Men's basketball and Bucknell traded blows back-and-forth in their NCAA first round game Friday, and the game looked like it was going to go down to the wire — that was until Miles Bridges took over.
The sophomore wing from Flint almost single-handedly propelled MSU to victory at Little Caesars Arena, and showed why he’s projected to be a top-10 pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Bridges scored 29 points on Friday, and 19 of them came in the second half.
“It’s funny, most coaches, we’re always dying to say we have an unselfish team. And I keep telling this guy he has to be more selfish,” head coach Tom Izzo said after MSU’S 82-78 win over Bucknell. “We went to him, the players wanted to go to him. But he wanted the ball, too. So yeah, I think you’re going to see more and more and more of this.”
Bridges started to heat up at a crucial period in the game. MSU led the Bison 52-46 with just over 15 minutes remaining in the contest after Bucknell senior Zach Thomas made went perfect from the charity stripe after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt.
Bridges proceeded to score 12 of the Spartans’ next 16 points, during a stretch where the Bison’s offense struggled to produce points. The 6-foot-7 star scored eight straight points for MSU at one point, which featured a one-handed, posterizing putback dunk off a missed jump shot by sophomore forward Nick Ward.
The individual scoring binge was what ultimately gave the team enough breathing room against the Bison. Freshman forward Xavier Tillman said the putback slam gave the team an energy boost.
“That dunk was huge. I think Miles went on a scoring run where he had like three buckers straight,” he said. “With that happening, we were just energized and we were like ‘Okay, we’re here, and we’re going to finish this out.”’
Bridges said he was able to complete the putback slam because of Ward's ability to shoot long jumpers.
“Nick, he tends to miss long (jumpers) and I thought ‘I gotta get this one,’ because I just missed a dunk. So I don’t know. It was just an instinct thing,” Bridges said. 0:21
The ball went through Bridges time and time again during that stretch, and the sophomore delivered every time.
“He looked at me and he made me have that look in my eye, like ‘We’re not going home today,”’ Tillman said. “When he has that look and that intensity in his eye, I know it’s going to be hard to stop him.”
Bridges’ 29 points were the most he’s scored since Jan. 22 at Illinois. All season Izzo has urged his star to be more aggressive, and Friday night proved the Hall of Fame coach was on to something all along.
“It was really good just because he’s our captain. Like coach said, he’s our All-American," Tillman said. "He’s the guy that we’re going to go through, so in order for us to be successful he has to be successful."
Ward injury: Ward was put into the concussion protocol after the game after falling on his head early in the second half.
Ward, who said after the game he had no recollection of the play, briefly exited the game following the injury, but was able to finish the contest.
“I didn’t see it. I don’t know what happened. I felt it, but I don’t know how I fell or anything like that,” Ward said.
Ward successfully completed the concussion protocol and is cleared to play Sunday against Syracuse.
Thomas on the big stage: Thomas single-handedly kept the Bison in the game in the first half.
Bucknell was down just four points at halftime, thanks to 20 first half-points by Thomas, who finished the game with 27 points after fouling out with 6:06 remaining.
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Thomas has been the Bison’s leading scorer all season, and he showed the Spartans why on Friday.
“He’s a great player. But it was good for us that he fouled out,” Bridges said. “We don’t want to give him any open looks. We had him work for every shot he got today. But he did a great job.”
