MSU hoops notes: Bridges, Ward endure growing pains as Izzo wants more
DURHAM, N.C. – Miles Bridges is slowly growing accustomed to it. Nick Ward is still adjusting.
Duke’s defense kept extra eyes on Michigan State’s two talented freshmen all night Tuesday. And that added attention often frustrated and confounded Bridges and Ward in the Spartans’ 78-69 loss to the fourth-ranked Blue Devils in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
“You know, eight games in now, played a lot of minutes,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said. “It’s time to start quit making excuses for the freshmen. They gotta start playing.”
Bridges got visibly flustered on a number of occasions, often when a whistle was blown in his direction. The 6-foot-7 forward fouled out for the first time this season, scoring just 11 points on 4 of 13 shooting. That included two clanged put-back dunk attempts and a few wildly errant shots.
Whenever Bridges would get the ball, Duke would collapse extra defenders on him from various angles.
“I tried to stay poised. I stayed poised for most of the game,” said Bridges, who also had a team-high nine rebounds. “I was mad I couldn’t hit shots. I wasn’t mad at anything else or any of my teammates, I was mad at myself because I didn’t really bring it today.”
Ward saw double-teams coming at him from all directions as well when he would catch the ball on the blocks. The 6-8 forward sometimes would put the ball on the floor and fumble it, sometimes would spin directly into the extra defender.
“I just gotta better at knowing the double-team’s coming and pass to my teammates,” said Ward, who still scored 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting. “I’m starting to get used to it.”
It was their first true road game of their young careers, and Cameron Indoor Stadium’s rowdy crowd clearly affected the Spartans’ four freshmen. Bridges, Ward and classmates Cassius Winston and Joshua Langford combined for 11 of MSU’s 18 turnovers.
“(Ward’s) gotta play better. Miles has to play better. Cassius, we gotta quit turning it over,” Izzo said.
Point guard Winston finished with four points, seven assists and three turnovers in 21 minutes. Langford had seven points and four rebounds in 22 minutes.
“The maturation process is really kind of speeding up for us,” Langford said. “But we still have a long way to go.”
TURNOVERS CONTINUE: Bridges grabbed the ball out of the net after a made basket. He spotted Winston being guarded in front of him.
Bridges’ pass went one way, Winston went the other. The Blue Devils scored off it again, capping their momentum-seizing 11-0 run.
That’s the type of night it was for Michigan State. Again.
The Spartans committed four of their 18 turnovers during No. 4 Duke’s game-changing, 2-minute run. They gave possession away to the Blue Devils 10 times during the second half. Those miscues led to 15 points in the final 20 minutes.
It was that type of carelessness with the ball that has frustrated Izzo.
“It’s been a problem, and it’s gonna be a problem until we get a little more disciplined with the ball,” he said. “Too much AAU ball out there, not enough college ball.”
The Spartans are giving away 15.6 turnovers per game this season. They’ve coughed it up an average of 17.5 times in their four losses this season.
Part of MSU’s issues Tuesday were generated by Duke’s defense. A number of them also were on themselves, getting too casual with the ball in the backcourt and leading to easy Blue Devils buckets in transition.
“We had a lot of unforced turnovers,” junior point guard Tum Tum Nairn said. “We gotta do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
HARRIS SHINES: Lost in the loss, Eron Harris played a veteran-savvy game for the Spartans.
The senior guard scored eight of his team-high 14 points in the first half, attacking the rim and looking for midrange jumpers. Harris also had three rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes.
“That’s what we need from him,” Izzo said. “We need him and Miles to play well, shoot well and take good shots. Tonight, I thought Eron took a lot more good shots. Other games, I thought he took some bad shots.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
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