MSU's Miles Bridges out 'a couple weeks' with injury
EAST LANSING – Add phenom Miles Bridges to Michigan State’s growing list of injured players.
And the Spartans might be without Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter for good, further hampering their height-challenged season.
Bridges was on crutches Thursday with his left ankle in a walking boot. It’s an injury that coach Tom Izzo said will keep his star freshman out “a couple weeks,” beginning with the Spartans’ game Saturday against Oral Roberts (4:30 p.m./Big Ten Network) that opens a five-game homestand at Breslin Center.
“We’re just gonna take those injuries one at a time,” Izzo said after practice Thursday. “I mean, I don’t know when anybody will be back right now. I’m definitely not worried about Miles as much as I am the other two as far as length of time. But two or three (weeks) right now is a lot of time because you want to get better at this time. So we’ll see if (Bridges) is a quick healer or if he’s not a quick healer.”
Izzo said Bridges’ ankle started bothering him after Tuesday’s 78-69 loss at No. 4 Duke, in which the 6-foot-7 forward finished with 11 points on just 4 of 13 shooting and nine rebounds. X-rays were negative and there was no broken bones, Izzo added.
“I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but it’s been sore,” Izzo said. “It’s kind of on the top (of his ankle), so it’s in a position where we just need to take care of him. He’s gonna rest it for at least a couple weeks, that’s why he’s on crutches.”
Bridges leads MSU at 16.6 points, 8.8 boards and 32.5 minutes in his first eight games. He also has 12 blocks and 16 assists.
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“It’s a battle for us with him being down, with Gavin being down, with Ben being down,” junior captain Tum Tum Nairn said. “It’s a lot of adversity. But that’s what we do with adversity – we pick each other up, we’re gonna rally around (Bridges) and the rest of those guys as a team.”
The loss of Bridges continues the depletion of height for the Spartans, who are already without Schilling and Carter. Izzo said 6-9 UNLV graduate transfer Carter is likely done for the season with his second ACL injury in 2016.
Senior Schilling is nowhere near close to a return. MSU will assess what his physical limits are if and when he can return. If the 6-9 forward does not progress quickly enough, Izzo said, Schilling could sit out the rest of the season and take a redshirt.
“The decision will be made when he tries to come back, what he can do then,” Izzo said. “If it gets longer, I gotta think of Gavin, too. (A potential to redshirt) could change it for him especially.”
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That leaves 6-8 freshman Nick Ward and 6-6 redshirt sophomore Kenny Goins, a former walk-on, as MSU’s tallest healthy players. Ward is second at 5.5 rebounds per game in 15.6 minutes, while Goins is third at 4.6 boards per game in 20.9 minutes. The Spartans currently own a 38.8-34.5 edge on the boards through eight games and outrebounded both Duke and Kentucky in two of their losses.
Izzo expects to give Kyle Ahrens and former walk-on Matt Van Dyk (both of whom are 6-5) more minutes at forward. He said he could go to an even smaller lineup and use guard Alvin Ellis III. Or Izzo could go bigger and start both Ward and Goins – but that runs the risk of having the only two true low-block players he has left at his disposal.
“It’s challenging (my coaching) a lot,” Izzo said. “I know this will sound sick, but it’s been fun to sit in the staff room every day and try to come up with some new things – whether it be different plays, different ways to cover things, different ways to do things – to adjust to our team.
“I think that’s what a good coach, a good staff has to do. You gotta keep the principles of what you do, but you have to adjust to your personnel. We’ve done a lot of adjusting this year.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.
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