Michigan State cools down Miami in NCAA tournament opener
TULSA, Okla. – Things couldn’t have started worse for Michigan State.
A foul 2 seconds into the game, on the one player – Nick Ward – who the Spartans could not afford to get into early trouble.
Ten straight points by Miami followed, along with a bevy of MSU turnovers. Then a double-digit deficit. The young Spartans looked visibly rattled.
“I mean, how could you start out worse?” coach Tom Izzo said. “I was ashamed.”
That took 10 minutes.
The next 30 minutes belonged to the Spartans’ freshmen.
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Ninth-seeded MSU went on a 30-8 run over the final 10-plus minutes of the opening half, using some dazzling defense and sizzling shooting to daze 8-seed Miami (Fla.) en route to a 78-58 blowout in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night.
“Early in the year, we probably wouldn’t have made this run,” freshman Miles Bridges said. “But to make it at this time of year, that just shows how mature we are.”
The Spartans (20-14) will face top-seeded Kansas and former MSU recruit/Detroit native Josh Jackson in Sunday’s second round of the Midwest Regional at BOK Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. EDT (CBS).
Freshmen Bridges, Ward, Joshua Langford and Cassius Winston combined for 57 points, 19 rebounds, nine assists and just two turnovers. Ward made 8 of 9 from the floor for a game-high 19 points with seven rebounds. Bridges finished with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and a game-best nine rebounds, while Langford scored 13 points, 10 of them in the second half.
“(The Hurricanes) showed how good they were, they made their run,” Langford said. “But I thought at the same time, we fought back and we found a way to get ourselves back into the rhythm of the game. Everybody slowed down, everybody found their rhythm within the game.”
With nerves and jitters a concern for his untested team, it was far from the start Izzo wanted. Or even could have anticipated.
Ward picked up his quick foul fighting for the ball after the jump tip. Miami capitalized on the Spartans’ ensuing trepidation, converting five MSU turnovers in the first 6:48 into 10 points. A Bruce Brown steal and breakaway dunk prompted Izzo to call a timeout. The Hurricanes led by 12 points in easy fashion.
MSU’s Matt McQuaid drained a three-pointer to briefly cauterize the wound. Then Ebuka Izundu dunked over Kenny Goins, and the MSU sophomore forward turned it over at the other end.
It was the Spartans’ sixth giveaway in just over 8 minutes. They had made just 3 of 9 shots. Miami was 8-for-14 and ahead 19-8 going into the media timeout with 11:46 left in the period.
“We got in the huddle, coach did his cussing and all that,” said Winston, who had seven points, five assists and no turnovers in 22 minutes. “We just got together and said, ‘All right, they punched us in the mouth. Everything that can happen happened. Now it’s our turn to make our run.’”
And that’s exactly what happened.
Bridges took a pass from Langford for a reverse layup with 10:38 to go, sparking the big closing run in which the Spartans made 11 of their final 18 shots. The turnovers vanished, just one more before halftime. They also held the Hurricanes to just 3-of-12 shooting after their hot start.
Ward had 11 points and just the one foul at halftime, and Bridges scored nine. Senior’s Alvin Ellis’ three-point play with 34.6 seconds before halftime sent MSU into the locker room leading 38-27.
“Miles Bridges and Nick Ward basically made every shot almost that they took. … We just couldn't stop them,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “And I thought their guard play was very good at finding open men and carving up our defense.”
The Spartans poured it on to open the second half, with Langford scoring nine of their first 11 points. MSU’s lead swelled to 17 five minutes into the half and grew to as many as 23.
MSU shot 56.6% for the game after struggling at the outset. The Spartans also outscored the Hurricanes 40-28 in the paint and had 17 second-chance points on 10 offensive rebounds, finishing with a 36-23 edge on the glass.
They also committed just 12 turnovers for the game, only six in the final 32 minutes.
“We turned it around because we quit turning it over and we kept playing defense,” Izzo said. “And I thought we executed pretty well on offense.”
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Ja’Quan Newton scored 16 points to lead Miami (21-12). Javon Reed added 12 and Bruce Brown had 11.
Next up for MSU is Kansas (29-4), which defeated UC Davis 100-62 in the earlier game Friday night in Tulsa. The Jayhawks had a strong fan contingent, which is likely to make it feel like another hostile road environment for the Spartans.
“The only thing I’m happy about is I get to work another night. You gotta keep working,” Izzo said. “And I wanted a shot at Kansas.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.