Couch: Miles Bridges, Michigan State give their season a chance with win over Purdue

EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo didn’t believe he had the better team entering Saturday’s game against Purdue. I’m not sure he does now, either. 

But he knows his team has a shot. That he didn’t know before Saturday’s 68-65 win over the Boilermakers. 

If Michigan State gets anywhere this year, beating Purdue — and how it unfolded — will have been the trigger. 

“That was an NCAA — deep — tournament game,” Izzo said. “And what I liked for us is it proved that we can play different ways again. The best teams we’ve had here, we could play fast, we could play slow, we could smash-mouth, we could finesse, we could do it on (with) rebounding and we could do it on the shooting.

“What won the game was depth — a 24-7 (scoring advantage) off the bench — and following the game plan. And a star took over the game, and that’s kind of what you need in a tournament setting.”

MSU answered questions Saturday:

Can Miles Bridges be The Man in big moments? Check.

Will Izzo ride Cassius Winston, for better or worse, when it’s all on the line? Check.

Is MSU’s depth real depth or overstated? Check.

Can this team dig deep, follow a scouting report through thick and thin, and beat a team that might be playing on college basketball’s final weekend? Check.

“That team, they’re destined for something great, they really are,” Izzo said of Purdue.

MORE:Michigan State's Gavin Schilling 'MVP' in 68-65 win over No. 3 Purdue

MORE:Miles Bridges has game after all: Twitter explodes on sophomore's game-winning 3-pointer

The Spartans aren’t destined for anything yet. But they ought to have everyone’s attention again. 

That begins with Bridges, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left, the last of several big shots from him in the second half. It was said a dozen times Saturday that this is why he came back. But we hadn’t had THIS from him — the determination and aggression late. The make.

“I wanted the ball,” Bridges said. 

It looked like it. He came back to win championships — Big Ten, then national. I don’t think either happens without Saturday’s result.

“We’ve got a lot of games left and there’s a lot of things to go on yet,” Izzo said, “but Miles, he got what he deserved today, because he made the big plays and the place was electric for him.”

MSU needed not just the win, but to prove to itself that it could do what it did against Purdue. 

“We were tough,” Winston said, when asked what MSU showed Saturday that it hadn’t previously. “We battled, we rebounded, in the second half we didn’t let them hit any 3s.”

Not a single one. Instead, MSU let Purdue giant Isaac Haas pummel them in the post against a single undersized defender, often Gavin Schilling. But in baiting the Boilermakers to give Haas the ball time after time, Purdue’s motion offense became standstill. 

“It changed the rest of their team when that’s all they did, throw it in and he dribble, dribble, dribbled,” Izzo said. “That’s not who they are. They move the ball so well. I thought that in a sick way worked to our advantage.”

This game was also Izzo and his staff finding their stride. From the scouting report to finding the lineup that gave them a chance — unexpectedly, Bridges, Winston, Matt McQuaid, Kenny Goins and Schilling.

MSU’s depth didn’t just eat minutes. It showed its value — and its sweat equity. McQuaid and Goins are juniors, Schilling is a fifth-year senior. These guys know the grind. They’ve won big. They’ve had their hearts broken. Their grit in the swing game of this season showed.

Goins played a career-high 30 minutes and hit a shot almost as big as Bridges’ — perhaps bigger, because it tied the game at 65-65 and prevented losing. The consequences of losing this game were at least as great as they are for having won.

McQuaid, with confidence, buried three 3s, all at critical times.

And then Bridges hit a shot he wasn’t supposed to take. He was supposed to drive it and try to draw a foul, if he didn’t score.

“But I saw (the defender) back off me and I didn’t want to turn the ball over, so I just took what he gave.”

That’s maturity, understanding his weakness on the dribble and playing to his strength. Fearlessly.

“This gives us another chance. A time to hopefully build a little bit,” Izzo said.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.