Couch: In the nick of time, Miles Bridges shows a ruthless side

Graham Couch
Lansing State Journal
Miles Bridges celebrates a second-half 3-point with teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. Bridges finished with 29 points, including 14 in a key stretch in the second half.

DETROIT – Miles Bridges answered a question Friday night that had hung over him for four months, since Michigan State lost to Duke and Bridges sort of stood by and let it happen.

“I know if I don’t take over now … we’re only guaranteed one game,” he said after MSU’s 82-78 win over Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Bridges has shown glimpses of killer instinct before. His game-winner against Purdue, for one. That was clutch shot, impressive but only a momentary reflex.

This was a decision. And a more fair opportunity than he’s had in several months.

MSU, for the first time since December, had the benefit of unfamiliarity. Bridges, too.

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“In the Big Ten, everybody knows exactly what you’re going to do,” MSU assistant coach Mike Garland said.

“What it is, he had a little more freedom tonight,” Garland continued. “They heard about Miles, and watching him on tape and watching people guard him, take certain things away. But they’re really not sure. When you don’t have a feel for what he really does and how athletic he is and how powerful and strong he is, that makes it hard.

“He took it upon himself to carry us. He kind of owed us, because that first half he stunk. That second half, he decided to come with it.”

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The opportunity might have been perfect — a favorable athletic matchup, a slight lead, an offense finally clicking. But the situation was still perilous. And given the barrage of 3-pointers Bucknell hit late to narrow the final margin, Bridges’ takeover might have been necessary. MSU needed someone to bring the game home.

For nine long minutes, it was Bridges’ world, unlike ever before at MSU. He scored 14 of his 29 points during that stretch, 14 of MSU’s 18 points, and six more points than Bucknell scored during that stretch, as the Spartans’ lead ballooned from 52-46 to 70-54. 

He scored by posting up, spinning baseline and hitting a rainbow jumper. He scored by facing up his defender, pulling up and burying a shot. He scored by driving and using the glass and by crossing over the man in front of him. And lastly with the sort of emphatic dunk we expect. Never before has he shown such an array of moves in a single game, let alone a game that could have ended his college career.

“I think the thing that you don't quite see as much on film is how high he gets when he shoots the pull-ups,” Bucknell coach Nathan Davis said. “I thought we were there to contest a lot. Just because of how athletic and big he is, he's able to get up and get a clean look anyway. He's very strong. You don't see as much of his strength when you're watching film until you see him in person.”

What you also can’t see on film is this newfound determination to take over. Because it doesn’t exist in the archives.

“I didn’t want to go home,” Bridges explained.

For MSU to beat Duke and then perhaps Kansas and whatever would await the Spartans in San Antonio, they need this mindset from Bridges, that hint of desperation, that fear of defeat. They might need it Sunday in the next round against Syracuse and its famed zone that can make life so awkward.

Bridges now has the game to be able to take over if he decides to. That, for most of two years, has held him up. 

“This is the first time Miles has ever played on the perimeter,” Garland said. “That’s why the NBA people love him so much. In one year’s time, he converted from playing the 4 his whole life. Now he’s on the perimeter, playing like that. It wasn’t always pretty, but you get a guy like that, that talented, you tell me. He’s got some stuff now. He’s just going to get better and better and better and better and better. He wants to.

“He’ll never be a guy that’s worried about his car and how much money he has in the bank. He’s going to be worrying about basketball. And that’s what’s going to make him even that much greater.”

That’s great for the NBA team that gets him. They can expect a low-maintenance kid who, by the time he’s a third-year pro, might be a decent second or third option at basketball’s highest level.

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But MSU, at maximum, has 17 days left with Bridges. So signs of killer instinct arrived just in time.

And not before Izzo gave him a couple tongue-lashings Friday night.

“The great part is he responded,” Izzo said. “He was so fired up when we started going to him when he responded. And will that kick-start him to be a little more selfish? I don’t know. I have not been disappointed in Miles’ play, but I thought he did take over the game.

“I don’t know if killer instinct is a fair (way to describe it).”

It is. It’s what separates talented teams from Final Four teams, that ruthlessness. It’s what beats Duke. It’s what prevents an upset against Bucknell.

Bridges’ closing effort Friday night wasn’t perfect. He played loose late, which allowed Bucknell’s late 3s to almost put the outcome in doubt. He is not a fiery personality that demands his teammates step on an opponents’ throat at every chance.

But, against Bucknell, he did enough. Decided it was time.

“He made shots. He got to the rim. He got fouled. He got put-backs,” Bucknell star forward Zach Thomas said. “He was pretty impressive.”

“He played with that fire, that mindset that he’s the best player on the court,” MSU’s Cassius Winston added. “That’s half the battle right there.”

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