Michigan State Basketball: 5 reasons the Spartans will beat Notre Dame

PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 26: Andrew Platek #3 of the North Carolina Tar Heels and Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans go after a loose ball in the second half of the game during the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational presented by State Farm at the Moda Center on November 26, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. Michigan State won the game 63-45. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /

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EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 19: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans dunks during the game against the Stony Brook Seawolves at Breslin Center on November 19, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

2. Miles Bridges will finally be close to 100 percent

If Miles Bridges isn’t 100 percent on Thursday night, he will be extremely close to it. He sprained his ankle last Sunday against Stony Brook and was listed as day-to-day. Tom Izzo told the media following the game that he was thankful it wasn’t a high-ankle sprain like last year which kept him out almost a month.

Bridges sat out against DePaul as the Spartans rolled the Blue Demons. He played minimally against UConn, scoring just six points in 17 minutes and then he recorded 26 minutes of action against North Carolina, putting up 11 points.

With four days of rest since that North Carolina game where he looked close to fully healthy, Bridges should be at 100 percent for the Notre Dame matchup. He’s going to be a key figure if the Spartans are going to take down the Fighting Irish as he causes a major mismatch problem.

A healthy Bridges is a scary sight for opponents and the only proof you need is in the numbers from the first three games of the season. He averaged 19.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and shot 51 percent from the floor and 41 percent from deep.

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