Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions for 2018 NCAA Tournament

By Connor Muldowney | Mar 15, 2018

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Miles Bridges #22 carries the Big Ten regular-season championship trophy after the Spartan defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 02: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates after Wisconsin Badgers called a time out late in the second half during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City.The Michigan State Spartans defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 63-60. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 02: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates after Wisconsin Badgers called a time out late in the second half during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City.The Michigan State Spartans defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 63-60. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

3. Miles Bridges scores 30-plus in win over Duke

The first matchup with Duke was a tough one. Michigan State played the Blue Devils tough and brought them down to the wire although they didn’t have Marvin Bagley III for most of the game. However, it was Grayson Allen who had the game of his senior year, scoring 37 on the Spartans.

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Miles Bridges, on the other hand, didn’t quite have that big of a game, but he did finish with 19 — along with Nick Ward and Jaren Jackson Jr. The Spartans weren’t able to get much from Josh Langford and Cassius Winston, though, which was the difference — they combined for just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

Those two will play much better as the Spartans reach the Sweet 16 and earn a rematch with the Blue Devils. Tom Izzo has an infamous record of 1-11 against Coach K and that’ll improve ever-so-slightly to 2-11 as he exacts revenge for the last few meetings thanks to a big game from Bridges.

Nearly matching Allen’s 37-point showing earlier in the season, Bridges will finish with 32 points and eight rebounds, blocking a couple of shots along the way. This will be one of the best games of the tournament, but the Spartans will prevail by four points.

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