8 — Friday, January 12, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Behind Enemy Lines: Michigan State’s sophomore wing Miles Bridges

“New year, new me” is as 

applicable to you as it is to the 
Michigan State men’s basketball 
team. In the 2016-17 season, the 
Spartans began the year ranked 
at No. 12, eventually sliding to 
become a No. 9 seed in the NCAA 
Tournament and ducking out in 
the first weekend with a loss to 
Kansas. Against its in-state rival, 
Michigan State defended home 
court against Michigan, and then 
got blown out by 29 the next week 
in Ann Arbor.

But in 2017-18, the fourth-

ranked Spartans (4-1 Big Ten, 
16-2 overall) are facing outsized 
expectations. Beating Michigan 
(3-2, 14-4) after last year’s defeat 
will only strengthen an already 
resolute claim. Featuring one of 
the most talented lineups in the 
country, Michigan State has it all 
to be a national title contender: 
size, speed and shooting.

The Spartans’ frontcourt — 

anchored by standout forwards 
Nick Ward and Jaren Jackson 
Jr. — leads the country in blocks. 
Guard Cassius Winston leads the 
Big Ten in assists. And star guard 
Miles Bridges, perhaps the most 
athletically gifted player in the 

nation, does just about everything 
on the court — he averages 16.5 
points, 7.5 boards and 3.1 assists 
on a roster with no shortage of 
firepower.

Before 
this 
past 
week, 

Michigan State had won 14 
consecutive games, taking the 
nation’s top ranking in the 
process.

But then the Spartans, who 

had averaged 104 points per game 
in the prior five-game stretch, 
suddenly went cold. First they lost 
to Ohio State on the road by 16. 
Then they nearly lost to perennial 
conference doormat Rutgers at 
home, eking out a 76-72 overtime 
win Wednesday night.

Bridges has struggled over 

the past two games. He has shot 
10-of-29 from the field. As Bridges 
goes, so does Michigan State’s 
offense — which means this only 
adds to the notion that he is their 
most important player.

The Daily sat down with 

Bridges at Big Ten Media Day 
in October to talk about his 
surprising decision to forego the 
NBA draft, his expectations for 
himself and Michigan State this 
season and more. 

The Michigan Daily: Your 

return was unexpected to just 
about everybody on the outside. 

What factors drove that decision?

Miles Bridges: I knew we had 

a good team coming back, we had 
a lot of returning players. I feel 
like I didn’t live out my college 
experience like I wanted to, so me 
coming back is about spending 
time with my teammates, and 
hopefully making it far in the 
tournament. 
My 
mom, 
she 

wanted me to go, but it was my 
decision and she supported me at 
the end of the day. That’s why I say 
Michigan State is brotherhood. 
They were gonna support me 
no matter what I did, if I left or 
if I stayed, and that’s why I love 
Michigan State.

TMD: 
If 
Michigan 
State 

doesn’t get to that stage of the 
tournament, is there any point of 
regret from that decision?

MB: I won’t have any regrets, 

everything happens for a reason. 
When it’s my time to go to the 
NBA, I’ll know it’s my time.

TMD: How different is life 

from only a year ago?

MB: I’m more comfortable. 

I’m more well-known now — the 
whole team is. Even with my team 
I have a lot of chemistry with 
them. And class is different, too, 
because even the teachers know 
me.

TMD: Given last season’s 

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Michigan State forward Miles Bridges (left) is his team’s leading scorer, averaging 16.5 points per game.

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Editor

“It’s gonna be 
a great game 
between these 

teams.”

Beilein: ‘M’ rebounding getting better

Even while riding a six-game 

winning streak, John Beilein 
began his press conference with a 
sentiment of trepidation.

“If one team is gonna beat us 

(with offensive rebounding), it’s 
this team,” the Michigan men’s 
basketball coach said last Friday 
before the Wolverines’ matchup 
against Illinois. “They’re really 
strong, and that’s part of their 
offense.”

That fear was justifiable — 

the Fighting Illini frontcourt is 
built on size and an eagerness 
to crash the boards, averaging a 
conference-high 
12.1 
offensive 

rebounds per game.

But 
last 
Saturday, 
the 

Wolverines beat Illinois, partially 
because of their ability to compete 
on the glass.

The Fighting Illini won the 

overall rebounding battle, 31-27, 
and grabbed 10 offensive boards. 
Yet, those numbers demonstrate 
improvement in an area that 
looked like one of Michigan’s 
Achilles’ heels at the beginning of 

the year.

With the losses of Derrick 

Walton Jr., Zak Irvin and D.J. 
Wilson, the Wolverines returned 
just 40 percent of their rebounding 
from a season ago. That showed in 
a November exhibition, when the 
Wolverines allowed 15 offensive 
boards to Grand Valley State — a 
team whose tallest starter is just 
six-foot-eight.

“We can’t let a team, I don’t 

care who they are, get 15 offensive 
rebounds,” said redshirt junior 
guard 
Charles 
Matthews 

afterwards. 
“That 
could 
be 

potentially 
dangerous. 
We’ll 

correct.”

They’ve 
done 
just 
that, 

transforming into one of the 
country’s best on the boards 
statistically, rebounding at a rate 
of 78.4 percent that is good for 
tenth nationally, according to 
teamrankings.com. Last season — 
even with a point guard in Walton 
who was frequently recognized 
for his nose for the ball — the 
Wolverines finished 224nd in 
the category with a rebounding 
percentage rate of 71.9.

“We’ve had some guys become 

so good at boxing out, but for 
whatever reasons we’ve been 
better,” 
Beilein 
said 
Monday. 

“We’ve had some guys stand 
around and could never do it. 
We’ve got some guys who are 
really good at getting in front and 
getting the ball.”

Michigan showed flashes of 

improvement Tuesday in a one-
point loss to Purdue. Despite 
facing two centers over seven 
feet tall in Isaac Haas and Matt 
Haarms, the Wolverines won the 
rebounding margin, 34-29, and 
held the Boilermakers to a below-
average effort on the offensive 
boards.

Still, 
there 
were 
moments 

Tuesday when Michigan was far 
from flawless on the glass.

After 
guard 
Grady 
Eifert 

cleaned up another teammate’s 
miss with around seven minutes 
left in the first half, he found 
guard Dakota Mathias for an open 
corner-3. The shot bounced off the 
rim and just over the fingertips of 
fifth-year senior forward Duncan 
Robinson, allowing Eifert to earn 
his second offensive rebound of 
the possession. Two passes later, 

Mathias took advantage and hit 
the same shot he missed seconds 
before.

Saturday, 
the 
Wolverines 

will need to avoid those plays 
facing a Michigan State team 
with a dominant frontcourt. The 
fourth-ranked Spartans boast the 
country’s second-highest offensive 
rebounding rate of 39.4 percent.

And despite a loss to Ohio 

State and lackluster effort against 
Rutgers this week, Michigan State 
has the talent to soundly defeat 
Michigan. Forward Miles Bridges 
and center Jaren Jackson Jr. are 
expected to be among the top picks 
in this summer’s NBA draft.

Cleaning up on the boards will 

be paramount to the Wolverines’ 
chances of challenging a strong 
frontcourt and nationally-ranked 
opponent for the second time this 
week.

“Playing teams like Purdue 

and Michigan State, it’s tough 
rebounding 
offensively 
and 

defensively,” said senior guard 
Muhammed-Ali Abdur-Rahkman 
on Saturday. “So we’ve got to stick 
to our game plan: box out and want 
the ball.”

Michigan hits the road

Besides 
the 
victory 
itself, 

perhaps the only positive to come 
out of the Michigan women’s 
basketball 
team’s 
win 
over 

Indiana on Wednesday night was 
its rebounding. No matter how 
poor the Wolverines’ defense got 
during their 84-79 win, Michigan 
was buoyed by a 38-18 margin on 
the glass, pulling down as many 
offensive rebounds as the Hoosiers 
did defensive rebounds.

The No. 23 Wolverines (3-2 

Big Ten, 14-4 overall) should win 
on the offensive boards again 
Saturday, as they head to Lincoln 
to face Nebraska (3-1, 12-5). Despite 
strong numbers on the offensive 
glass, the Cornhuskers have just a 
68.1 percent defensive rebounding 
rate, ranking 165th in the country, 
per HerHoopStats.

That could be a recipe for 

disaster against Michigan — a team 
that loves to crash the offensive 
glass, reaching the double-digit 
mark in each of its last eight games.

“We were exploding to the 

ball really well,” said junior 
shooting guard Nicole Munger 
after Wednesday’s game. “For the 
majority of the time, the people 
that were in the triangle did a great 
job of chasing after boards.”

Michigan should also have an 

easy enough time scoring against 
the Cornhuskers. Nebraska gives 
up a middling 64.8 points per game 
on defense and could struggle to 
contain senior guard Katelynn 
Flaherty.

Though Flaherty has struggled 

from beyond the arc of late, she 
has managed to put up over 20 
points in eight straight. Already 
the leading scorer for the Michigan 
women’s program, Flaherty is just 
11 points away from passing Glen 
Rice to become the school’s all-
time leader. Having hit that mark 
in all but one game this season, 
doing so shouldn’t require heavy 
lifting on Saturday.

However, teams have started to 

chip away at Flaherty’s efficiency 

of late by face-guarding her. There 
isn’t much reason to believe the 
Cornhuskers won’t become the 
latest to do so, but at the same time, 
Flaherty is starting to find better 
looks when teams pull that hat out 
of their bags.

“I don’t really think she takes 

very many bad shots anymore,” 
said coach Kim Barnes Arico, “and 
I think she sees the floor and has 
become a better and better passer.”

The next step will be regaining 

her stroke from beyond the arc. 
Since hitting 10 three-pointers 
against Penn State, Flaherty is 
seven of her last 33 from outside. If 
that turns around, the Wolverines 
should win easily.

Defense will be the question 

for Michigan on Saturday. The 
Wolverines have coughed up over 
70 points in three of their last four 
— as many times as they did over 
the season’s first 14 games.

Nebraska’s offense has carried 

the team in its last three games, 
all road victories. Its scoring is 
distributed fairly evenly, with four 
players averaging double-digits. 
However, Hannah Whitish and 
Taylor Kissinger, both guards, 
could be issues for Michigan. The 
two are shooting 38.9 and 38.7 
percent from three, respectively.

Save for an abysmal 61.3 

free 
throw 
percentage, 
the 

Cornhuskers are a potent offense. 
Their 49.2 effective field goal 
percentage is in the 80th percentile 
nationally, their 71.1 points per 
game in the 74th.

The Wolverines will be on 

a relatively short turnaround, 
playing their third game in a week. 
With a trip to Columbus looming 
on Tuesday, however, a loss would 
be a tough pill for Michigan to 
swallow. The Wolverines dropped 
a home game to No. 10 Ohio State 
on Sunday and a win will be tough 
to come by when they face the 
Buckeyes again. A Saturday loss 
could be the precursor to losing 
three of four early in Big Ten play, 
an alarming prospect for a team 
trying to cement itself in the NCAA 
Tournament field.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

EVAN AARON/Daily

Junior center Moritz Wagner has been a key part of his team’s improved rebounding, averaging a team-best 7.1 boards per game this season.

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Editor

disappointing results, why do 

you think this team deserves a top-
five ranking in the polls?

MB: We got a lot of returning 

pieces. We’ve got four starters, we 
have people that 
could have started 
last year returning 
from injury and 
we 
have 
great 

freshmen coming 
in. That’s why you 
come to Michigan 
State, to live out 
those expectations. 
Coach says we’ll 
play 
anybody. 

We play for that 
‘Spartans’ on our chest.

TMD: Last year, you had guys 

like Carmelo Anthony and John 
Wall come to a Michigan State 

game. How does it feel to have 
those type of guys coming to watch 
you play?

MB: That’s two of my favorite 

players, so hopefully they can come 

to another game 
when 
we 
play 

better. It’s crazy. 
I used to talk to 
John Wall a little 
bit when I was 
getting recruited 
by Kentucky. He 
never told me to 
go to Kentucky, 
but he was just 
telling me how 
much he liked me 

as a player.

TTMD: How different should 

we expect your game to look this 
year?

MB: I’m going to be a lot more 

versatile. If I have mismatch in 
the post, I’ll be able to post up. 
Mismatch outside, I’ll be able to use 
my guard skills. My conditioning is 
a lot better, I’ve slimmed down a lot. 
I’m down to 225 (pounds) now. I do 
a lot things better now. I rebound, 
I pass better, I shoot better. Going 
to the ‘3’ spot on the wing is a great 
transition for me.

TMD: Michigan State split the 

rivalry with Michigan last year, 
but the last loss was quite lopsided. 
Is there an added intensity to that 
game this year?

MB: We’re definitely gonna 

play with a chip on our shoulder. I 
wish we would’ve played them at 
their place again this year. We only 
have them at Breslin. It’s gonna be 
a great game between these teams.

