The Sports Xchange
Nov 10, 2017
EAST LANSING, MICH. -- Sophomore forward Miles Bridges had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 2 Michigan State to a 98-66 win over North Florida on Friday.
Four other players scored in double figures for the Spartans (1-0), who now will turn their attention to the first big matchup of the college basketball season when they take on No. 1 Duke on Tuesday at the Champions Classic in Chicago.
Sophomore Nick Ward scored 16 points, freshman Jaren Jackson, Jr. had 13 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, sophomore Joshua Langford scored 13 points and sophomore Cassius Winston had 12 points and eight assists to lead the attack for Michigan State.
Michigan State broke the game open after it was tied at 13-13 with 16:04 remaining. The Spartans went on a 19-0 run over the next 7:48 to take a 32-13 lead with 8:16 left in the first half.
The Spartans ultimately built their lead to 52-26 at halftime.
In the second half, Michigan State built its lead to as many as 39 points.
The Spartans shot 57.4 percent from the floor (35 of 61) and outrebounded North Florida by a two-to-one margin, 50-25.
Sophomore guard Ivan Gandia-Rosa went 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range and scored 19 points, and sophomore Garrett Sams added 13 points in defeat for North Florida (0-1), which went 11 of 29 from 3-point range but shot 34.8 percent overall.
NOTES: Michigan State is now 23-0 in home openers under head coach Tom Izzo and 101-18 all-time. ... North Florida is now 2-13 all-time against Big 10 opponents with wins over Purdue in 2014 and Illinois in 2015. ...After missing the entire 2016-17 seasons with injuries, Michigan State senior Fs Ben Carter and Gavin Schilling played in a regular-season game for the first time since 2015-16. ... North Florida was picked to finish in third place in the Atlantic Sun Conference preseason poll. The Ospreys are coming off a season where they went 15-19 overall and 8-6 in league play. ... Throughout the season, Michigan State will wear a patch honoring former head coach Jud Heathcote, who passed away on Aug. 28 at age 90. Heathcote was the head coach for the Magic Johnson-led 1979 national championship team and handpicked Izzo to take over the MSU program when he retired in 1995. ... This was the first of back-to-back games against the two Michigan schools in the Big 10 for North Florida. The Ospreys will play at Michigan in what will be the season opener for the Wolverines on Saturday night.