College basketball: No. 9 Michigan State gets a confidence boost with win over Indiana

Miles Bridges made a three-pointer and bounced on his toes with joy, enjoying a game he and Michigan State desperately needed.

Bridges scored 22 points to help the ninth-ranked Spartans respond to adversity with an 85-57 win over Indiana on Friday night.

The Spartans (17-3, 5-2 Big Ten) had a confidence-boosting performance after going from a top-ranked team to a reeling one. They were slumping after a 16-point loss at Ohio State, an overtime win over Rutgers and an 82-72 setback to Michigan at home.

“I was just trying to prove that we weren’t soft and that we can compete with any team,” Bridges said. “We were trying to prove a point.”

Michigan State took control with an 18-0 run midway through the first half, led by as much as 23 and was ahead 42-23 at halftime.

“We were aggressive and played our game,” Bridges said. “We had a great sense of urgency.”

Nick Ward had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Cassius Winston had 10 points, eight assists and only one turnover and Jaren Jackson had 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks and for the Spartans.

The Hoosiers (11-8, 4-3) lost for the first time in four games, falling into a fourth-place tie with the Wolverines and Nebraska.

Indiana’s Robert Johnson had 21 points and the rest of his teammates struggled offensively. Josh Newkirk scored 14, but missed 12 of 17 shots.

“If those two guys can continue to play well, I think we’ll be OK,” coach Archie Miller said.

The Hoosiers were held to 34 percent shooting.

“It wasn’t a good offensive showing and they had a lot to do with it,” Miller said.

SOUTHLAND

WOMEN

at No. 13 UCLA 60, No. 21 California 52: Jordin Canada scored 11 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, Monique Billings had 14 points and 18 rebounds, and the Bruins (14-4, 5-2 Pac-12) held off the Bears (13-5, 4-3).

Stanford 59, at USC 55: Brittany McPhee made a layup with 25 seconds to play to break a 55-55 tie as the Cardinal (12-7, 6-1 Pac-12) rallied. Aliyah Mazyck made four three-pointers and led the Trojans (13-5, 3-4) with 20 points.

MEN TODAY

Cal Poly at Cal State Northridge, 7 p.m.

Pepperdine at San Francisco, 7 p.m.

Portland at Loyola Marymount, 7 p.m.

Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State, 7:30 p.m.

UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara, 9 p.m.

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