Michigan State forward Miles Bridges listed as “day-to-day” with ankle injury

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NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-First Round-Michigan State vs Miami
Mar 17, 2017; Tulsa, OK, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (22) shoots over Miami Hurricanes defense during the second half in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at BOK Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Michigan State men’s hoops team took the floor on Sunday for the first time since their loss to Duke in the Champions Classic on Tuesday. The Spartans welcomed in Stony Brook out of the American East Conference, picking up a 93-71 win over the Seawolves.

However, the bounce-back win for MSU came with a certain price. Late in the game, sophomore standout Miles Bridges was driving the lane and came down, appearing to step on the foot of another player before crashing to the floor. Bridges eventually got up and off the floor on his own before heading off to the locker room, despite an urge to stay in and attempt his free throws.

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said after his team’s win that they are fortunate the injury doesn’t appear to be too severe.

“Thank God it’s not a high ankle sprain,” Izzo said. “It’s just a sprain where he rolled it. He’ll be day-to-day, but it is not a high ankle, which is encouraging.”

Bridges played 25 minutes against Stony Brook on Saturday and finished with 20 points on 6/13 shooting from the floor. He also grabbed down six rebounds and converted on all six of his attempts from the stripe. The humbled superstar from Flint has eclipsed at least 19 points in all three of MSU’s games this season.

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What was supposed to be a strength for this team and their national title hopes this season has been tested early, thanks to an injury bug infestation. Junior forward Kenny Goins is already going to miss “a couple weeks” with a knee injury that he suffered in the game against Duke. And junior guard/forward Kyle Ahrens could potentially miss all of 2017-18 with a preseason foot injury.

This is already the second scare for MSU fans with Bridges being injured. He endured a pretty scary fall in the team’s first exhibition last month.

Michigan State has the next three days off before resuming play in the Phil Knight Invitational out in Portland beginning on Thanksgiving. The Spartans will then play three games in four days during the weekend, beginning with a match vs. DePaul on Thursday.

Izzo knows his sophomore phenom is a tough competitor but the Hall of Fame head coach said they are “not going to take any chances” this week.