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Miles Bridges, No. 2 Michigan State steamroll Houston Baptist

By Dana Gauruder, The Sports Xchange

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Miles Bridges tied his career high with 33 points and No. 2 Michigan State stretched its winning streak to 10 games by rolling past undersized Houston Baptist 107-62 on Monday at the Breslin Center.

The sophomore forward, who also contributed six rebounds and five assists, scored 33 points against Purdue last January. He went 11 of 14 from the field on Monday.

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Michigan State's Nick Ward added 20 points while making all nine of his field goal attempts and also grabbed six rebounds. Jaren Jackson collected a team-high eight rebounds and made six of the Spartans' 16 blocks before fouling out.

The Spartans' backcourt duo also made notable contributions. Joshua Langford had 14 points while Cassius Winston supplied 10 points and a career-high 12 assists.

Michigan State (11-1) shot a season-high 64.3 percent from the field (36-for-56) while holding Houston Baptist (4-8) to 28.4 percent shooting (21-for-74).

Jalon Gates led the Huskies with 17 points while Braxton Bonds and Ian DuBose added 10 apiece.

Houston Baptist's Josh Ibarra, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding, missed his second straight game with a foot injury. The Spartans were the highest-ranked school the Huskies have ever faced.

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Bridges scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting during the first half as the Spartans led 54-33 at halftime. Michigan State shot 70 percent in the first half but was outrebounded by five and made eight turnovers. The Huskies were held to 31.6 percent shooting in the period.

The Huskies were only down by nine, 30-21, when Gates made his second 3-pointer of the half with 7:55 left in the opening half. That was the last time the margin was single digits. The Spartans steadily built their lead during a 19-6 run, which included 10 points from Bridges.

Michigan State opened the second half with eight unanswered points, six by Ward. The Huskies went scoreless until David Caraher made a baseline shot 3:33 into the half.

Ward's dunk with 8:56 left pushed the Spartans' lead to 35, 82-47.

NOTES: The schools were meeting for the first time. ... Michigan State has a 9-0 record against teams currently in the Southland Conference. ... The Spartans host Long Beach State on Thursday, while the Huskies play a road game against Vanderbilt on Wednesday. ... Houston Baptist senior G Will Gates and sophomore G Jalon Gates are sons of Will Gates Sr., who starred in the 1994 film Hoop Dreams.

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