The No. 4 Michigan State Spartans Top the No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers in a Big Ten Classic

Miles Bridges took control of his enormous talent Saturday and became the hero we always thought he would be when Michigan State’s 6-8 sophomore forward decided to postpone entering the NBA draft and come back to school to win a national championship.

Bridges knocked down a deep game winning three with just 2.7 seconds left as the fourth ranked Spartans defeated third ranked Purdue, 68-65, in a dramatic Big Ten game at East Lansing.

“He shot that one from the Motor City,’’ ESPN’s colorful analyst Dick Vitale screamed into the mike after the ball sailed through the net and Michigan State got to cap off Jud Heathcote Day with a win over a third-ranked Purdue team with Final Four potential.

“He wanted the ball and I gave it to him,’’ said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

Bridges was originally supposed to drive the ball to the basket, but when a Purdue defender stepped off him, he seized the moment. When the final buzzer sounded, the horrendous Larry Nassar scandal and horrible allegations of sexual abuse and cover up on this campus seemed to temporarily fade into the background as the students celebrated the Spartans’ biggest win all the season.

This game has special meaning to Izzo, who got his start in college coaching under the late Heathcote, who died Aug. 28 at the age of 90. Heathcote coached Michigan State from 1976-95. He was a two-time Big Ten coach of the year and led the Spartans to a national championship in 1979 when Magic Johnson was a sophomore.

“Hell yeah, I wanted to win it for him,’’ Izzo said. Wearing a green blazer as a tribute to him. “This was his kind of game.’’

Michigan State (24-3) looks like it finally coming together as a team that could make waves in March when Bridges plays like this. Ohio State (22-5) is currently in first place in the Big Ten with a 13-1 record. Michigan State and Purdue (23-4) are tied for second at 12-2.

Bridges finished with 20, making 9 of 14 shots, most from midrange or deeper as the Spartans made up an eight-point deficit in the second half. He also played tireless defense against the most dangerous shooting team in the league. Purdue did not make a single three-pointer in the second half and wings Vincent Edwards and Dakota Mathias combined for just five points in the final 20 minutes.

Izzo made a conscious decision to take away the three-point shot defensively, but almost got burned when Purdue’s 7-2 center Isaac Haas went off for 25 points on 22 shots in 27 minutes, terrorizing the Spartans in the paint. Izzo did not use his 6-11 freshman Jaren Jackson to guard Hass in the second half.  Jackson– the team’s second-best player– shot just 1 for 6 and played only 12 minutes. Izzo instead went with the more experienced Gavin Schilling and Nick Ward to single cover the 300-pound Haas, making him work for his shots and forcing him to receive the ball farther out in the post.

When Haas missed his final attempt with 20 seconds to play, it set Bridges up to be a hero.

Purdue played well enough to win. “Tonight, we made some mistakes, but we only turned the ball over three times,’’ Boilermakers’ coach Matt Painter said. “We didn’t beat ourselves. Miles Bridges made a hell of a play.’’