Portland, Ore. — When Miles Bridges sat at his locker late Sunday night at the Moda Center, Michigan State fresh off whipping North Carolina and winning the Victory Bracket of the PK80 Invitational, there were a few teams he was thinking about.
Duke. Kentucky. Kansas. North Carolina.
He wasn’t talking about Big Ten victories over Purdue or Minnesota. He wasn’t thinking about victories over North Florida or Youngstown State.
The preseason All-American was talking about the big boys, the blue bloods. And entering Sunday night’s championship game against the Tar Heels, Bridges and his Spartan teammates had yet to beat any of those teams, having lost five straight to top 10-ranked teams.