EAST LANSING, Mich. _ Perhaps potential is becoming closer to present for Michigan State.
The Spartans put together their most complete performance of the season, smothering No. 24 Minnesota on defense and finally finding a flow on offense en route to a 65-47 victory Wednesday night at Breslin Center.
Miles Bridges, in his third game back and second start after an ankle injury, looked significantly better and finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four blocks. MSU's defense held the Gophers scoreless for a pair of long stretches in the first half and maintained a 20-point cushion for much of the second.
Tom Izzo's team recovered from its first conference loss of the season against Penn State on Saturday by holding Minnesota to just 33.3 percent shooting. Joshua Langford scored 13 points, Nick Ward added nine points and eight rebounds in just 13 minutes before fouling out, while Kenny Goins chipped in eight points and nine boards for the Spartans (12-6, 4-1 Big Ten), who travel to Ohio State on Sunday.
Nate Mason scored 14 points and Dupree McBrayer 11 for Minnesota (15-3, 3-2), which had won three straight and entered in a five-way, first-place tie with MSU atop the Big Ten standings.
Another slow start was one of Izzo's biggest concerns. The Gophers blew a 13-point halftime lead on Dec. 27, with the Spartans rallying for a 75-74 overtime victory. MSU entered the game minus-8 in the first halves of their first four Big Ten games. That included a 13-point hole at Minnesota in their first meeting.
Wearing throwback "MAC" uniforms to honor the Michigan Agricultural College heritage, the Spartans shook free from the first-half funk that had plagued them throughout the start of conference action.
Bridges scored from all angles, throwing down a dunk in traffic and hitting a pair of 3-pointers as part of his 16-point half. Langford popped midrange jumpers for eight by halftime, while Eron Harris converted off the drive and scored nine.
And the Spartans clamped down defensively on every Gopher other than McBrayer, who was 5 of 8 for 11 points. However, the rest of his teammates were just 3 of 22. Minnesota's two leading scorers _ Mason and Amir Coffey _ combined for just one Coffey bucket and two points in the first 20 minutes.
The Gophers went scoreless for the final 5:30 as MSU _ which shot 50 percent in the half _ went into the locker room on a 15-0 run and with a 39-17. It was the second time in the game the Spartans' defense held Minnesota without a point for that long.
