No. 24 Michigan State (4-3) picked up a much-needed, hard-fought 77-72 victory over Wichita State (5-2) Friday afternoon to claim third place in the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.Miles Bridges led the way for the Spartans with 21 points and four rebounds. Eron Harris, Nick Ward and Matt McQuaid also reached double figures in scoring with 13 apiece as MSU finally picked up its first quality win of the campaign in its fourth try.Darral Willis Jr. put up 16 points off the bench to pace the Shockers in a losing effort. While the reserves accounted for 57 points, nobody in the starting lineup scored more than seven.Here's a look at the scoring recap from Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas:Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press noted Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo provided an honest assessment of the team's sluggish start after Thursday's loss to Baylor. He admitted most of the blame falls on his shoulders for a schedule that's included trips to Hawaii, New York City and the Bahamas."I actually apologized to my team," Izzo said. "I've always played a tough schedule. You know what, to all of you, you can take it as an excuse, you can take it as whatever you want, I don't give a damn. I'm telling you what I did. This ain't on them, it's on me. The travel has been brutal."The Spartans struggled out of the gate against an aggressive Shockers defense, failing to create open looks and missing their first five three-point attempts.Their own improved play at the defensive end helped spark a run in the middle portion of the opening half, though. They kept Wichita State out of the paint and forced a lot of contested jumpers. It opened the door for a 13-0 run, led by a pair of threes by McQuaid.Brendan F. Quinn of the MLive Media Group noted the sophomore guard's success since moving into a new role over the past few games:In all, Michigan State held Wichita State to 34.6 percent shooting before the break and just two makes from beyond the arc in nine attempts. Meanwhile, the Spartans made four of their nine shots from long range after the ice-cold start.Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal discussed the contrast from the often lackluster play during the latter stages of Thursday's game:Josh Howell of Wichita Sports pointed out it wasn't a good time for a potential clunker:Michigan State carried over those positive vibes from the first half and came out firing early in the second. It stretched the lead to 18 with just less than 12 minutes to go.Wichita State fought back, though. The Shockers used a 14-0 spurt coming out of the under-eight media timeout to cut a 15-point MSU lead to just one.Carmine Carcieri of Busting Brackets pointed out the Spartans' issues with the full-court pressure:Michigan State stretched the lead back to six with 2:56 left after a pair of Ward free throws, but the Shockers rallied again. They trimmed the lead to two and had the ball with less than 45 seconds to go, but a Markis McDuffie jumper rolled off the rim for Wichita State.Daishon Smith had one final attempt to tie it, but his long-range effort with eight seconds left missed. Bridges closed it out for Michigan State from the free-throw line.Adam Biggers of FanRag Sports noted MSU still has plenty to work to do:Looking ahead, there isn't much rest time available for the Spartans. Their whirlwind nonconference journey around the Western Hemisphere continues Tuesday night when they visit Cameron Indoor Stadium in North Carolina for a marquee matchup with No. 6 Duke.The light at the end of the tunnel is a more favorable slate in December, which includes five consecutive home games against mid- and low-tier opponents. It should allow Michigan State to take some pressure off its starters while still heading into Big Ten play on a high note.Meanwhile, Wichita State arrived to the Bahamas with an eye on some resume-building victories, but it couldn't deliver. The Shockers are still the clear favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference, but the lack of notable wins could hurt their seeding come March. Postgame ReactionAaron Beard of the Associated Press passed along comments from both coaches after the contest. The Shockers' Gregg Marshall discussed potentially changes after coming up short in the last two games:On the opposite side, Izzo was happy with how his team bounced back after the semifinal loss:Quinn noted the Michigan State coach even joked about some of the combinations he used during the course of the game: "We had some bizarre lineups in there today, wouldn't you guys agree'"
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