ATLANTA — On the day before Michigan State battled its way past Ole Miss to earn coach Tom Izzo his 10th career appearance in the Elite Eight, Spartans 6-foot-3 freshman guard Jase Richardson was asked whether he’d had difficulty matching up against the veteran guards he has faced this season.
Richardson answered the question twice.
The first time was Thursday.
“I think when I first came in, a little bit of difficulty,” Richardson said. “But I was going against these guys (his veteran teammates) every day, so it was kind of getting me better every single day. As the season progressed, I felt like defensively I kept getting better and just kept working.”
Answer No. 2 came Friday night, when Richardson scored 20 points to help lead the second-seeded Spartans to a 73-70 win that was every bit as rough and tumble as the final score suggests. His line in the box score was about as clean as clean gets: He took eight shots and made six; he was 4-of-6 from three-point range. He had six rebounds and just one turnover.
OK, if one wanted to quibble, he did miss two of his six free throws. But Richardson showed the college basketball world how much he has learned and how far he has come playing for the demanding Izzo.
Richardson came to the rescue twice. With 3:30 to play in the first half and the Spartans teetering on the brink trailing 29-19, Richardson tossed in a three-pointer to cut the lead to seven. Two minutes later, another Richardson three trimmed the Ole Miss advantage to 33-28. After Spartans 6-foot-4 senior guard Jaden Akins banged in another three with 23 seconds left in the half, they trailed just 33-31.
Despite that long-distance barrage, the Spartans’ plan in the halftime locker room was to get to the rim in the final 20 minutes.
“In the first half, we weren’t being as aggressive as we should have been,” Richardson said. “They were kind of just punking us. We couldn’t get to the paint. Shooting decent shots, but not great shots.
“The second half, it really opened up for us. We were being more aggressive, getting downhill and getting drive-and-kicks. I felt like we were at our best in that second half.”
The numbers prove that statement.
In the first half, Michigan State scored 10 points in the paint compared to the Rebels’ 18. The Spartans scored 26 of their second-half points in the paint. Just as Michigan State wanted to attack the rim in the second half, it wanted to keep Ole Miss out.
“We knew they had five guys that could drive it, so I feel like they were doing that at will, really, in the first half,” Akins said. “We weren’t in our gaps how we should have been. At halftime, we talked about that a lot just trying to keep them out of the paint and slow (Ole Miss 6-foot-1 senior guard Sean) Pedulla down.
“He still had a good game (game-high 24 points), but I felt we kept him out of the paint a little better in the second half, and that’s the reason why we won.”
Richardson had a bit of extra incentive. In the Spartans’ second-round win over New Mexico, he scored just six points on 1-of-10 shooting, including 0-of-5 from three. He wanted to atone for that performance.
“I just felt like my teammates was putting me in position to be successful today,” Richardson said. “I told them after the New Mexico game that I owe them a game because I felt like I wasn’t that good in that game. So, I knew I had to come out here and make one up for these guys.”
Tom Izzo Isn’t Going Anywhere: “I Still Have the Fire”
He just turned 70, but Michigan State’s Hall of Fame coach doesn’t act or sound like someone who is about to retire
Richardson also made one up for his coach. At 70, Izzo is far from finished with his Mt. Rushmore career. Getting a chance to play for the Final Four never grows old.
“It’s hard to believe that in two days we’re playing for a chance to do one of the all-time great things in any basketball player’s life, and that’s play for a Final Four,” Izzo said. “I’m proud and happy for them. They’ve earned it. They deserved it. They did it.”
