Michigan State freshman guard Jase Richardson was having, by far, his worst game in a long, long time. His exasperation evident, he was still undeterred.

His latest miss had been an airball with 4:09 remaining in the game. Michigan State had a nine-point lead over New Mexico and was hunting for that back-breaking bucket that takes an opponent’s will and moves them on to the Sweet Sixteen.

Richardson was open on the right wing in transition, a spot from where he has been deadly before.

The crowd’s excitement level rose at the very sight of him getting that open.

You could actually hear the anticipation.

But that sound turned to a loud, disappointed “Ohhhh…” reverberating around Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio when it missed completely.

Even though he had been averaging 17.1 points per game since joining MSU’s starting lineup, the projected NBA draft pick subbed into the Spartans’ game against New Mexico with 2:12 left in the game with zero points on nine missed shots hanging on him like a weight.

If you watched the game, you know what ended up happening next.

Richardson ended up scoring the final six Michigan State points, leading the way for second-seeded MSU to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and - finally - putting away the pesky 10-seeded Lobos.

Richardson got those points by drawing a foul on a three-pointer in front of the MSU bench with barely any time on the shot clock. He calmly made all three free throws with 1:32 to go.

Less than a minute later, Richardson made a putback layup and finished the three-point play with his fourth free throw of the night, with 49 seconds to go. Richardson also stole a New Mexico inbounds pass and pulled down the closing defensive rebound.

After the game, though, Richardson was not interested in talking about the good things in the last few minutes. He was focused on his poor play.

“I’ve just got to be better,” Richardson said after the game. “That’s the one thing: I’ve just gotta be better for my team. But my teammates - credit to all of them - because they stepped up when I was down today. They really did a lot for me. I’ll just give all the credit to them.”

“He (didn't have) a great shooting night,” said MSU junior center Carson Cooper. “It’s really big when he airballs a shot or something like that and the next time in the huddle, we're like, ‘Jase, you good?’"

"He’s like, ‘Let’s go, it’s winning time!’" Cooper said in the locker room after the game, while mimicking Richardson clapping his hands. “He’s getting us upbeat, he’s good. That instills some confidence in us, too.”

“We knew he was having a tough game,” sophomore forward Coen Carr said. “We just told him to stay down, stay with it, trust yourself, and you’re gonna make your plays and everything will come.”

“I just knew I had to make something happen (down) the stretch,” Richardson said. “I sucked for the first 38 minutes, so I knew I had to make something happen in those last couple minutes, and that ended up going my way.”

“That's just what he does,” senior guard Jaden Akins said about Richardson. “It doesn't matter how the game is going. I’ve got faith in him. Everybody’s got faith in him on the team that he’s going to come through. It got us this far.”

“It’s honestly really incredible, to be honest with you,” junior forward Jaxon Kohler said. “It’s such a unique thing that he does what he does. We haven’t seen a freshman like that in a little bit and sometimes, the crazy plays that he makes for us, we’re just in awe, honestly. He makes incredible plays at incredible times and that just shows how special he really is.”