The odds of being struck by lightning are pretty low — but twice?

Nearly impossible.

For Michigan State freshman Jase Richardson, it was pretty clear he wasn’t going to let one poor performance transfer to his next, especially with what’s on the line.

“I know I had to make it up to these guys," Richardson said after the Spartans 73-70 win over Mississippi Friday night. "Last game I basically sucked, so I knew I had to come in and make plays."

Richardson led the Spartans in scoring with 20 points on 6-8 shooting and added six rebounds, a 180-degree turn from his Round of 32 performance last week vs. New Mexico where he shot just 1-10 from the field. Although the Spartans were able to find enough offense elsewhere that night, everyone knew they would need more from the freshman guard moving forward.

“The confidence I have in myself, I feel like I can play with anyone in the country,” Richardson said. “Coming into this game I knew I had to come in with a lot of confidence and trust in myself.”

Confidence can be a loose word thrown around the basketball world, but Richardson embraces a quiet confidence about him that’s rare for a player his age. He doesn’t show it as much with his words, as he does with his play on the court.

Ole Miss made things muddy in the first half, beating the Spartans at their own game by rebounding and playing stifling defense early on. Richardson made two threes in the half to keep MSU afloat and prevent momentum from really going the Rebels' way.

“We were down 10 with about 10 minutes to go so we knew we had to cut into this lead,” Richardson said when asked about their first half woes. “Because if we go down 10 at half, there's not a lot of confidence in the locker room.”

The offense opened up for MSU in the second half, partially due to Richardson’s shot making and allowing the other guards to create scoring opportunities for themselves.

“They kind of took away our middle, kind of automatically forcing it to the baseline so it was tough for us to get it in the beginning,” Richardson said. “A lot of guys became more aggressive as the game went on, just driving and then we got open kicks.”

The Spartans needed the timely shot making and free throws from all four guards to close out the game and move on to the Elite Eight. Between Jaden Akins and Tre Holloman, MSU went 6-6 from the charity stripe in the last 26 seconds to ice the game.

“We work on those all the time,” Richardson said when asked about free throws late in the game. “You got two guys like Jaden and Tre … you got a lot of belief they’re going in.”

Now, with a Final Four berth on the line, another SEC opponent stands in Michigan State's path — this time, the tournament’s top overall seed, the Auburn Tigers.

The last time Tom Izzo faced Bruce Pearl in the Elite Eight was 15 years ago when Pearl was at Tennessee. MSU came out on top that day, but this Auburn squad is a different beast and may be the toughest team the Spartans have encountered all season.