Spartans' Richardson Making Case For Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year
The No. 8 Michigan State Spartans (17-2, 8-0) continued their winning ways on Saturday afternoon with a crucial road victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-10, 3-6) behind a sensational performance from freshman guard Jase Richardson.
Finishing with a career-high 20 points on 6-9 shooting and knocking three triples, Richardson came off the bench once again and made a significant difference in the Spartans' 81-74 win. He is making a very strong case for the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Award.
The star freshman has scored in double figures in nine of the team's 19 games this season, proving to be a key asset for one of the best teams in college basketball this year. Richardson is averaging 9.2 points per game on 56.4% shooting from the field while pulling down 2.5 rebounds per contest.
Richardson is the eighth best shooter in the Big Ten in terms of field-goal percentage and is one of the top freshmen in the conference. He held his own against Scarlet Knights freshman guard and projected first round pick Ace Bailey, outscoring him and taking over the ballgame late.
One of the more impressive stats of Richardson's in his first year of college basketball is his free throw shooting ability. At 82.9% from the line, it is a very satisfying feeling for Coach Tom Izzo to have a guy in Richardson that will enter the game and be extremely efficient at the charity stripe.
There are few players in this conference who are able to come off the bench and make a winning impact on such a consistent basis. As the son of Spartan legend Jason Richardson, Jase is trying to make his own name for himself and is doing a very good job of that so far this season.
In a neutral-site contest at Madison Square Garden, the home of the New York Knicks, the Spartans have not been historically great playing in that arena in recent years. Especially for a freshman to come into a big league arena and post a performance like he did on Saturday, Richardson continued to prove he is special.
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