ANN ARBOR >> Though Tom Izzo views this season’s depth as strength in numbers, there are many who see it as a weakness. For a Michigan State men’s basketball team with so much depth, there’s little star power. The shotmaker, the go-to guy, he isn’t so prominent in a sport that all but requires a hero.

Except the Spartans do have a star — at least a rising one — in Jase Richardson. And you couldn’t miss him Friday night as Michigan State trounced Michigan on the road, 75-62. The freshman guard’s 21-point game continues an ascendance that has put him in the starting lineup and provided a consistent spark for the Spartans. All as a freshman, mind you, and all with an uncanny confidence that suggests he could be this team’s X-factor heading into March.

“The guy doesn’t act like a freshman, sophomore, junior — he acts like a senior half the time, and credit goes to him,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “… I think he took another big step today, believe it or not, not just on his play, but other parts of his game.”

No area mattered more to Michigan State (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) than Richardson’s scoring. At times, the offense appeared frozen against Michigan’s zone. A lack of ball movement failed to create quality looks, and a lack of physical movement didn’t help matters either. After Richardson’s hand led the Spartans to an early eight-point lead, they went to halftime trailing by four — and it could’ve been worse.

All eyes turned to Richardson. The freshman.

With his decisiveness, he nailed a settling 3-pointer to open the second half. His team soon wrested control with three straight 3-pointers from Tre Holloman. When Michigan powered back with an 8-0 run later, yet again Michigan State needed an answer and yet again it turned to Richardson to provide it. A floater and a layup preserved the lead before a 9-0 MSU run closed out the victory, leveraging his pace and feel for the game to take control.

“I think early offensively, I feel like I was kind of the one setting the pace for our offense,” Richardson said. “And then once we all started getting flowing it started getting easier for everybody to find shots.”

In big moments this season, Richardson continues to provide. There’s his 29-point outing in a comeback victory over Oregon two weeks ago that earned his starting job. Since then, he’s putting up double figure scoring in his expanded role. That’s only half the equation when one considers his growing defensive play, too. He played so hard that he had to sub himself out, a trait that gets Izzo smiling ear to ear.

“Defensively, I never think he’s a great defender, and he just keeps fooling me because he did a damn good job defensively, too,” Izzo said. “So there’s no question. I mean, he got six rebounds too. He did it in all phases.”

There’s an evident clutch gene to Richardson’s game, too, and it shows up when Michigan State really needs someone to give it a rhythm. Even as a freshman, he doesn’t show nerves. Richardson says he hasn’t felt nervous heading into a game since his junior year of high school, a mentality forged by his recovery from a knee surgery the year before.

“I don’t think he gets nervous,” Izzo said. “If Michael, Larry and Magic came back, I don’t think it would bother him. I mean, I’m not saying he can do everything, but he’s so mature beyond his years.”

Added Richardson, “When you get into games like this, it’s the confidence factor. If you don’t go into these games confidently, you’re not gonna make the plays that you really need to make. So every game I try to come in as confident as possible, try to believe in myself. I know my teammates are gonna trust in me to make big plays.”

That maturity stood out almost immediately when Richardson joined this team. Guard Jeremy Fears Jr. said Richardson looked like he’d been in college the way he handled every test thrown his way.

“He held his own,” Fears said. “He looked like he’d been in college, and he can hang and compete.”

Richardson certainly could hang Friday night as he provided the necessary punches for Michigan State to win its biggest rivalry game in five years. In the process, he helped give his team the inside track to a Big Ten championship.

As the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments near — and the games require more heroics — Richardson will continue to be leaned on for Michigan State. Games like Friday’s prove he can handle it, continuing his ascension as one of the Spartans’ best threats.

“It’s a super huge win for us,” Richardson said. “We knew coming in that they were going to be the number one team, but we had to come in and set the tone. And this is really special for us. But there’s still four games. A lot can happen in four games.”