"I didn't know I was going to play that much," Ellis said. "But I knew I was going to go out there and I just tried to do my job and hope to stay in."

Last Thursday, Izzo said every player is affected differently by injury. For Ellis, who wasn't consistent in practice during his freshman year, missing a month so early into his sophomore campaign was detrimental for his development.

"Alvin, I said it at the beginning of the year, I've said it to his face — he did not put in the time that you needed to put in last year," Izzo said. "And then, when he started to this year, then he gets the bad injury and he misses five, six, seven weeks at the beginning of the year for a guy who's not there yet."

Ellis has had a few solid weeks of practice, with his performance last Tuesday being the one that has Izzo trusting the sophomore guard more. Confidence works both ways, Izzo said on Thursday. Saturday's game was certainly encouraging, as Ellis knocked down a corner 3-pointer and gave solid effort on the defensive end.

MSU could use an additional shooter to help its stagnant offense, and there's a window for Ellis to become that guy.

"As I told him, confidence works both ways," Izzo said. "You have to give it. A player always wants a coach to have confidence in him. But there's nothing more a coach wants but to have confidence in the player."

Ellis hopes Saturday's game is the start of something bigger for his role on the team.

"I'm hoping so," Ellis said. "I've been doing a good job in practice these past few weeks and we're going to see where this leads to."