“The game feels much slower to me,” Trice said. “I feel confident in my game, I’m just really playing with no fear.”

Fearless minutes isn’t on the stat sheet, but Trice has posted impressive numbers in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, highlighted with his 19-point game against Delaware.

None of those points were as important as his pivotal 3-pointer against Harvard that gave the Spartans a 63-62 lead after Harvard put together a 17-5 run in the second half. Trice might have seemed cool and collected after draining the shot, but on the inside, he was just thankful to hit it after sitting on the bench for nearly six minutes.

“I just kind of walked into it kind of stiff,” Trice said. “My first thought was ‘Thank God that I hit it.’ If I missed it and they come down and score, that could be bad for us.”

It wasn’t bad news at all for the Spartans, as they never handed their lead back to the Crimson the rest of the game.

Trice’s improved play is sitting well with Izzo, who said Trice is “one of the best sixth men in the whole tournament.”

“Travis Trice has had a tremendous year considering a little bit of injuries,” Izzo said. “But I think it’s been the first year that he’s really had a great summer along with a pretty good year of staying healthy, and that’s made a big difference in his game.”

Izzo and the Spartans are fortunate to have a consistent weapon coming off the bench, but Trice also considers watching the game from the sideline before checking in a bonus.

“It almost gives me a chance to see the flow of the game,” Trice said. “You can watch film, you can scout all you want, but until you see somebody and you see how the speed of things are going, it just gives you that much more of an edge to see some of the weaknesses.”

Knuckle-baller

When Trice goes up for a jump shot, it’s not uncommon to see the ball not complete a full rotation before it gets to the rim. That result is good for a knuckleball pitcher in baseball, but even Trice knows it’s an unorthodox habit.

“It’s not a good thing as a shooter, to be honest with you,” Trice said with a laugh.

Trice gets hounded by his dad, who coached him in high school, and friends back home with texts to the essence of “Dude, you’re shooting a knuckle ball.” If he keeps up his 44.8 percent shooting from behind the arc, it likely will be here to stay.

The habit has been around since his high school days, where he once saw his shot on the news and was able to read the Spalding logo on the ball — that’s how little it rotated.

He went on to explain how some of his shots can generate little to no spin at all.

“My release is the same every time — I’m never pushing it,” he said. “Sometimes if I get my thumb in there too much, and that’s where the knuckleball comes.”