"Gabe picked up his second and I looked out like ‘This might be it,'" George said.

The 6-foot-4 George entered as the Braves (20-15) took a 25-24 lead after a pair of free throws from forward Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye. George played five minutes until 13 seconds remained in the half, when Brown returned after a timeout to run a scripted play.

That stretch was all George played in MSU (29-6)'s NCAA Tournament opener at the Wells Fargo Center, but despite committing two fouls in a 42-second span he also snagged two rebounds and made a pair of free throws, which gave the Spartans a 30-29 lead with 3:30 until the break.

"To be able to come in and help us and help us get stops, that was the most important thing," forward Xavier Tillman said of George.

Brown entered after starter Aaron Henry picked up two fouls. Henry ended with eight points, three rebounds and an assist, but also five turnovers in 29 minutes. But shortly after checking in, Brown also connected on a 3-pointer, his first since Jan. 21 against Maryland.

"Yeah, for like the first time in 50 years," Brown said, joking as he walked through the locker room.

George, a redshirt junior, and Brown, a freshman, combined for 12-plus minutes off the bench but will be MSU's go-to wings since Kyle Ahrens suffered a Grade 3 sprain in his left ankle in the team's 65-60 win over Michigan in the Big Ten Championship last Sunday. Coach Tom Izzo said Brown and George will receive most of Ahrens' 18.8 averaged minutes, given a return this season is unlikely.

"Conner and Gabe are not household games right now and just because of foul trouble we had to play with them," Izzo said at the postgame news conference.

In a separate scrum outside MSU's locker room, Izzo said the importance of Ahrens, and the quality of minutes he contributed, often went unnoticed.

"I’m sure the average Joe on the street thought, 'Well, Kyle Ahrens averages four or five points per game, he’s not that valuable. He’s OK, you can do without him,'" Izzo said. "People are just insane."

Among MSU's starting guards, point guard Cassius Winston played 39 minutes and Matt McQuaid played 39. Depth is going to be important, according to assistant coach Dane Fife, leaving possible spots for George as MSU advances through the tourney.

"I think the way we play, guys are bound to get tired," Fife said. "We’re going to run. We’re going to run off makes and misses and we’re going to guard and we’re going to rebound every play. It’s all the effort stuff."

Thursday marked a season-high in minutes for George and marked the 17th game he's appeared in. It also eclipsed his previous season best of four minutes against Oakland on Dec. 21.

George was also used in 16 minutes when MSU played DePaul in the PK80 Tournament in Portland in November 2018.

But as long as George can contribute, he's OK.

"I’m ready, the coaches talked to me about it," George said. "If that’s the type of role I’m given and that’s the type of role I’m ready to play then I’ll be ready to play."