Loyer entered with the Spartans trailing 10-6 and quickly drew an offensive foul and found Kenny Goins in the paint for an assist on the other end. Moments later, the freshman found an open look from deep and got a dribble handoff on a baseline in-bound play.

Swish.

Loyer stayed in most of the first half and drained two more 3s to give MSU a 26-25 lead with 4:04 until halftime. After his third, he drew a foul at the other end and forced a Buckeyes timeout.

"I think all shooters can tell you, once you have that feeling of it getting going a little bit, the rim looks a little bit bigger," Loyer said. "Even the shots that don’t feel good go in."

And that's exactly what happened for Loyer, who finished with a career-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field with four 3s in 18 minutes. It eclipses his previous bests of 10 points against Green Bay on Dec. 16 and 12 minutes against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 14.

Loyer also made back-to-back scores early in the second half to give MSU a 47-40 lead with 14:57 to play, which helped the Spartans run away for good.

"I thought his 3s gave them real life," OSU coach Chris Holtmann said, unsure if the Buckeye's resume is enough for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Loyer entered Friday averaging 1.4 points in 5.7 minutes in 29 games and 4-for-20 (20.0 percent) on attempts from deep. He scored two on a pair of free-throws against then-No. 7 Michigan on March 9, but hadn't scored in his last 12 before that.

After each shot went in, his teammates grew increasingly enthusiastic.

"That’s the reason he got recruited to come here," forward Kenny Goins said. "The fact that he finally got his chance and really stepped up into that role, we’re all so happy for him. I was out there and couldn’t get the smile off my face just watching what he did."

Even though Winston was watching Loyer from the bench, he was also pumped to see his backup show off some skills. Izzo — who earned his 600th win — even praised Winston for being Loyer's "biggest cheerleader."

"Today, he played much better than I did," said Winston, who scored a game-high 18 points, five assists and seven rebounds. "If you’ve seen Frosty play you know — I don’t care what his percentage is, you’re not gonna let him shoot."

The Spartans return to the floor tomorrow to play fourth-seeded Wisconsin (23-9 overall) at 1:00 p.m. EST. The winner will play in the tournament championship game.

Whether Loyer's role grows remains to be seen. If so, the 6-foot Loyer said all he can do is be ready when the time comes.

"’I'm gonna be confident every time I step on the floor," he said. "But for all of my hard work to pay off tonight, It’s only going to propel me forward."