Sophomore forward Matt Costello tries to steal the ball from Portland center Thomas van der Mars on Nov. 18, 2013, at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Pilots, 82-67. Danyelle Morrow/The State News
The No. 1 MSU men’s basketball team still is searching for the big man down low to best replace the force that was Derrick Nix.
Redshirt junior forward Alex Gauna, sophomore forward Matt Costello and freshman forward Gavin Schilling are the three candidates that have been rotating in and out from below the basket.
“We’re playing the guy that is playing the best at that moment,” Gauna said. “Between me, Matt and Gavin, we’re just trying to do our job. We do clean up glass the majority of the part, but at the same time we’ve kind of lost that over the last couple games.”
In the 82-67 win against Portland Monday night, Costello was replaced in the starting lineup by Gauna for the first time this season.
Costello said he would call his current form a funk, and not getting the start changed the way he approached the game both physically and mentally.
“It motivated me and made me realize that ‘holy crap, I’m doing something wrong, I need to spin it around here quick,’” he said. “It’s nothing crazy, but coach expects perfection, and if he sees even a little bit of drop, this is his time to fix it. When we get in January, February and March we’ve got to be a fine-tuned machine just rolling.”
Costello scored four points and grabbed five rebounds in 10 minutes, while Gauna didn’t score and only had one rebound in just nine minutes. Schilling only played three minutes and didn’t get on the scoresheet.
Head coach Tom Izzo said the position is a concern, but the good news is that all three players are capable of filling the position.
“It’s going to be by committee,” Izzo said. “I’m trying to do it a little bit different this year and not chastise as much and just remove them.”
Costello averaged just 1.5 points per game last season, while Gauna has averaged under two points per game each of the last two years, while senior center Derrick Nix rolled in 9.9 points per game.
Costello said there is a lot of pressure to fill the shoes Nix left, but they just need to learn what they can and take all of Izzo’s preaching to them in practice to heart.
“It’s the biggest question on the team right now,” he said. “He figuring us out as we’re trying to figure our team out as well and put us in the best spot we can be.”
Gauna said it’s important to find have consistency in the lineup, but they also must find a balance of starting the guy that is playing the best.
He also said that in the end, it’s friendly competition.
“Coach is relying on the fact that it’s all effort related stuff and whoever is busting their hump at that moment is probably going to be playing more,” he said. “We’re all pulling for each other no matter who is out there.”
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