Junior forward Matt Costello tries to pass the ball past Loyal guard Joe Crisman, 5, and forward Montel James, 24, to attempt a layup Nov. 21, 2014, at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Ramblers, 87-52. Costello scored a total of 13 points and recovered 11 rebounds. Raymond Williams/The State News
There was some speculation coming into the season on whether junior Matt Costello and sophomore Gavin Schilling could carry the load for MSU's big men. On Friday night, the Spartans were adamant about getting the ball in the paint through both players.
"That's what we wanted to do, and that's what we did," head coach Tom Izzo said. "I thought our inside guys did a pretty good job. If you look at it statistically, between Costello and [Dawson] and Schilling, they shot about 85 percent."
Following a disappointing game against Duke, the big men for MSU basketball responded with a great game against Loyola Chicago on Friday, winning 87-52.
Costello finished with a career-high 13 points to go with 11 rebounds, while Schilling added 8 points on four-of-four shooting. It's a healthy improvement from the eight combined points they scored against Duke.
Costello sent a message out right from the start, scoring the Spartans' first six points of the night. It was the first sign of the aggressiveness that both Costello and Schilling would play with throughout the game.
"Definitely be more aggressive," Costello said of his focus following the Duke game. "If I'm just sitting there stagnant, it's not going to work. All five guys need to be aggressive and ready to go."
Costello was effective on the pick-and-roll all night. He brought down two offensive rebounds while also registering one steal and one block.
Izzo was confident in his two-man rotation for center, enough so that Costello and Schilling played a two-man rotation throughout the entire night.
"Our teammates were looking for us, for the first time, down low," Schilling said. "Once we got the ball, we made our moves and we were successful with it.
"We just gain confidence more and more and the more our teammates look for us, we're just going to do our best job to get the win."
All but one of Costello and Schilling's baskets were assisted by the trio, and each of the guards finished the game with seven assists each.
"After last game watching the film, we knew we missed some opportunities to get inside to them where they could have got a couple touches," senior guard Travis Trice said. "So, today we kind of concentrated on that ... and they produced more so I think that's something that we're going to have to carry on too."
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