Hauser said that coming into Saturday's matchup, he had three goals of what he wanted to improve on from his performance against Eastern Michigan.

First, he wanted to limit his turnovers. He did that by shrinking his five on Wednesday to just one Saturday night.

Secondly, he wanted to be more dominant on defense and improve his performance on the boards. He checked that box too, nearly doubling his rebounds from nine on Wednesday to 16 on Saturday.

Head coach Tom Izzo gave the 6-foot-9 forward props for holding Notre Dame's Nate Laszewski to just six shot attempts as well.

Lastly, he wanted to shoot the ball better, which may be an evolving goal for a player who hasn't seen the court on a game day in over a year as he was forced to sit out per NCAA transfer rules last season.

"I wanted to shoot the ball a little better, I didn’t do that tonight but that’s going to come," Hauser said. "Game shots are hard to simulate in practices and workouts, so I think that’s something that’s going to come as I keep playing."

Hauser came to MSU, seemingly, as a three-point shooter. He left Marquette with shooting 42.5% from beyond the arc on the way to averaging 9.7 points per game as just a freshman.

The Wisconsin native has yet to make a three-pointer in either of his two performances. Although he got two good looks against Notre Dame wide open from beyond the three-point line, he couldn't find the bottom of the net from deep.

Izzo mentioned these three-point shots as a point of focus for Hauser as the season progresses. When it comes to him and Langford, two veteran players who sat last season out, Izzo appreciates still having something to push them on.

"That’s the nice part about it, is that there’s still some good reason to push those two guys (Hauser and Langford)," Izzo said. "I think they're starting to see my side and I’m starting to see their side and that’s why it’s going to be fun to grow with them, I’m really looking forward to that."

Izzo added that junior forward Aaron Henry has done a good job acting as a leader and integrating the two vets into game time scenarios with the team. Henry said that after watching Hauser in practices and behind the scenes last year, he knew he was going to come out and play unselfishly and he is anxious to see where Izzo's coaching can take his teammate this season.

"I smile from the side when Coach Izzo kind of goes at him because I know that he’s going to be the best player that he never thought he could be, but what Coach Izzo imagines him to be," Henry said.