Michigan Basketball: Big 3 carry the load in Howard’s first big win

Creighton tested the Wolverines for 40 minutes, but the Michigan basketball out dueled them for Juwan Howard’s initial trademark victory.

Both teams came ready to go in the Gavitt games tip-off. Creighton was trailing most of the first half until late when they got some turnovers to take a lead into the locker room at halftime. It appeared Michigan basketball was in for a knockdown, drag-out, dogfight and that’s the way they treated it in the second half. It took every minute to put the pesky Bluejays away with a complete team effort.

Michigan’s big three of Teske, Simpson and Livers helped carry the squad throughout the night. Livers nailed 4-7 from three-point land and secured a new career-high with 22. Teske did his usual job on the defensive side of things, making it hard for Creighton to score in the second. Finally, Simpson bounced back with a more typical performance that Michigan fans are used to seeing from him with nine assists.

Coming into this year all three of the trio knew they would be counted on to be the leaders of Howard’s new regime. When playing at the level they performed at last night, it can help catapult them to have the confidence to do more of the same with the Battle 4 Atlantis, Louisville, Oregon and the Big Ten opener on deck.

The Wolverines shot a whopping 57% from the field following the App State fiasco. They seemed to be much better prepared for the second half when down by three at the break. The intensity was amped up on both ends of the floor. Creighton is always a tough club to matchup with because of how well they execute, but it’s a testament to Coach Howard for having his guys primed for the last 20 minutes.

Defensively, it was a tale of two halves. In the first 20 Creighton was able to do what they wanted without much resistance from the maize and blue. The second half was a different story though. Creighton consistently had a rough time getting a bucket. They only had 28 in the half, while their leading scored Ty-Shon Alexander got the clamps put down on him by that aforementioned Michigan defense.

David DeJulius was also quite effective during his time on the hardwood. He played so sparingly last season that he had a career-high in points and rebounds. He, along with Castleton and Johns have made the transition of who comes off the bench a lot more comforting for Howard moving towards the heart of the upcoming lineup.

The schedule now softens up with Elon and Houston Baptist before vacationing in the Bahamas. The draw is not a favorable one for anyone in the field, but the winner of that tournament will definitely become battle-tested for a potential deep March run.