Michigan Basketball: Zavier Simpson is back, Livers game-time decision

Michigan basketball has a huge game Saturday against Rutgers and thankfully, Zavier Simpson will be back but what about Isaiah Livers?

The Michigan basketball has a home game at Madison Square Garden Saturday, yes you heard that right, but at least Zavier Simpson will be back in the lineup.

Head coach Juwan Howard made the announcement Friday as the Wolverines get set to take on No. 25 Rutgers is a key battle with Michigan basketball closer to the NCAA tournament bubble than ever.

The Wolverines improved their position slightly with a road win at Nebraska on Tuesday, which avoided a bad loss more than anything. It also added a true road win, the first of the season, which was also important.

But without Simpson, it was a struggle. Michigan turned the ball over 17 times and took a while to get going offensively. Brandon Johns and Franz Wagner were able to assert themselves in the second half and that was a huge part of it.

But now that Simpson, who missed the game against Nebraska due to a team violation that Howard didn’t disclose, is back, the offense should run be much smoother. Here’s what Howard said about his return.

"“Well, X is one of our best players and one of the best players in college basketball,” Howard said after the game. “So today, a coach like myself had to work a little extra, and I don’t mind that. But our guys did an excellent job of collectively, as a group, stepping in and filling the void of one of our best players.”"

Of course, the offense shouldn’t get back to Simpson shooting the ball 20 times or more, because that has rarely been a successful formula. Simpson is just a better distributor than a scorer and hopefully, guys like Brooks, Wagner and Johns can build on what they did Tuesday.

Getting Isaiah Livers back would also be huge. But that’s less clear at this point, although Howard did say that he was day-to-day. He has been that way since injuring himself against Illinois last weekend.

Things don’t seem to be as bad as when he originally suffered the injury but it’s not likely we will know if he plays until closer to game-time tomorrow. If he’s 100 percent it would be a huge boost, but I’d be surprised if he plays at the Garden.