Michigan Basketball: Wolverines look like contenders in road win

After a nightmarish opening of sorts, Michigan basketball pounced on the bottom feeders of the Big Ten as expected.

Michigan basketball began the game at Northwestern 0-for-11 and faced a deficit of 13-6 before the Wolverines knew what hit them.

While calmly getting into rhythm, they promptly went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good. It turned out to be a complete team effort as 11 players saw action in the conference road victory.

Michigan basketball shined on defense again with a dominating performance. The Wildcats couldn’t get anything going following their early attack on the Wolverines. They were held to 23 percent from the 3-point line and managed to hit just 19 of 59 shots taken. Only one of their starters reached double digits, while freshman Jared Jones added 12 off the bench. Altogether, Northwestern proved its one of the youngest and worst squads in the country.

For Michigan basketball, Austin Davis outplayed Jon Teske once more. He went perfect from the field as Teske struggled going 3-of-14 in just 25 minutes. David DeJulius stepped in nicely for Zavier Simpson who got in first-half foul trouble. It truly seemed like the first time in a while that Simpson didn’t have to carry his team on his back in some shape or form to victory.

Eli Brooks got the scoring going on the night for the Wolverines. He drilled three big shots from beyond the arc to spearhead the charge of taking over the Wildcats. Brooks’ defense has been the talk of the town lately though. Just days after cooling off Cassius Winston, the Northwestern starting backcourt could only combine for 14 points on a dismal 0-6 shooting from three.

The highlights of the night belonged to Isaiah Livers though. He looked to be in all-around great spirits during and following the road win. His dunk was worthy enough for a spot in the top 10 of  Sportscenter in my opinion. Having Livers getting back to being himself is a pleasant reminder of how special this club showed that it could be in the Bahamas. If Howard’s bunch can resemble that unit down the stretch, then Michigan basketball becomes a serious threat on the national level once again.

The maize and blue are hitting their stride while winning four of the last five at the most opportune time. Had it not been for a late Ayo Dosunmu dagger in the Illinois affair, then Michigan would have made it five out of the last six. Next up are Archie Miller’s Indiana Hoosiers who host Iowa in what is becoming a do or die contest for them later tonight.

The Hoosiers will be coming into Ann Arbor on Sunday afternoon mighty desperate as their season appears to be headed south rather rapidly.