Michigan Basketball: 3 Things we learned in win against Ball State

Franz still finding his way

There’s no doubt that Wagner has not gotten off to the start offensively that many of us expected he would and while he showed progress Wednesday, it wasn’t a breakout performance.

Wagner was impressive in the way that he scored 14 points on just six field-goal attempts and combined, Wagner/Livers scored 35 points on just 17 shots. Together, they were 9-of-9 from the free throw line, 12-of-18 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

It was an extremely efficient performance and it’s been great to see Livers scoring and shooting at such a high level. The trick now is getting he and Franz to do it at the same time. That’s when this team will be able to reach its ceiling.

Wednesday was a step in the right direction. And one thing I love about Wagner is that he can impact the game in so many ways. On Sunday, when he struggled to score, he pitched in with 13 rebounds and through three games he is grabbing 8.7 boards.

Even more promising from a shooting perspective was the fact that Franz made all five of his free throws and made his first trey. He looked to be pressing in the first two games and now that’s seen the ball go in, we’ll see if he can play as he did down the stretch last season.