3 Takeaways from Michigan Basketball’s victory over Central Florida

Michigan can win without best from Franz/Livers

Certainly, the Wolverines would love to see Wagner and Livers play better than they did Sunday. Wagner was 4-of-6 for eight points but Livers scored just five and was 1-of-6 from deep.

Now, with the way Isaiah has shot the ball during the early part of the season, we can forgive him for having one off day and even then he was able to knock down a shot in the second half.

But you wouldn’t think that the Wolverines would be able to beat a decent opponent (top-100 range) by 32 points, especially after spotting that team a 12-point lead without getting a great effort from Wagner and Livers.

However, that’s exactly what happened Sunday. Wagner got in early foul trouble and played just 16 minutes, while Livers contributed with seven boards on top of his five points in 27.

Livers and Wagner started and played 43 minutes, while attempting 15 shots. By comparison Dickinson and Brown played 44 minutes, took 18 shots and scored 32 points compared to the 13 that Wagner and Livers combined to score.

What that tells you is that Michigan has really good players coming off the bench but also when those guys are on a roll, Juwan Howard isn’t afraid to stick with them, which is why four guys on the bench ended up seeing double-digit minutes.