Michigan Basketball: 3 predictions for Wolverines vs Michigan State

It’s a night for Livers

Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers both struggled mightily against Illinois. Basically, the entire team did but those are two of the guys with the individual ability to have changed the game.

As we discussed in the aftermath of Illinois, the Fighting Illini are a tough matchup for the Wolverines and have held U-M to 62 points or less in three consecutive games.

The good news for Michigan is that most teams don’t have defenders like Cockburn and while the Spartans have been playing better defense as of late and better all-around with a number of big wins over Illinois and Ohio State, Michigan matches up much better.

Livers will likely be guarded often by Gabe Brown, who has a defensive rating per 100 possessions of 105 this year, which is one of the lower ratings for MSU.

I expect Wagner to have a bigger role and to be able to get to the free-throw line. He and Mike Smith need to create more in this game, but at some point, the Spartans are going to have to choose their focus and that should open up some looks for Livers, who I think has one of those nights where he makes three or four bombs and scores 20.