Michigan Basketball: 5 things we learned from Wolverines Elite 8 run

Livers was the difference between good/great

If Isaiah Livers didn’t have a future in professional basketball, I’d say that he would come back to Michigan, so he could actually get the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament one last time.

He missed his junior year due to COVID and his senior year due to a stress fracture. It was a blow that ultimately helped shorten the run for the Wolverines because he could have been the difference on Tuesday night.

Without Livers, the ceiling for Michigan was lower. When it first happened, I thought the Elite 8 was a reasonable goal for this team and that’s why they still achieved a lot. Beating Florida State, without Livers, especially the way they did it was impressive.

But UCLA had an exceptional gameplan. It was very similar to what Illinois did. Hunter Dickinson was more successful but the rest of the team wasn’t. Guys had to make jump shots and outside of Chaundee Brown, basically, no one did.

But as I think about Wagner shooting those last couple of shots (I don’t blame him), I think to myself, you know who you can’t leave like that? Livers.

Just like against Wisconsin when Livers took over with some playmaking, mid-range and 3-point shooting, he could have done the same in this game. If you dive under Livers on a ball screen, he will have no problem burying that 3-pointer.

Wagner can do it too, he just ran into a cold streak in the NCAA Tournament. Livers could have been the alternative. He wasn’t available and that shows why the ceiling was always lower.

His ability to make shots almost made Michigan basketball unguardable and without him, the Wolverines were much easier to stop.