Analysis: Michigan Showcases Its Best Self In Win Over Indiana

Michigan continues to play some of its best basketball of the season, scorching Indiana in an 89-65 win Sunday at the Crisler Center.

Jonathan Knight Photography

Close to perfect: Michigan has won three games in a row for the first time since sweeping the Battle 4 Atlantis Championship Thanksgiving weekend, and all three wins - beating Michigan State, Northwestern and now Indiana - have showcased a Maize and Blue team capable of playing outstanding team basketball, selfless, strong on the boards, money from behind the arc, and possessing of a paint presence. 

Michigan shot 57.4 percent overall, including 52.9 percent from threes (9 of 17). The Wolverines were also 18 of 22 from the free-throw line, and had 40 points in the paint thanks to 18 of 22 on layups and dunks (81.8 percent). 

U-M had 17 assists on 31 made baskets, outrebounded IU 37-21 and held the Hoosiers to 1.016 points per possession (while scoring 1.483 themselves). It was sheer domination (Michigan led for 35:07) and as close to a flawless game as the Maize and Blue have played all year. 

The Wolverines evened up their Big Ten record at 7-7 ahead of a big-time showdown at Rutgers Wednesday night. The Scarlet Knights, 17-0 at home this season, are coming off a 72-57 humbling of Illinois Saturday in Piscataway, N.J. 

Michigan has, seemingly, turned a corner on its season but its only two road victories are over Big Ten basement dwellers Nebraska and Northwestern. It has lost its other four conference road games by an average of 10.5 points per loss, but with the exception of Jan. 12 loss at Minnesota, U-M played poor in all facets. It will be interesting to see if the Wolverines are something "more" now that Isaiah Livers is back in the fold, and if they play their best basketball are capable of beating a Top 40 Kenpom team on the road.    

Holding their breaths: Speaking of Livers, the collective fan base gasped when he went down with an ankle injury at 13:42 of the second half. Livers noticeably limped off the floor and then could be seen in considerable distress as the television cameras locked in on him being tended to on the bench. 

After a short visit to the locker room, Livers returned and played from 7:54 to 6:15 before being subbed out. He didn't look comfortable on the floor and was slow getting up and down the court. It didn't make much sense having him out there with Michigan up 20+ on Indiana - and after the game coach Juwan Howard failed to provide an adequate explanation, just saying he motioned towards Livers and the junior forward told him he was ready to play. 

This much is certain, Michigan needs Livers to have any chance of competing for more than just an NCAA Tournament berth. The junior scored 12 points, was 2 for 4 on threes, had five rebounds and was a game-high +20 in his 27 minutes. With Livers healthy, U-M looks like a team that could at least split its final six regular-season games (four on the road), win a few Big Ten tourney games and even advance to the second round of March Madness. 

Without him, none of that looks possible. 

Howard won't speak to the media again until Tuesday, before Michigan leaves for Rutgers, but for the next 48 hours every fan in maize and blue will be praying that Livers suffered some discomfort to the ankle but nothing more - it should be noted that on the TV replay it did not appear Livers rolled the ankle or suffered one of the gruesome twists we've all witnessed in the past. 

'A' game for Simpson: Senior Zavier Simpson's performance was exactly what makes Michigan its best. Simpson didn't take a lot of shots - seven for the game, three in the first half - but facilitated the offense through ball distribution. He had a game-high 11 assists, including six helpers in the first half, while contributing just a single turnover. He also was a perfect 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. 

Simpson went to the basket strategically (he was 2 for 3 on layups) but for the most part set up his teammates for often devastating blows to IU - six of Simpson's 11 assists resulted in three-point buckets. 

Michigan improved to 10-0 this season when Simpson has more assists than shot attempts. 

Bench monsters: I said on Friday's "Inside the Huddle" show that if Michigan got 20+ points from its three main bench players - senior Austin Davis and sophomores Brandon Johns Jr. and David DeJulius - it would win by double digits. For the third straight game, those three did, in fact, combine for 20+ points, combining for 25 on 8 of 11 shooting. 

The entire bench scored 30, as sophomore Colin Castleton and freshman Cole Bajema got into the action in the final minutes. 

Johns (14 points) was one of five Wolverines to score in double figures, and while the bench was again instrumental, Sunday's victory belonged to the starting five, which combined for 59 points on 22 of 40 shooting (55.0 percent).