NCAA Basketball: Baylor’s ceiling, Michigan’s return and more weekly takeaways

2) Michigan is BACK

Remember back in November when Michigan was blowing everyone out and looked like the best team in the country?

The Wolverines may not be all the way back to that yet, but they are back to being one of the most dangerous teams in the country.

Since a loss to Illinois dropped them to 2-6 in Big Ten play a month ago, Michigan has gone 7-1 with victories over Michigan State, Rutgers (twice), Indiana, and Purdue, who they beat in West Lafayette on Saturday. Their defense has returned to elite status, holding all eight opponents below 70 points.

However, that was never really missing with this group. Their offense was, and that is #BACK now with the return of Isaiah Livers.

Michigan’s leading scorer has returned from a groin injury to play in the last four games (he also played 20 minutes against Illinois on Jan. 25 before re-aggravating the injury) and is averaging 15.5 points per game since his full-time return. It obviously helps your offense whenever you get your leading scorer back from a long absence, yet I’d argue Livers might be as important to his team as anyone.

He is the only versatile wing on Michigan’s roster. After playing mostly in the post during his first two seasons under former head coach John Beilein, Juwan Howard is taking advantage of the 6-7, 230-pounder’s perimeter skills. That has turned him into a true matchup nightmare. Opposing defenses can’t leave him alone due to his shooting ability (45.9 percent from three), he’s too quick for bigger defenders, and he’s too big for smaller defenders.

Livers’ play – and how opponents choose to defend him – dictates the rest of Michigan’s offense and makes things easier for everyone else, especially Zavier Simpson, who doesn’t have to be as much of a scorer.

With Livers back in the fold, Michigan is a force worth paying attention to as we approach March.