No. 3 Michigan Wolverines basketball improved to 14-1 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten with a 67-59 win at No. 21 Wisconsin Sunday afternoon.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
RELATED: Videos: Juwan Howard, Michigan Players React To Wisconsin Win
Player Of The Game: Isaiah Livers
At one point it looked like this award was going to go to Wisconsin fifth-year senior forward Aleem Ford, who scored hit his first four shots and scored 11 points in the first nine minutes.
But sure enough, Michigan came back and it was due in large part to senior forward Isaiah Livers' performance. He played the most consistent game out of any Wolverine, notching 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 4-of-7 from long range, and seven rebounds. Livers' shooting in the first half kept the Maize in the Blue in the game — he had 13 points at the break, at which point Michigan was down by 12, and was the only U-M player with over five points.
In the second half, he got some help from his teammates, who we'll get to below, and hit the dagger three to give Michigan a 59-57 lead with 2:48 to play.
The captain has stepped up more since mid-January — he's scored 20-plus points in each of his last three games and is shooting 55 percent from three over his last five outings. This is the time of year when seniors step up in the Big Ten and across college basketball, and that appears to be the case for Livers, Michigan's steady leader.
The Turning Point
"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face," former heavyweight fighter Mike Tyson once famously said. But he didn't mention anything about elbows.
With 18:22 to go in the game, Wisconsin senior guard Brad Davison went up for a layup in transition over Michigan fifth-year senior guard Mike Smith and, while doing so, elbowed Smith in the face as he missed the shot. The elbow looked intentional, but even if it wasn't, it appeared to be flagrant, as it left Smith on the ground, face down, holding his face. Michigan head coach Juwan Howard seemed to think his team deserved a call, and let head official Bo Borsoski know about it. Howard received a technical foul for voicing his displeasure of the no-call.
Wisconsin had a 42-32 lead at the time. But Michigan "had a plan" (as Tyson would put it) going forward and responded accordingly. The team woke up at that point, going on a 35-16 run to close things out and capture the victory.
"I sure did," Howard said postgame when asked if he thought that play was a turning point in the contest.
"The No. 1 thing in our culture, the word we say and that we believe in is 'family.' It just goes to show you, the family got tested, and everybody banded together like brothers."
Michigan also executed in crunch time, shutting Wisconsin out, 8-0, in the final 1:46 of the game.
