ANN ARBOR — Tom Izzo didn’t want to hear it, but it was obvious in Michigan’s 77-68 win over Michigan State Saturday …

Michigan is a much different team with Isaiah Livers on the floor … even a slightly-out-of-shape version of him.

The Wolverines got a huge boost from their junior forward (14 points, four rebounds in 31 minutes) and answered every Spartans run with clutch shots. Livers’ leadership alone provided a spark, senior point guard Zavier Simpson noted, and the spacing on offense and traffic-directing on defense was miles ahead of where it was in U-M’s loss in East Lansing last month.

“Listen … how much different would we be with Josh Langford?” MSU head coach Izzo said of his wing (who hasn’t suited up in over a year). “Of course, anybody who’s got one of your two best players out, it’s going to be different. But at the same time, I think today, what we did with other players … Simpson goes 4-for-7 from three, and he hasn’t done that for three weeks. Give him credit. He’s a competitive kid.