Michigan junior forward Isaiah Livers reportedly practiced Thursday and could return for Saturday’s game with Michigan State. Livers missed the first meeting with the Spartans, and MSU win in East Lansing, and several others with a groin injury suffered in December.

Livers returned briefly against Illinois but reinjured himself after a dunk, coming down awkwardly.

“He’s day to day. He’s getting better,” head coach Juwan Howard reported Friday. “There’s been improvement in that area. Hopefully, at some point, he can heal quickly. We truly need him in this one.”

Howard hasn’t been watching Livers on a day to day basis, but he has been keeping tabs on him.

“I can’t specifically share because I haven’t been with him during the rehab process. I’ve been more at our practices with the guys who have been practicing,” he said. “To my knowledge, I’ve heard from [trainers] he has been improving through the rehab process, and he’s still listed as day to day.

“Like I told Isaiah when he first got injured, it’s a process. It’s going to take some time to allow your body to heal. You’re going to hit frustrating moments where there are times when you feel like you’re in a dark place alone. That’s the time I feel Isaiah needs to be more with his teammates, around basketball, because at times you’ll feel a little isolated and sad. That can be a problem … a frustrating moment.”

He’s handled it well so far, Howard continued.

“I’ve always tried to lift his spirits up by saying my corny jokes or keeping him a little more involved with just being around us, asking him questions. Believe it or not, he asks me a lot of questions when it comes to basketball and areas we can improve and areas what he sees, whether it’s team, player, actions he sees on the defensive or offensive side of the ball. He’s improved a lot when it comes to his IQ. He’s become more of a coach.”

Howard refused to speculate on whether or not Livers practiced yesterday, as has been reported.

“We’re hoping he can practice today,” he said.

Howard “Moving Forward” After Simpson Suspension

Details emerged of senior point guard Zavier Simpson’s traffic accident that led to his one-game suspension for U-M’s contest at Nebraska. Simpson reportedly hit a pole in a car registered to Athletic Director Warde Manuel’s son.

“I don’t recall the date of when I was made aware of it. I can’t keep up with tomorrow, and yesterday we had practice. I still don’t know what day it is … I know it’s my birthday,” Howard said.

“But overall when I heard about the crash … he hit a pole. Then I was just worried about his safety, his health, because when you hear things like that, the first thing is my heart goes out to the person who is involved in it, and what is their state. I was praying to God they didn’t hurt themselves.”

Simpson was suspended for violating team curfew, he added.

“That right there was something he was aware of, as well as all his other teammates. Being out that time of evening is not acceptable,” Howard said. “We have those types of rules we have to abide by. That was something I was not happy with at all, whatsoever. That was something I thought was important, no matter who you are … whether you’re my best player, 15th player, there are rules you have to respect.”

He refused to comment on the optics.

“That’s personal. That’s not something I think is important to say whose car you should drive,” Howard said. “That’s more Zavier as well as the person whose car you’re driving, That’s a personal matter between those two individuals … To my knowledge, it’s the athletic director’s son.

“The suspension as you know … he had a one-game suspension, came back and played against Rutgers. Right now, we’ve moved on.”

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