Michigan got wing Franz Wagner back from a wrist injury, and the freshman didn’t take long to make his presence felt. Wagner hit two triples in the first half, played some good defense and ignited U-M’s offense early in an 83-76 win over Iowa State in the Battle for Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas.

The Wolverines got contributions from several in the first half, and they needed all of them. Senior center Jon Teske went to the bench early with a pair of questionable moving srceen fouls, giving way to sophomore Colin Castleton and little-used redshirt junior Austin Davis. The two combined for six points and three rebounds in Teske’s absence and played some solid defesne on the interior.

Michigan fell behind by nine early, 16-7, before making a run. Sophomore guard David DeJulius sparked U-M off the bench with six points, but it was junior forward Isaiah Livers’ three-point play at 11:37 that capped a 10-0 Wolverines run to give them the lead.

Senior point guard Zavier Simpson was good and bad in the stanza, finishing with eight points, six assists and five rebounds but four turnovers, part of an 11-turnover barrage in the first half that allowed Iowa State to hang around, 41-37 at the half.

Nine different Wolverines scored in a 15-for-28 shooting half, but U-M's miscues made it closer than it should have been. Wagner had six, Livers and junior guard Eli Brooks five each in the first half.

SECOND HALF

Michigan came out more in control offensively in the second half and took advantage of having Teske back on the floor. Livers hit a pair of triples and Teske also nailed one from the top of the key to help the Wolverines open up a 13-point lead, 52-39, at the first TV timeout.

DeJuilus pushed the lead to 55-41 with a triple from the corner at 14:40, but Teske picked up his third and fourth fouls within a minute and went to the bench.

Iowa State made a mini run. The scored five straight down 57-43 before Simpson answered with a runner to push the lead back to 11, where it stood at the second TV timeout at 11:35.

U-M opened it up over the next two minutes. Simpson found sophomore Brandon Johns for an alley-oop and Castelton scored inside and got fouled, but missed the free throw. Tyrese Haliburton followed with a three, but Castelton’s tip--in pushed the lead back to 12. His drive and finish gave U-M its biggest lead, 68-53 at the third TV timeout.

Another Halliburton triple followed a DeJuius jumper and pushed it back to 10, and yet another U-M turnover led to a Halliburton finish at 6:03 and cut the lead to 70-62, but DeJulius answered with a huge, contested triple from the corner to push the lead back to 11.

Michigan had a chance to put it away a number of times, but sloppy play allowed ISU to hang around. A critical triple from Livers helped U-M weather the storm despite a whopping 22 turnovers. Teske finished an 83-76 with a pair of free throws at the line.

The Wolverines finished 10-of-21 from long range, led by Livers’ 3-for-6, and shot 57.7 percent from the floor. Livers scored 14, DeJulius 14, Teske 11 and Simpson and Castleton 10 each.

U-M will face the winner of today’s North Carolina – Alabama game tomorrow at 1:30.

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