Michigan Basketball's Juwan Howard Ready For the Stretch

Michigan head basketball coach Juwan Howard and his team face Northwestern tonight in Evanston needing a win to stay solidly in the NCAA Tournament field. Having junior forward Isaiah Livers in the lineup raises the bar dramatically for a team that’s been road tested.

We tackle Howard’s comments in News & Views format.

NEWS: Michigan’s defense held Michigan State to season lows in a number of categories in a 77-68 and forced Cassius Winston into a 5-for-18 shooting day.

HOWARD: “I’ve seen where we are communicating out there on the floor, and that can result in and very active, engaging defense. For example, Saturday our defense was really good, not only playing physically and with a lot of energy and effort, but we did a real good job of communicating on the floor.

“That has to be consistent throughout this team … you can’t be inconsistent and can’t take that part lightly. They know I’m always stressing communication.”

VIEWS: It helps, too, when there’s a guy like Livers directing traffic after made buckets. The team just looks more confident when he’s on the floor, and his presence is huge for this team down the stretch.

Having Livers and senior Jon Teske and Zavier Simpson on the floor together would probably have won the Wolverines a few more games this year. It will certainly pay dividends down the stretch in some of the road games U-M has coming up.