Newcomers lead Michigan to win over Bowling Green

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Chaundee Brown scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half of his Michigan
debut, and the 25th-ranked Wolverines beat Bowling Green 96-82 on Wednesday.
Isaiah Livers added 17 points and Mike Smith contributed 16 for Michigan. The Wolverines (1-0) never
trailed, although it took until the latter part of the second half for them to really put the Falcons
away.
Justin Turner led Bowling Green (0-1) with 24 points.
“They (Michigan) are so big. They are bigger than they look," said BGSU head coach Michael Huger.
"All the sizes that they have and all the different bodies that you can throw at you. They were
able to exploit our size so we have to do a much better job.
“This was our first opportunity to play against someone else. And I think the guys were excited and ready
to play, we just didn’t play well and that was the difference."
Huger said the Falcons did play well out of the gate.
"We gave ourselves a chance early and they just pulled away. We ran out of gas. We turned the ball
over a little bit too much. We missed too many layups. We missed assignments. We missed so many things
that they were able to take advantage of and that’s why they were able to win the game.”
There are bright spots, Huger said.
“We can score so that’s the sign that I like. We can definitely score. Now we have to defend
better," he said. "Ninety-six points is way too much. I think that is the most we have given
up in such a long time, I can’t even remember.
“We have got to play much better defense than what we did today. We have got to rebound much better than
what we did today. There are a lot of things that we have to work on, but it’s also it’s our first game
that we played. And we also played a top-25 team that’s pretty good on the other end.”
Huger said he wants his guys to chatter on the floor.
“We have to do a better job of communicating on defense. I think that was the problem we had, not
talking. We have got a young group. We have got time to gel and get it together. We have to get our
rotations together and everything else."
Michigan was warming up for a Big Ten Tournament game in March when the season was halted because of the
coronavirus pandemic. After losing Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske to graduation, the Wolverines’ roster is
now a blend of old and new. Livers and Franz Wagner are key holdovers, and Michigan welcomes a handful
of transfers and promising freshmen who are expected to contribute.
Brown and Smith transferred in from Wake Forest and Columbia, respectively. Smith was in the starting
lineup and quickly showed why he was such a prolific scorer in the Ivy League. He scored 12 points in
the first half — making all three of his attempts from the field — and Michigan led 25-14 after a layup
by freshman center Hunter Dickinson.
It was 43-36 at halftime.
Brown made a couple 3-pointers about 80 seconds apart to put Michigan up 61-47 in the second. He would
make five 3s in the half in all.
Livers dunked off an alley-oop pass from Smith to put the Wolverines up 87-68, and Michigan easily closed
out the game from there.
BIG PICTURE
Bowling Green: The Falcons acquitted themselves fine for much of this game. Turner, who entered the
transfer portal after last season but ultimately decided to stay at Bowling Green, showed why he’s so
important to the team’s hopes.
Michigan: It was a convincing win for the Wolverines, who should be pleased with how comfortable their
new players looked after what has certainly been an unusual offseason and preseason.
UP NEXT
Bowling Green hosts South Carolina State on Saturday at the Stroh Center.
Michigan hosts Oakland on Sunday night.
More AP college basketball: http://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
(Sentinel-Tribune Sports Writer Jack Carle contributed to this story.)

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