(ANN ARBOR) – Mike Smith was in the starting lineup and made his presence felt right away. Chaundee Brown came off the bench and eventually led Michigan in scoring. Brown scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half and Smith had 16 points and eight assists to lift the 25th-ranked Wolverines over Bowling Green 96-82 on Wednesday in the season opener for both teams. LINKC. Isaiah Livers added 17 points for Michigan. The Wolverines 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 with 24 points. Michigan was warming up for a Big Ten Tournament game in March when the season was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic. After Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske graduated, 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. Brown and Smith transferred in from Wake Forest and Columbia, respectively. Smith quickly showed why he was 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. 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. The 7 foot 1 Dickinson finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in his debut. He was the high scorer among the Michigan freshmen.

(audio courtesy of Learfield IMG College)