Chaundee Brown debuted with 19 points and the 25th-ranked Michigan Wolverines cruised to a 96-82 victory over Bowling Green in the season opener for both teams at Ann Arbor, Mich., Wednesday.
Brown, a Wake Forest transfer who started 74 games the past three seasons, knocked down five second-half 3-pointers and added four rebounds and three assists. Isaiah Livers supplied 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Columbia transfer Mike Smith racked up 16 points and eight assists in his Wolverines debut. Smith led the Ivy League in scoring last season.
Freshman Hunter Dickinson contributed 11 points and eight rebounds and Eli Brooks added 11 points and four assists for Michigan.
Justin Turner paced the Falcons with 24 points and had moments of dominance in the first half. But he shot just 9 for 24 from the field.
Trey Diggs had 21 points, including six 3-pointers, and Daeqwon Plowden added 15 points and seven rebounds for Bowling Green.
Brooks scored four straight points early in the second half and Livers then converted a fast break layup to give Michigan a 49-38 lead.
Brown knocked down a 3 with 13:35 left to make it 56-45. He soon made a putback and another shot from beyond the arc off a Smith feed to nudge the Wolverines' lead to 14.
Brown's third 3-pointer of the half gave Michigan a 68-54 advantage with 9:39 left.
Turner drained a 3 to cut the Wolverines' lead to nine but Brown answered with another long ball.
Dickinson scored the next five Michigan points and when Brooks hit a 3, the Wolverines stretched their lead to 18, 80-62.
Livers' fast-break dunk gave Michigan an 87-68 lead with 4:21 left.
The Wolverines shot 50 percent in the first half and led 43-36 at halftime. Livers led the way with 13 points and Smith contributed 12. Plowden powered Bowling Green with 11 points.
Michigan used a 10-1 run to establish a 25-14 lead with 8:30 left in the half.
Bowling Green hung around and a 9-2 spurt pulled it within 34-31 with four minutes remaining. That was as close as the Falcons would get the rest of the half.
--Field Level Media
