The Michigan men's basketball team didn't need any extra points in its 69-50 win over Bowling Green on Thursday, especially uncontested ones.

But getting to the foul line is something that the Wolverines must do in order to win the close games they found themselves in so frequently last season.

Midway through the second half, redshirt freshman forward Jordan Morgan took the ball through the lane and went up with it in traffic. He was fouled on the drive but finished the layup anyway and cashed in his freebie to make it a three-point play.

“When you get me and (redshirt freshman Blake McLimans) sealing up hard, we can draw fouls a lot,” Morgan said. “Then we get our team to the bonus. That’s important for our offense because sometimes our offense won’t work."

The Wolverines took 14 shots from the foul line and made nine of them. That’s essentially nine free points, which — if they come at the right time — can change the game.

Last season Michigan had six games in which it finished within four points of its opponent. The Wolverines lost five of those games. One of those contests came in the Big Ten tournament against Ohio State when Evan Turner hit nearly a half court shot to conclude Michigan’s season. If the Wolverines would have made it to the line just one more time, the outcome could have been different.

Thursday night showed there is hope for Michigan in those inevitable tight matchups.

Capitalizing on the opportunity is equally as important as getting to the line is. If Michigan’s two games thus far are any indication, there shouldn’t be an issue. The Wolverines made 86 percent of their free throws against South Carolina Upstate and nine of 14 against Bowling Green.

“We want to be aggressive and go right at them,” McLimans said after the game. “Hopefully we get to the foul line more and knock them down. That’s something we definitely want to take advantage of because we are a great free throw shooting team. Everyone on this team can shoot free throws.”

The chances of making free throws are the same, whether it's against the Falcons or Michigan State. Those are chances that Michigan cannot afford to sacrifice this season. However, that also means it can’t afford to give them away.

Though the Wolverines got to the line a lot, Bowling Green had almost twice the amount of attempts. The Falcons made 16 of 23 free throws. Michigan became the one giving away points. On top of that, some Michigan players got into foul trouble.

Freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. committed two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, forcing Michigan coach John Beilein to pull him. Hardaway Jr. didn’t see the floor again until the second half. He then scored nine points, all in the second stanza.

“We were just hacking early,” McLimans said. “There were still a little bit of first-game jitters. And the refs were calling them.”

Luckily for the Wolverines, Hardaway Jr.’s foul trouble was not as significant against Bowling Green as it may be in closer games. To make matters worse, Michigan fouled offensively and that turned the ball over.

“Blake McLimans had his first charge maybe in his life today,” Beilein jokingly said after the game last night.

And while it may not be McLimans’s first-ever offensive foul, it was one more that turned the ball over and gave Bowling Green extra chances. That's something the Wolverines themselves got a lot of, but gave out much more.