There’s no doubt that Michigan men's basketball coach John Beilein will rely heavily on his shooters this season.

With the relative inexperience of his big men, the Wolverines will continue to be a shoot-first offense, likely even more so than they have over Beilein’s first three seasons at the helm. But if there was ever a point in the season when this young corps of forwards and centers wanted to establish themselves underneath, this weekend would be the chance to do it.

On Sunday afternoon, Gardner-Webb (3-1), whose roster features just one player over 6-foot-7, comes to Ann Arbor for game two of the Legends Classic at 2 p.m.

Over the season’s first two games, Michigan’s starting forwards — freshmen Tim Hardaway Jr. and Evan Smotrycz — have shown tremendous potential, but they’re still looking to establish some consistency.

In the season opener against South Carolina Upstate, Hardaway stole the show with a game-high 19 points and quickly established himself as the team’s go-to spark when the offense is stalling. In that game, it was almost four minutes before the Wolverines (2-0) scored in the second half, when Hardaway drove to the hoop and slammed one home in traffic, triggering a 6-0 Michigan run.

But in the season’s second game against a visiting Bowling Green on Thursday night, Hardaway found himself in foul trouble early and wound up riding the bench for most of the first half, and he finished up with just nine points.

“I really wanted to be out there with my team to help get the ‘W,’ ” Hardaway said after the game. “But the refs are just doing their job, and I can’t argue nothing about that. … I had a price to pay.”

Fortunately for Michigan, Smotrycz picked up the slack in the first half with a quality shooting performance, which was much needed following his lackluster collegiate debut against South Carolina Upstate. In that first game, he was just 1-for-6 from the field and scoreless from behind the arc, and he followed it up with a team-high 14 points and three buckets from downtown against Bowling Green.

Smotrycz also looked far more comfortable on the defensive end on Thursday, as he picked up seven defensive boards in his 22 minutes of play.

“I’m just trying to do the little things — play well on the defensive end, clean up the boards and I think the offense comes,” Smotrycz said. “It all starts on defense, and me and Coach (Beilein) have been talking about that a little bit.”

At center, Jordan Morgan was a force to be reckoned with on Thursday night, and like Smotrycz, he looked much more comfortable down low against Bowling Green than against South Carolina Upstate. He muscled his opponents away from the paint on defense, finishing with eight rebounds, and found himself with space in the key often, en route to 12 points.

“When (Morgan’s) in there and he’s really active, he can make a difference,” Beilein said. “(Assistant coach) Bacari (Alexander has) done a wonderful job with Jordan of just getting him to play through each possession all the way.”

If Morgan continues to play through each possession against Gardner-Webb, he can have a big game. The only Runnin’ Bulldogs player taller than 6-foot-7 is freshman Michael Byron, who averages just 15 minutes a game so far this season.

Gardner-Webb’s real force down low is 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Stefon Johnson, who has averaged more than 10 points and seven rebounds a game this season. But in this matchup, Morgan should be able to use his size advantage to push Johnson away from the basket all day.

The Bulldogs’ top scorer this season and true veteran presence is senior shooting guard Jon Moore. He is averaging 18.5 points a game this season, and Michigan’s guards will be focused on him at the perimeter all day. The junior college transfer was the team’s leading scorer last season, and he runs the floor very well, especially in transition.

But Michigan’s guards should still have the edge in this matchup, as sophomore point guard Darius Morris has done a fabulous job spreading out the court early this season. Against Bowling Green, he finished up with 11 assists.

“Darius has grown so much,” Hardaway said after Thursday’s game. “He really knows what he’s doing, and for the last three weeks, everybody’s been listening to him on the court.