Michigan head coach John Beilein called tonight game a "dress rehearsal." The Wolverines definitely needed this game, as they struggled at first but later found their rhythm in a 81-55 win over Saginaw Valley State.

Michigan started the game with fifth year-senior David Merritt and freshman Stu Douglass in the backcourt. Harris and redshirt sophomore Anthony Wright started on the wings and redshirt junior Zach Gibson down low.

Merritt knocked down a 3-pointer for the first points of the game. Moments later Gibson hit a three of his own after popping out on a screen. Despite leading 11-8, Saginaw Valley State outrebounded Michigan 8-2 early on. The Cardinals' Adam Gries led the way with three offensive rebounds.

Junior DeShawn Sims checked in five minutes into the game and didn't take long to make his presence felt. Sims scored from the post on back-to-back possessions to give Michigan a 15-12 lead. Sophomore Kelvin Grady entered the game for Merritt when Merritt looked to have hurt his knee after chasing down a defensive rebound. Michigan played solid defense to start, pressuring the ball handlers and rotating quickly from the weak side.

Wright and Grady, on back-to-back possessions, committed turnovers that led to two free throws by Saginaw Valley. With just over eight minutes to play in the half, Michigan found itself behind by three, 21-18. Harris was kept quiet, scoring just two points on two field goal attempts. But the most startling statistic so far was the Cardinals' 13-5 advantage on the glass despite having no starter over 6-foot-8.

Beilein called a timeout just before the six-minute mark after Sims committed another turnover. The errant pass led to a one-on-one fastbreak that was terribly defended by Harris, as the sophomore didn't challenge the layup. Harris was quickly replaced by fifth-year senior C.J. Lee.

For nearly seven minutes the Wolverines went scoreless as Saginaw Valley State went on an 10-0 run. At the five-minute mark, Michigan found itself down 25-18.

To try and shake up the Saginaw Valley State run, Beilein put his team in a 1-3-1 defense. The Cardinals were clearly unprepared, as they turned the ball over on an over-and-back. Down 27-20 and with the Cardinals gaining a lot of momentum, freshman Stu Douglas drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Out of a timeout, Gibson hit Sims on a backdoor cut for an easy layup. After a Saginaw Valley State airball, Harris grabbed the rebound, quickly outletted to Douglas who hit Merritt at the top of the key for another easy 3-pointer. After a timeout by the Cardinals, Michigan went back to its 1-3-1 and forced another turnover.

Michigan went into the locker room up 34-30. The Wolverines went on a 14-5 run to end the half, which included two 3-pointers by Douglas.

Michigan came out with the same starting five in the second half and went straight into man-to-man. Merritt came up with a quick steal and hit Douglass on the right wing for a 3-pointer. Although Douglas missed, the Wolverines started the second-half much stronger. On the next possession, Michigan went straight into their 1-3-1 and got its second steal of the half.

After being nearly invisible in the first half, Harris went right to the hoop and connected on a traditional three-point play. Moments later, after Douglass committed his second turnover of the half, Harris scored on a fastbreak layup. On Wednesday Harris talked about how he wanted to become more of a distributor this year. In the first half, he was far too passive. Early in the second half, Harris drove hard and found Sims on the right wing for three. But moments later, he took matters into his own hands, drove hard down the right baseline and scored on a layup while getting fouled. At the half's first media timeout, Michigan led 45-37.

After a timeout, Michigan executed its best play of the night so far. Grady simply dribbled to the right, waited for Harris' man to overplay and hit Harris as he cut backdoor for an easy two. The Wolverines will get a lot of these baskets this year in Beilein's offense.

Sims continued to show his potential to dominate the post. After two easy scores in the first half, Sims went hard to the offensive glass and got an easy layup out of it to put Michigan up 49-41. He was fouled in the post seconds later and nailed both free throws.

With twelve minutes remaining, Beilein must be pleased with his team's performance this half.