South Florida served as the perfect example of what Michigan does not want to become in Saturday’s 71-62 win at Crisler Arena.

Terrence Leather scored 28 points for the Bulls in limited play due to foul trouble. His play was sensational, but — save for 13 points from his teammate Brian Swift — it was the only source of scoring that South Florida could find on most possessions.

Down at Michigan’s side of the court, it was anyone’s guess which Wolverine would be putting the ball in the basket.

When injuries arose that will keep juniors Lester Abram, Graham Brown and Daniel Horton on the bench for an extended amount of time, the possibility of sophomore Dion Harris — Michigan’s leading scorer — being the first, last and only scoring option became very real.

But in Michigan’s first two games as a depleted unit, that danger has not been reality.

“It’s no surprise to us,” junior Sherrod Harrell said. “We practice every day, and we know what we have in this locker room. We know what we can do with these guys. Just because a few guys go out doesn’t mean that somebody can’t step in the spot and do the same thing.”

Harrell is one of the players doing his part to patch up the holes in the lineup. He scored a career-high seven points and added five rebounds in Saturday’s victory.

Four Wolverines scored in double figures. Harris led the way with 22 points, a positive sign following his 8 points on 3-for-13 shooting in last week’s 67-53 win over High Point — Michigan’s first game without Abram, Brown and Horton.

But the biggest story revolved around who scored besides Harris. Forward Chris Hunter followed a career-high 22-point night against High Point by dropping 16 points on the Bulls. The junior did most of his damage at the free throw line, where he went 10-for-10.

Sophomore Brent Petway and freshman Ron Coleman also chipped in 10 points each.

It was Coleman’s second double-digit effort in his young career.Despite troubles early in the season, the wing has proven to be a solid contributor when his jump shot is on.

The performances of Michigan’s role players were exactly what the doctor ordered in the absence of some of Michigan’s top scorers. After being thrust into the spotlight, they seem to have passed the initial tests so far.

“Do we need those players just to be solid or do we need them to make contributions?” Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. “We need them to make contributions, and they’re good enough to do that for us.”

The Wolverines are even getting other contributions from players that don’t score.

Senior J.C. Mathis played eight minutes at forward and logged two rebounds and an assist. Junior Ashtyn Bell saw played 10 minutes, a career-high and the first time he has ever played with the game still in doubt. He filled in for junior Dani Wohl, who played 30 minutes against High Point but went down with an elbow injury in practice on Thursday and is out indefinitely.

With so many players getting a chance to play, the experience could pay dividends for the Wolverines down the road.

“All these guys are getting this experience on the court, and this helps our

team out,” Coleman said. “Whenever we have to look to the bench to get our players to play hard, we’ll have the chemistry down pat.”